Montini impresses in girls basketball season opener

It might still be football season at Montini, but the Broncos girls basketball team already looks like it too is in postseason form.

After a close first quarter the Broncos routed Hinsdale Central 77-34 in the teams' season opener Tuesday afternoon at the Hinsdale South Tip Off Tournament.

"We're definitely happy for the guys," Montini senior Lea Kerstein said of the football team. "We support them as much as possible. At the same time our season has started and our goal is to get back down to state, so we have to start now."

Hinsdale Central took an 8-7 first-quarter lead when Alexandra Hughes drove the lane for a basket, and the Montini lead going to the second quarter was just 15-14.

"I thought we played well to start," Red Devils coach Tom McKenna said. "I'm not going to alibi. We're young. It's a process. We're going to get a lot better. And that's a boatload of talent (on the Montini roster)."

Eight Broncos have either committed to Division I colleges to play ball or have received Division I scholarship offers. Montini placed third in Class 3A last year.

"It's awesome," Kerstein said of playing with all that talent. "If one person is not on their game, not having a good game, someone else can come right up and come in and fill the spot. That's the great thing about a team. You're always there for the other person."

The game changed dramatically in the second quarter. The Broncos went 7 of 11 from behind the arc, and the Montini halftime lead was 38-20.

"Our team, we work so well together," Kerstein said. "We mesh so well. We try to get to the open person. If we drive, we have to find the open person. I hit three 3s, Zoe (Zacker), our freshman, she hit three 3s. It's great as a freshman she can step up and do that when someone else can't."

On Tuesday Zacker stepped up for Kaylee Bambule, sidelined by a sprained ankle.

Eleven Broncos scored, with the guards leading the way. Even without Bambule, the Broncos' best long-range shooter, they still made a dozen 3-pointers. Kerstein finished with 19 points, Tiara Wallace had 16 and Zacker scored 12.

"(The Red Devils) went zone, and it's probably a little easier to defend the post when you go zone," Broncos coach Jason Nichols said. "They took away our bigs."

Junior Paige Bareck was the only Red Devil to score in double figures with 15 points.

"It's a good learning experience," McKenna added. "This is eventually where we want to get to. I thought we played about as well as I thought we would."

Both teams have tough tests when they resume tournament play Thursday. Hinsdale Central meets Neuqua Valley at 4:30 p.m., with Montini playing Sandburg at 6 p.m.

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