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Kunzer, Montini put on a show for college coaches

Nobody was going to outwork Claudia Kunzer on Saturday night.

The 5-foot-6 junior guard seemed to be everywhere - often diving on the floor - in Montini's 69-43 girls basketball victory against Davenport (Iowa) North at the Chicagoland Invitational Showcase in Palatine. She finished with 12 points, 13 rebounds and 3 steals.

"My coach (Jason Nichols) ... told me going into the game, you can get offensive rebounds," Kunzer said. "So I thought, well, if I can get them I'm just going to take a chance and go in. And that's the thing I'm known for. I'm known for my hustle plays, and that's what I love to do."

Kunzer has scholarship offers from five mid-major Division I colleges, and she might have earned herself more attention from the many college coaches at the Showcase.

"I don't think about that," she said. "Just go out there and play the game. Don't think about anyone in the stands. I play just because of the love of the game."

If for some reason she didn't impress the college coaches, at least she impressed her hard-to-please Montini coach.

"Underappreciated, undervalued by some colleges," Nichols said. "That kid, when she plays like she does, she's a beast, and it just changes who we are. She's a blue collar, lunch pail, hard helmet-type of girl. I love her. I just told the whole team, if I was a college coach I'd take her right now because I knew I would never get fired. You would never get fired because girls like that help you win."

The Broncos (18-0), the top-ranked team in Class 4A, scored the game's first 12 points and led the Iowa powerhouse 24-9 after one quarter, 33-19 at halftime.

"We just have to know there are other teams watching us, scouting us, so we have to put on a good impression," Kunzer said. "We can play with anyone. When we play with that effort, we can beat any team."

Junior Kaylee Bambule led Montini with 13 points off the bench, plus 5 steals. Senior Lea Kerstein added 11 points, adding three more 3-pointers to her impressive season total.

"Good team win considering that since the break we've been really sick and we haven't had a full-team practice except for a couple of days after New Year's," Nichols said. "I'm pretty happy for the most part. I think we could always be better. That's just who I am."

Follow Orrin on Twitter @Orrin_Schwarz

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