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Montini squeaks out victory over Lyons Twp.

Montini was pushed to the limit on Thursday by Lyons Township and guard Sidney Bugaieski.

But thanks to Aaliyah Patty's standout performance and a strong defense effort down the stretch, the Broncos survived 50-44 to capture the Class 4A Reavis girls basketball regional title.

Top-seeded Montini advances to take on Kenwood in a Proviso West sectional semifinal on Tuesday.

"It was a tough game, it's the playoffs," said Patty, who led all scorers with 25 points to go along with 8 rebounds and 3 steals. "If you get down, you have to fight through it. As Coach (Jason Nichols) says, it's about mental toughness and also defense. No. 22 (Bugaieski) had a great game. We tried to stop her but she hit some good shots. We just had to fight through adversity."

Indeed, Bugaieski was on fire from long range, with the last of her six 3-pointers giving the Lions a 31-28 lead in the third quarter. But Montini answered with a 9-3 run to take a 3-point advantage into the fourth.

Then after LT tied the score at 39 with 6:30 left in the game, the Broncos held the Lions scoreless for nearly five minutes. Illysse Pitts gave Montini the lead for good with a 3-pointer and Patty and Lindsey Jarosinski score 4 points apiece to close it out. Jarosinski finished with 12 points.

"It wasn't the most glamorous win ever," Nichols said, "but we aren't a glamorous team. I thought we did some good things and I thought we did some things poorly. Aaliyah came up huge and Lindsey had 12. They scored 37 of our 50.

"We found a way to win. You know what, we've been in a ton of close games this year and we have been really good in close games."

Lyons (18-10) also received 7 points from Kaelan Lee.

"As a coach, the goal is to play your best ball at the end of the year," said Lyons coach Paul Krick. "We haven't been clicking in all cylinders, but tonight was one of those times, they call it in sports, being in a zone. I think the girls wanted to earn respect against a very good team who they felt they could beat. I'm so happy with how they competed."

Montini played without starting point guard Sam Mitchell, who has been sidelined with an ankle injury. The Broncos improved to 30-2, reaching the 30-win plateau for the ninth straight year under Nichols.

"It's always special to play in games like this," Patty said. "It's the best part of the season. But we still have a long way to go, a long road ahead of us. And we still have to improve."

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