Montini swarms Rockford Boylan

Stifling, harassing, pressure.

Pick any of those words to describe Montini's defensive effort in a 70-52 win over Rockford Boylan in a Class 3A Hampshire girls basketball sectional semifinal Tuesday night.

The Broncos (29-4) will play Sycamore for the sectional title at 7 p.m. Thursday.

Montini forced 26 Titans turnover and turned 15 into layup baskets.

"We turned them over a lot in the first half and got easy baskets, but we are out of position a lot," said Montini coach Jason Nichols. "We went to more of a half-court defense in the second half and played it very well. We held Boylan to 20 points in the second half. I am very pleased with that effort.

Holding a slim 5-point 37-32 advantage at halftime, the Broncos seized control of the game to start the third quarter.

Spearheaded by 6 points from Tatiana Thomas and layups by Madisyn Sarraco and Angelina Giordano, the Broncos began the second half on a 10-0 run and led 47-32 with 5:52 left in the third quarter.

The first points for Boylan (24-9) came on a putback by Payton Kennedy with 4:22 left in the quarter to make the score 47-34.

Propelled by 12 points from Thomas in the quarter, the Broncos led 60-43 after 24 minutes of action.

Montini's biggest lead of the game was 64-43 with 5:46 remaining on a 3 by senior guard Sydney Prochaska.

Despite making only 3 of 25 shots from 3-point range, the Broncos carved out an 18-point win.

"We had any 3-point look we wanted all night long," Nichols said. "We have to do a better job of making them Thursday,"

Thomas was the lone Bronco in double digits with 24 points.

Kennedy, who is headed to St. Louis University, ended her senior season with 30 points, 17 rebounds and 3 assists.