Bobby Mersch said he wasn’t overly concerned that he and his teammates couldn’t find their usually steady outside touch in the first half Monday against St. Francis.
The Broncos were bound to get hot sooner or later, Mersch said, and he was right. After missing all 11 three-point attempts in the first half and shooting at a 36 percent clip, fifth-seeded Montini found its touch to upend fourth-seeded St. Francis 60-56 in the first round of the Timothy Christian Class A regional.
Montini (23-3), which had split its Suburban Catholic Conference games against St. Francis (17-8) during the regular season, advances to play top-seeded Westmont on Wednesday.
“I don’t know what it was,” said Mersch, who scored all 11 of his points in the second half. “We usually come out flat, but we always have a big run sometime during the game. It happened to come in the third quarter.”
Trailing the much bigger Spartans 27-24 at halftime, Montini went on a 12-0 run midway through the third quarter to lead 38-31. Mersch gave the Broncos their permanent lead after he stole a pass and went in to convert a three-point play, giving his team a 33-31 advantage with 4 minutes 13 seconds remaining.
Montini made 7-of-12 shots in the third quarter, including its only three-pointers of the game. Tyler Neill led four Broncos in double figures with 14 points. Ryan Neill and Justin Mamula each added 11. Mersch sealed the game by making 5-of-6 free throws in the final minute.
“I think both teams were feeling the start of the state tournament jitters,” said Montini coach Tom McCloskey, whose team edged out St. Francis for the Suburban Catholic championship. “I told the kids at halftime that we live by our runs.”
St. Francis, which starts four players 6 feet 4 inches or taller, were ultimately undone by 19 turnovers, including a costly steal by Joe Gay (nine points) with a minute remaining. Gay proceeded to make two free throws to give Montini a 55-50 lead.
Matt Henning led St. Francis with 18 points and 18 rebounds. His twin brother, Mike, scored 10 of his 15 points in the fourth quarter and Sean Farrell added 15 points and 12 rebounds.
“It came down to we had a few too many turnovers,” said St. Francis coach Mike Harper.
— Sean Duncan
Class A regionals
Bishop McNamara: Jeff Meyer netted 17 points and Rich Denning added 12 in Manteno’s 52-51 come-from-behind win over Grant Park. Manteno (12-14) trailed 35-30 after three quarters, but outscored Grant Park 22-16 in the final frame for the win. Adam Luhman had 14 points for the Dragons (12-14).
Dwight: Coal City (13-12) beat Gardner-South Wilmington 62-53 behind Ben Wills’ 22 points and Blake Dankovich’s 14. Tom Weathers put in 24 points to lead Gardner-South Wilmington (12-13). . . . Reed-Custer (18-8) romped past Wilmington 92-59 as Bobby Cuddy netted 19 points and Mike Grimes added 18. Bob Tarman led Wilmington (9-15) with 22 points.
Evergreen Park: Adam Shears had 16 points to lead Luther South (7-17) past Illiana Christian 52-43. Brandon Boomsma’s 17 points paced Illiana (5-19).
Hales Franciscan: Staton Harris scored 15 points as Hales (19-10) cruised past Cristo Rey 89-41. Roger Escamilla led Cristo Rey (7-15) with 18 points . . . . Cestor Morin scored 15 points as Quigley edged North Lawndale 59-51.
Kirkland Hiawatha: Oregon slipped past Winnebago 54-45 behind Matt Kalnins’ 14 points. . . . Adam Bailey scored 15 points in Byron’s 78-59 defeat of Kirkland Hiawatha.
LaMoille: Mendota breezed past Leland 56-39 as Jared Wise scored 19 points. Joel Thomas’ 21 points led Leland.
Luther North: Northridge Prep (19-10) blasted Immaculate Conception 75-47 behind Jim Nash’s 29 points and Steve Samikkannu’s 15 points and 14 assists. Ricky Riggs scored 16 points to lead Immaculate Conception. . . . Walther Lutheran (21-5) blew past Scholastic Achievement 71-57 as Bo Flowers tallied 29 points and Garvis Childs added 18. Randy Lyles netted 38 points for Scholastic (15-4).
Marengo: Luke Commare put in 17 points as Marian Central downed Genoa-Kingston 64-48. Jeff Rich scored 14 points for Genoa.
North Boone: Harvard tipped South Beloit 58-56 behind Adam Cahill’s 19 points. Jacob Dunkel paced South Beloit with 17 points.
St. Gregory: Patrick Luna poured in 33 points and Josh Gilardon added 20 as St. Benedict (12-16) routed St. Gregory 65-42. Harvey Stone’s 15 points led St. Gregory (5-24). . . . Josh Robinson scored 26 points as Ida Crown (22-1) routed Waldorf 92-23.
Varna Midland: Jason Kyle’s 15 points led Varna Midland to a 65-40 defeat of Serena. Eric Schrader netted 13 points for Serena. . . . Josh Eddy put in 40 points as Newark rolled past Streator Woodland 91-56.
