By Bobby Narang –
Montini Catholic High School girls basketball head coach Jason Nichols didn’t want to make any excuses.
After Maine West rode a dominating first quarter to a 61-34 blowout victory over Montini at the Chicagoland Invitational Showcase at Benet Academy Saturday evening, Nichols made a point to emphasize his team must get better.
“We had a game plan and we knew they would run the floor, but (Montini players) didn’t follow the game plan,” Nichols said.
“It wasn’t from a lack of us (coaches) telling them. We didn’t execute. We knew what they were going to do. We fell behind early, and we had a good second quarter. But we didn’t do anything (after halftime). We have to practice better.”
Under Nichols, the Lady Broncos rarely lose, let alone suffer a blowout defeat. The Lady Broncos entered the season with their usual high expectations in spite of a roster loaded with freshmen and sophomores.
But the hard-driving Nichols already has managed to wring out victory after victory from his young team, even though they annually play one of the toughest schedules in the State.
The Lady Broncos, 17-3, have lost two of their games to last year’s Class 3A State runnerup Nazareth, and Maine West is one of the favorites to win the this year’s Class 4A State tournament championship, especially after winning their 19th in a row of the season Saturday.
Maine West junior forward Angela Dugalic and senior forward Rachel Kent made a combined 33 points and 17 rebounds. Dugalic, a 6-4 multi-dimensional threat with multiple Division I offers, said Maine West took a big step by beating the Lady Broncos, who finished second in Class 4A State tournament last season.
“This was a big win,” Dugalic said. “We made a statement. Montini is a really good team. I think they sort of underestimated us.”