St. Francis scores a big win vs. Montini Wheaton Academy triumphs.(Sports) - Daily Herald (Arlington Heights, IL)

Byline: David Oberhelman Daily Herald Sports Writer

Over the past two seasons, St. Francis coach Mike Harper has often lamented that his team doesn't play as big as it is.

He had no complaints Friday against Montini.

The Spartans, capitalizing on major size advantages, owned the paint, boards and momentum against their Suburban Catholic rival, winning 70-50 at St. Francis' Slant Dome in Wheaton.

The two combatants, who fought a war that featured a technical foul and an intentional foul, are now tied atop the SCC each with 5-1 records. They shared the title last year at 10-4.

Harper has the luxury of a starting five that goes 6-7, 6-6, 6- 5, 6-4 and 6-1. He wasn't sure it would matter, even if the tallest player Montini coach Tom McCloskey had was 6-foot-2 Kurt Laurinaitis.

'I saw them beat Providence,' Harper said. 'You talk about size, Providence has a 6-10 kid (Michael Thompson) going to Duke. I thought, 'Yeah, we're big too, but Montini sure as heck didn't have any problem with them.' I was worried about us getting blown out.'

Harper hedged that his 'best-case scenario' would be a squeaker, but St. Francis' (8-4) inside strength laid that to rest.

The Spartans shot 55 percent (26-of-47) from the floor to Montini's 28 percent (18-65).

Led by 6-7 Matt Henning's 10 boards and 9 apiece from 6-6 Mike Henning and 6-4 Sean Farrell, St. Francis outrebounded Montini (10- 3) 36-25.

'They hit their shots, they moved the ball well, they got some transition baskets in the secondary break,' McCloskey said. 'We shot the ball well in the first few minutes, then things just didn't fall for us. We'll be alright.'

The Broncos looked alright to start, matching St. Francis by making their first four shots.

Montini, behind 6 of Justin Mamula's team-high 16 points, weathered St. Francis' power to trail 21-15 after a quarter.

The Broncos forced 4 turnovers in the first three minutes of the second quarter and used treys from Ryan Neill (8 points) and Joe Gay (13) to cap a 10-4 run and for a 25-25 tie with 3:34 before halftime.

Mike Henning (24 points) countered with 7 straight points to help St. Francis close the half on a 9-1 run to lead 34-26.

Against a team that averaged 84 points in its last three games, that wasn't enough.

So St. Francis started the second half on a 12-3 run to go up 44-29, indicating this could be the Spartans' night.

'We not only got the scores, but we established that we were still going to be able to go inside and attack the basket,' Harper said.

St. Francis, which got 19 points by Matt Henning and 10 by Mike Barz, led 52-39 after three quarters. The Spartans eventually built a 67-45 lead.

'We had a loss to Marian Central Catholic and that was kind of disappointing,' Barz said. 'We wanted to show them that we can still control our own destiny.'

Wheaton Academy 63, Nazareth 56

Defense and finishing strong. Sounds a little basic, but it's paying big dividends for Wheaton Academy of late.

The Warriors used strong defense and a 15-2 run to close out Friday's Private School League contest in West Chicago. The late charge powered the Warriors (8-4, 4-2) to a 63-56 defeat of Nazareth Academy, giving the hosts six wins in their last seven games.

Wheaton Academy had led 36-30 at the half and by 8 points in the third quarter before the Roadrunners (6-8, 3-3) went ahead 54-48 after Matt Wilkinson nailed a 3-pointer with 5:50 left to play in the fourth quarter.

But stingy defense, strong inside play and clutch free-throw shooting down the stretch carried Wheaton Academy to victory.

'When we play Nazareth, it's always a battle,' Warriors coach Andy Euler said. 'I was real pleased with the defensive effort overall. I thought we had good intensity.'

For much of the night the Warriors defense looked in control and limited the Roadrunners to just 11-of-28 shooting in the first half. But speedy guard Marcus Theus tallied 9 of his team-high 18 points as Nazareth used a 20-12 edge in the third quarter to take a 50-48 lead heading into the final stanza.

But Theus did not score in the fourth quarter and after Wilkinson's three had given the visitors a 6-point lead, the Warriors went on their 15-2 run to take command of the contest.

Wheaton Academy guard Jon Nielson hit all 6 of his foul shots down the stretch to finish with a game-high 21 points. Center Jim Fortosis finished with 16 points, 6 rebounds and a block despite picking up his third foul early in the third quarter.

'We felt like we played a pretty good first half,' said Nielson, who had 13 points in the first half. 'In the second half our defense broke down a bit, but we turned it around. We won it with good fundamental defense. We've been concentrating on ending well, and we did a good job of that tonight.'

Forward Noah Ritchie added 12 points and 3 assists for Wheaton Academy and sent the home crowd home happy with a slam dunk at the buzzer.

Guard Laron Reed joined Theus in double figures with 11 points for the Roadrunners.

- Stan Goff

Lisle 75, Plano 51

The host Lions (11-1) cruised to the Interstate Eight win, staying unbeaten in the conference at 5-0.

Five players hit double figures for Lisle, which burst out to a 23-12 lead after one quarter.

The Lions' Terence Parker scored a team-high 15 points. Tom Buchholz and Joe Cortez added 14, while Ryan Ohman tallied 10 points.

Plano fell to 7-6 overall and 2-3 in the IEC.

Driscoll 48, Immaculate Conception 47

The Highlanders pulled out a Suburban Catholic Conference barn- burner in Elmhurst as eight players scored in a balanced effort for Driscoll (4-11, 3-3 SCC).

Sophomore Greg Turner scored 12 points to lead Driscoll. Tom Hagerty led all scorers for Immaculate Conception (5-12, 1-5) with 20 points, while Ricky Riggs added 10 points.

Glenbard West 49, Willowbrook 37

Ryan Edwards was the lone player in double figures for the victorious Hilltoppers (9-3) in a West Suburban crossover in Glen Ellyn.

Edwards scored 11 points, while Tony Battee led Willowbrook (7- 9) with 12 points.

Girls basketball

Neuqua 53, Streamwood 24

The Wildcats improved their Upstate Eight Conference record to 6-0 (16-3 overall), topping Streamwood 53-24 Friday evening.

'After two losses, it's great to comeback and win,' said Wildcats coach Mike Williams, whose team fell to West Chicago and Benet in the Naperville North/Benet tournament. 'The team stayed positive and everyone contributed.'

One major contribution came from senior Liz Muri, who came off the bench to score 10 points for the Wildcats. Starter Cassandra Stark also added 10 points and shot a perfect 4-4 from the free throw line. 'We wanted to play a half-court, very offensive game,' Williams said, 'They really stepped it up.'

Neuqua definitely kept the pressure on the Sabres (4-2, 6-10) holding them to only 8 points in the first half while tallying 29 points against them.

'We missed outside shots, and that allowed them to run,' said Streamwood coach George Rosner.

Geneva 58, Fenton 28

Geneva ran their Suburban Prairie Red record to 4-1 with the victory. Becky Adorable led Fenton (5-13, 0-6) with 9 points.

'We're struggling right now, obviously,' Fenton coach Tim Anderson said. 'We lack a lot of experience, a lot of savvy.'