Montini pulls off upset of Marmion

Updated: March 23, 2011 9:30AM

Outdueled by a scrappy Montini squad Saturday night, the Marmion Academy Cadets fell 56-53 in a Suburban Christian Conference matchup.

The conference victory was the first in two seasons for the Broncos, whoturned the defensive screws on the Cadets. Marmion, who slipped to 10-11 overall and 7-4 SPC, blasted the Broncos (5-13, 1-7) by 22 points earlier in the season.

"This was a special, special moment for everyone of my boys," Montini coach Brian Opoka said. "They executed the game plan to a T, and once we got the lead that we earned in the third quarter the kids ran the offense to a T.

"We were very fortunate to hit our free throws and reduce our turnovers - things that hurt us early in the season - and we're maturing."

The Broncos seemed to grow up as the game progressed. They trailed 18-10 late in the first quarter, but a four-point play to close the frame swung the momentum in their favor.

Jon Gibbs sank a trey from the top of the key as the horn sounded and hit his freebee trimming the deficit to 18-14.

While the Cadets led 33-28 in the third stanza, the Broncos never wavered. Packey Barrett (four of five from beyond the arc) swished a triple and Tyshawn Johnsonhit a pair of field goals and two free throws for a 37-36 edge with 3:02 left in the quarter. Marmion was unable to regain the lead, and Montini dictated the tempo for the remainder.

"We were able to rise to the occasion, and our kids didn't back down," Opoka said. "We were able to control the tempo the way we wanted to do things."

Barrett ended the third quarter with a 3-pointer from the corner as time expired and Montini led 46-41 heading into the final frame. A basket in the lane by Nick Scoliere at the 3:14 mark inched the Cadets within two points (49-47), but the Broncos sank seven of eight attempts from the charity stripe in the final 2:00 to seal the upset.

"Defense was our struggle, and offensively we took some uncharacteristic shots," said Marmion coach Ryan Paradise. "We're an inconsistent ball club right now and that's why we're .500. But we just seemed to be a step slow defensively on our rotations."

Four Broncos reached double figures. Barrett (12 points) and Johnson (10 points) provided a huge lift off the bench while James Miller added 10 and Richard Bodee notched 12. Miller canned three free throw shots down the stretch, and Bodee buried a triple early in the fourth quarter that kept Marmion at arm's length.

Mark Berdelle led the Cadets with 14 points and seven rebounds while Eddy Grahovec scored 13 points (10 in the first quarter) and hauled in eight rebounds. Scoliere chipped in seven points and four assists.

"Confidence is amazing in basketball, and when you have the momentum and confidence playing off that, they let it carry them," Paradise said. "And we didn't have that toughness in the second half to dig in and get it back."

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