Montini’s bid for first sectional title falls short

CHICAGO – Montini once again made the trek to the west side of Chicago Friday night to Christ the King to face the hosts in the program’s second ever sectional title game and first since 1983.

Fifth-year Broncos coach Adam DeMong gave credit to a strong schedule that featured seven opponents who also were playing for a sectional title: Rolling Meadows and Loyola (Class 4A), Brother Rice, DePaul Prep, Mt. Carmel, and St. Laurence (3A), plus Unity Christian (1A).

“Our season this year prepared us,” DeMong said. “We’ve played toe to toe with some really great teams for maybe 2, 2½ quarters. We couldn’t finish against the 3A and 4A teams, but we beat a lot of the teams that in years past we haven’t beaten. We got over the hump this year.

“This team is different. I’m excited to be playing this time of year.”

They would go up against a Gladiators team that entered as winners of 11 in a row and was at full strength after having three players suspended from their semifinal win over Chicago Crane after receiving a technical foul in the regional championship.

As a result of their ability to keep their poise, Christ the King was able to withstand a fourth-quarter charge by Montini to pull away 44-28 and capture its first sectional crown in front of a standing-room-only crowd in the Class 2A Christ the King Sectional final.

The Gladiators (25-9) advance to Monday’s Sterling Supersectional to face Marengo Sectional winner Rock Falls (25-8), a 49-43 winner over Princeton.

“Thank God,” an emotional Gladiators coach Troy Caldwell exclaimed as he was crying tears of joy while being surrounded by his team and fans alike as they began to cut down the nets.

“We’re resilient and tough. I love them. They mean everything to me. I’m proud of our kids. I’m proud of our program. It’s been a long time coming.“

Christ the King saw its nine-point lead cut to three on the third of senior forward Drew Church’s four 3-pointers, making it a 26-23 game with 4:45 left.

But back-to-back baskets by 6-foot-6 senior Aaron McClure (game-high 13 points, 13 rebounds), including a slam off a rebound brought the Gladiators’ lead back to 32-23 with 2:25 remaining.

After Church (team-high 12 points) hit from beyond the arc for a fourth and final time to close Montini within 32-26, a series of technicals were called against the Broncos. It started with a pair assessed to the bench that turned the tide in the host’s favor as 6-4 senior Darien Green (11 points) connected on a pair of free throws that commenced a 12-2 surge to put the game on ice.

Montini (21-12) would get no closer than 34-28 on a pair of technical free throws by junior Robert Sansone (seven points) with 2:12 to play before the Gladiators scored the final 10 points of the night, including another pair of slams by McClure.

Church, an Eastern Illinois baseball recruit, praised his teammates’ effort as well as his coach for getting the most of them.

“We were all connected,” Church said. “It was a big team (that) sadly came up a little short. Our coach, we love him. He always pushed us to our limit to work hard.”

DeMong returned the compliment in kind to his team.

“It’s been a fun run and we just did it day by day,” DeMong said. “We had kids that cared and did extra (work). We had leadership and belief and connectiveness, and those things matter.”