Montini's 'I want the ball' mindset leads to win against Mother McAuley

Montini's Peyton Farrell didn’t start her senior season as strongly as she would have liked. She had trouble finishing in the paint while also assuming a role in the starting lineup, an adjustment that would be tough on any player.

Playing a key role on a Montini team with high expectations can be difficult, but Farrell said the support of her teammates and coaches helped her as she acclimated. Farrell is also playing more of a forward rather than on the perimeter, as she’s more used to. However, throughout her struggles, persistence helped her battle through it.

That support was vindicated after Farrell’s 22-point, eight-rebound performance in Montini’s 59-42 win over Mother McAuley.

Montini (7-3, 2-0) won Tuesday’s game against Mother McAuley (8-4, 2-1) not by playing the prettiest brand of basketball — save for Missouri commit Nikki Kerstein’s offensive brilliance — but by outhustling and outworking the Mighty Macs.

“It starts with rebounding drill after rebounding drill [in practice],” Farrell said. “Having that grit and ‘I want the ball’ mentality is a huge part of why we won tonight.”

A Broncos player seemingly corralled every loose ball and rebound and Farrell was in the mix for the majority of them. Despite not sporting prototypical size for a forward, she still grabbed eight rebounds — and to think, Farrell grew up playing more as a perimeter player.

Farrell guarded the Mighty Macs’ Taji Alexa — who’s one of the best scorers in the Girls Catholic Athletic Conference — and held her to 14 points.

And while Farrell admitted it’s been an adjustment to playing in the paint, she’s taken her lumps in stride. Coach Shannon Spanos said the team is “hard on her in practice” and hit her with pads to help improve her finishing through contact.

“I was a little frustrated, but it's all about consistency and repetition,” Farrell said. “In practice, all I was doing was trying to focus on just lay up after layup, shot after shot.

With the Broncos returning just one starter from last year’s team that finished third in the IHSA Class 4A state playoffs, they wouldn’t be able to lean on experience. Instead, there’s grit and determination that fuels this Broncos team.

“We talk about it in practice all the time, about those second-chance points and just giving 100% effort at all times,” said Kerstein, who finished with 22 points and seven rebounds. “We were able to do those things and give ourselves second-chance opportunities that were big for us and impacted the game in a huge way.”

The Broncos out-rebounded Mother McAuley 30-19. The Broncos chased down any loose ball, giving them endless opportunities to get baskets. Their defense was also smothering, blanketing Mother McAuley and holding the team to five first-quarter points.

When Mother McAuley threatened to make another run in the fourth quarter after a quick 5-0 run, Spanos subbed Farrell in after only over a minute of rest. In the third quarter, the Mighty Macs started making a run after forcing two turnovers, and Farrell was able to quell their momentum by scoring off a putback.

Farrell’s season has mirrored her team’s start to the season in many ways, dealing with the ebbs and flows. Tuesday's win was important for Montini as it attempted to right the ship in conference play and heading into its Christmas tournament.

“We had some ups and downs and some tough losses that we probably shouldn’t have had, but we just do a good job of riding it out as a team and buying into everything that our coach tells us,” Kerstein said.