Girls Basketball: Shea Carver, NIU recruit Shannon Blacher team up up to send Montini past Trinity

LOMBARD – Montini senior Shannon Blacher spent a lot of time working with sophomore Shea Carver over the summer.

The goal was to get Carver ready for a starting role.

“Shea has gained a lot of confidence and skill since last year,” Blacher said. “Last year she was a freshman, so she wasn’t really confident on the varsity floor.

“This year she just knows she has a big role on the court. I always try to look for her as a shooter because I know she’ll hit a good shot.”

Carver hit a lot of good shots on Wednesday, frequently off feeds from Blacher. The 5-foot-8 guard sank four of Montini’s six 3-pointers – Blacher had the other two – and scored a career-high 18 points as the Broncos edged Trinity 41-38 in the quarterfinals of the Montini Christmas Tournament.

Montini (10-2) will play Nazareth (12-1) in the semifinals at 6:30 p.m. Thursday.

Carver did most of her damage from the corners, teaming up with Blacher, who had 11 points, five assists and four rebounds. Blacher would drive the lane or flash underneath the basket and kick it to Carver, who usually was open.

“We work on that a lot,” Carver said. “We train together, so we practice a lot.”

The pair took turns creating for one another during a key sequence in the second quarter. Carver found Blacher for a 3-pointer out of the right corner and on the next possession, Blacher returned the favor as Carver connected from the same spot as the Broncos opened up a 19-10 lead.The strategy continued to work on the first two possessions of the third quarter as the NIU-bound Blacher assisted on two more Carver treys, one from the left corner and one from the right. That gave Montini its largest lead, 27-12.

“It made our team get more confident in our offense and helped us build up,” Carver said. “Then we all got confidence and were able to get shots up.”

As Montini’s only senior starter, Blacher is expected to be the leading scorer. Opponents know this, and Blacher knows they know it, so she adjusts accordingly. Thus, the frequent drive-and-kicks.

“I usually try to look for that because some teams look at me as more of a driver,” Blacher said. “So when my teammates are in the corner, I like to give it to them because I know they all can hit it.”

That’s what Montini coach Shannon Spanos likes to see.

“Shannon is that type of player where people have to respect her and when she draws defenders, people are wide open,” Spanos said. “So the fact that Shea can knock down 3s and be a sharp-shooter like that is great.

“We preach unselfish play. So if people are wide open, then players like Shannon and Vicky (Matulevicius) will feed people and we’ve got kids who will knock down 3s.”

Montini’s six 3-pointers proved to be decisive, as they were three more than Trinity made. Sophia Rodriguez accounted for all of Trinity’s treys during a furious rally, with her final one pulling the Blazers (10-4) within 40-38 with 18.4 seconds left in the fourth quarter.

“We played really well in the first three quarters,” Spanos said. “The last quarter, we just have to learn to take care of the ball and limit our turnovers.”

Blacher split a pair of free throws with 8.4 seconds left. Rodriguez’s contested game-tying 3-point attempt rimmed out and Alyssa Epps got a jump ball on the rebound to give Montini possession and a berth in the semifinals.

“It felt good to hit the second (free throw),” Blacher said. “We were all confident in each other that we could play defense and get a stop and secure the game.”