Girls Basketball: Tatiana Thomas shows her improved toughness, helps power Montini past Geneva

LOMBARD – Tatiana Thomas has heard her fair share of constructive criticism from Montini coach Jason Nichols.

"Honestly, my first six-seven games, [I] wasn't playing very well. I actually love it when he tells me that I'm doing bad," Thomas said. "It motivates me to please him."

Thomas, a sophomore, has begun to blossom in her second year on varsity. After a slow start to the season, Thomas is exerting a toughness on the court that perhaps wasn't seen at the beginning.

She took another step Friday in helping lead Montini past Geneva 47-33 and into the semifinals of the Montini Christmas Tourney.

"She's a tough kid," Nichols said. "And, she was not like that earlier in the year. She's been progressing in that right direction. We need that. We need somebody who's an enforcer because we don't have that."

The turning point, perhaps, could be pointed to that constructive criticism.

"I think I told her she stunk, she got mad and now she's pretty good," Nichols said. "I think it's [just] that simple. I told her that she stunk probably 100 times. I think on the hundredth, she said 'this is enough; I got to get better.'"

Montini (16-0) advances to Saturday's semifinal to play Evanston at 8:15 p.m. Geneva (10-1) will face Bolingbrook.

Thomas got the upper hand in a marquee matchup with Geneva's Lindsay Blackmore, a Colgate recruit. Thomas scored a game-high 17 points, while the collective Broncos defensive effort frustrated Blackmore to just two points on 1-of-13 shooting from the field.

Blackmore, coming off a 29-point performance against York, still found ways to be productive despite the cold shooting with 11 rebounds.

"Shots weren't falling, so I was just trying to [buckle down] on the defensive end," Blackmore said. "Get some rebounds and play physical in the post...[I've] kind of got to do the other things. Points aren't the only thing thing that matter in a game, so got to do whatever else you can."

In a largely spirited defensive struggle, Montini pulled away in the fourth quarter and built a 47-29 advantage on Sydney Prochaska's three-pointer with 2:36 remaining. Kate Palmer and Cassidy Arni each split a pair of free throws for the Vikings before Arni closed it out with another pair of free throws.

Arni, a freshman, added 11 points and five rebounds off the bench for the Vikings. Palmer heated up in the third quarter with eight of her 11 points.

Prochaska had nine points and five rebounds for the Broncos.

The two programs have recent history, as Geneva beat Montini 28-26 two years ago in the Class 4A state championship. Montini beat Geneva in a memorable 2017 Montini tournament championship game.

"Me and [Geneva coach] Sarah Meadows have a lot of respect for each other," Nichols said. "She's one of the best coaches around; she really is. She gets a lot out of her kids."

"I felt going in, I thought we were a little bit better than them, but guess what? that doesn't mean anything because when you play her teams, they're going to be right there," Nichols continued. They battle, they scratch, they claw; she's tough. She's a great coach."

For the Vikings, Friday's loss and overall tenure at the Montini tournament presents a solid self-check at the near halfway mark of the season.

"We just told our kids we [were] right there," Meadows said. "This is exactly why we're in this tournament: to learn; to see where we got to get better."

• Benet earlier defeated Hersey 52-42, and will face Lake Forest in the semifinals. Brooke Schramek led the Redwings with 16 points, while Allison Forney and Kendall Holmes each had eight points.