Girls basketball notes: Montini’s Victoria Matulevicius passes 1,500 career points, has sights set on state

Victoria Matulevicius said it is hard to process the individual milestone she reached last week.

Which should not surprise.

The Montini senior guard, who scored her 1,500th career point Jan. 30 in a win over Trinity, is focused on team goals.

The Lady Broncos (24-7), who reached a sectional final in Matulevicius’ sophomore season and a supersectional last year, have their sights set squarely on a return to the state tournament. Montini made 10 state appearances between 2008-2020, but hasn’t been back since. Montini is the No. 1 seed in the Class 3A Glenbard South Sectional.

“I feel like since I’ve played at Montini it’s always been what I’ve been looking forward to is reaching that goal,” Matulevicius said. “That is what we are practicing every single day for. All our hard work is being put toward that.”

Montini appears to be rounding into form for a strong run at Redbird Arena.

The Lady Broncos lost four consecutive games in the first two weeks of December, but had dropped only one game since then before losses to Loyola and Benet in the past week. Montini is 15-0 on its home court.

“We had those four losses early in December and I really think that those losses helped us realize what we need to get better at,” Montini coach Shannon Spanos said. “In hindsight, I’m glad to get those early losses out of the way.”

Should Montini put together a deep playoff run, it would allow Matulevicius to move up the program’s career scoring list

She is at 1,577 career points, with the potential of passing Whitney Holloway (1,594) for third all-time at Montini. Matulevicius is 151 away from matching all-time leader Lynette Pestel, so she could conceivably come close if Montini reaches state.

“I would be really happy to do it, but I don’t even know how to put my head around it,” Matulevicius said. “I just think it means that I have done my job for my team that has supported me through everything. Coaches have been supportive teaching me to be the best player and person I can be and being the best human being I could be.”

Matulevicius was averaging 16.0 points through 28 games, her highest scoring average since her freshman year, and is doing so in a more efficient manner.

Matulevicius has made 57% of her shots from inside the 3-point line, her highest percentage over four years, and is shooting far more of those types of shots, almost 100 more than all of last year.

“[1,500 points], it doesn’t just happen. Viki works,” Spanos said. “There are times when she was struggling on the free-throw line and she went in the gym at 5 a.m. to shoot 200 free throws with her father. With Viki, it’s all about the work, the practice and the repetition. She has outworked people and has that type of work ethic, which will help her on the basketball court but also in life.”

Spanos also is proud of how Matulevicius has grown into a well-rounded player and person. Matulevicius is Montini’s leading rebounder at 6.0 per game and her 97 assists and 68 steals are career-bests.

“She is so worried about the team and everything she can do to help the team,” Spanos said. “She has improved so much. Where she was from freshman year to now is incredible, to how she is guarding one of the best players on other teams. She is a complete player.

“What I am most proud of, though, with Viki is she came in freshman year and she was super shy, skinny, humble, never really spoke a lot. She is leaving the program intelligent, outgoing and confident. I’m proud of her as a player but more proud of the person.”

Downers Grove North clinches Silver

Downers Grove North coach Stephan Bolt said the goal of a team is always to win a state championship.

That said, his Lady Trojans checked off a mighty big achievement last week.

Downers Grove North’s 48-40 win over Lyons on Jan. 30 clinched the program’s first West Suburban Silver championship in a full season since 2014. Bolt said his team shared the league title during the shortened COVID-19 season in 2021. The Lady Trojans have had their share of runner-ups in the past decade before taking the gold ring this year.

“It’s an amazing group of kids that have bought into what we’re trying to do,” Bolt said. “They’re cohesive, they care about each other a lot and challenge each other a lot. Winning conference is a byproduct of the work that they do.”

The Lady Trojans, who have not lost since the calendar flipped to 2024 and are on a 12-game winning streak, won their last 10 league games after a 54-34 loss at Glenbard West in the conference opener Dec. 5. That loss came two days after Downers Grove North’s most impressive win of the season over Nazareth.

“They never wavered,” Bolt said. “That was a tough loss to Glenbard West, just like the Schaumburg game [a 49-46 loss Nov. 21) was a tough one. You learn from tough games.”

The pieces have come together and jelled over the course of the season. Bolt said Kaitlyn Parker, who scored 22 points against Lyons, has seen her confidence soar and is playing at a high level. Freshman Campbell Thulin has been outstanding defensively with a basketball IQ that is as impressive as Bolt has ever seen. When Lily Boor tweaked her back, Ann Stephens stepped in and didn’t skip a beat with the game-winner in the first Lyons game. Hope Sebek, who missed most of last season with a torn ACL, has been outstanding in her return.

Bolt said Abby Gross does many things that go overlooked, but is an outstanding defender and much-improved as a ballhandler and facilitator of the team’s offense.

“It’s a group that really believes in each other, a fun group,” Bolt said.

Parker has led the way with a number of huge games, not the least of which was the win over Lyons. She also scored 21 points in a recent win over York.

“She has put in so much work and she loves basketball,” Bolt said. “Early in the season, she wasn’t playing to her potential and that was a bummer, but we were still successful as a team. I give her a ton of credit. She has shown toughness, maturity and growth. Very proud of her.”

Downers Grove North isn’t done.

The Lady Trojans earned the No. 3 seed in the Class 4A Oswego Sectional.

“I think we have a team that can accomplish a nice run,” Bolt said. “We try to keep working hard, stay healthy. We are still striving to be excellent. Hopefully, the trend continues that we play good defense and make shots.”

Playoff seeds

The IHSA recently released girls basketball postseason seeds. Nazareth earned the No. 1 seed in the Class 4A Mother McAuley Sectional, with Lyons the No. 5 seed and Riverside-Brookfield the No. 6 seed. Downers Grove North earned the No. 3 seed and Benet the No. 4 seed in the Class 4A Oswego Sectional, behind top two seeds Bolingbrook and Waubonsie Valley. Wheaton North is the No. 5 seed at the Class 4A Batavia Sectional where the host Bulldogs are No. 1.

In Class 3A, Hinsdale South earned the No. 2 seed in the St. Ignatius Sectional behind Hyde Park. Montini is the No. 1 seed in the Glenbard South Sectional, with Glenbard South No. 3.

In Class 2A, IC Catholic Prep is the No. 1 seed in Sub-Sectional A of the Chicago Julian Sectional.

Milestones

Two other area players reached significant milestones in January. Downers Grove South’s Allison Jarvis and Willowbrook’s Elle Bruschuk each scored their 1,000th career point.