Women’s Basketball: Morton College’s Jovanna Martinucci, Franchesca Metz ready to ‘show who we are’ at nationals

Franchesca Metz and Jovanna Martinucci both endured their share of trials and tribulations this season.

Metz needed to rediscover her passion for the game as she worked through some things. Martinucci, who starred with Metz at Nazareth, worked her way back from a foot injury that had her in a boot for five months.

They persevered to help reach their sport’s pinnacle.

Under former Montini coach Jason Nichols, Martinucci and Metz helped lead Morton College to its second consecutive Region IV championship and a berth in the NJCAA Division II National Tournament in Port Huron, Michigan.

Seventh-seeded Morton knocked off 10th-seeded Union County (Cranford, New Jersey), 56-52, in its first game of the double-elimination tournament March 15. Morton (28-2), riding a 24-game winning streak, played second-seeded Johnson County from Overland Park, Kansas, on March 16. In the win over Union County, Tadriana Heard led the way with 20 points, Dylan Van Fleet had 12 and Metz and Gianine Boado had eight points each.

Morton also qualified for nationals last year in Nichols’ first season, but was unable to compete because of COVID-19 protocols.

It made this achievement all the more sweet.

“It’s kind of crazy, you know,” Martinucci said. “We were expecting to go last year and to have that happen really sucked and now that we’re going it’s like, ‘Are we really going?’ It doesn’t feel real. It’s kind of weird to be here, but a good weird and exciting.”

Metz and Martinucci are two of the four girls who were on last season’s team, along with former Maine West star Van Fleet and Argo product Heard, the Region IV Player of the Year for the second consecutive season.

Last year’s team was the first in program history to be nationally ranked and won Morton’s first-ever Region IV championship.

“For the four returners it means everything for us to get back down there,” Metz said. “We all had other plans per se going into college and all found Morton as a home. The four of us are super close. We have been super tight since the beginning of last year and all came together. With the huge additions we have this year, it is a huge accomplishment. We’re all excited to prove what we’re made of.”

Metz scored a career-high 29 points for Morton in its 113-59 Region IV Tournament semifinal win over McHenry. Morton beat Black Hawk College from Moline, 101-51, for the region championship.

Nichols said that Metz, after a slow start to the season, has been able to get out of the think mode lately and has been a lot better.

“We’re going to need her,” Nichols said. “There are some bigs on other teams that can’t guard her on the perimeter. She takes a lot of charges, is the steering wheel of our matchup zone, she has length, she does so many little things that people don’t realize. She’s kind of the quiet MVP of the team.”

Metz said she put in a ton of work into her game during the offseason, but was disappointed in her play until the last couple of weeks. She’s found it at the right time, though, and gave kudos to Nichols for his encouragement and the team for picking her up.

“I rediscovered my passion for the game, I guess,” Metz said. “I had to find my way to have fun on the court instead of looking at it as an occupation.”

Martinucci, like Metz, played on the Nazareth team that took second in the state in 2018 and third in 2019. She found her way to Morton College in 2020 after Robert Morris College closed its doors.

At the end of last season, with something on the bottom of her foot nagging her, Martinucci was in a boot for five months. She went to several doctors and took cortisone shots. A doctor told her she had to get vitamin shots for seven weeks.

Finally, exploratory surgery found a nerve at the bottom of the foot misplaced with scar tissue wrapped around. A doctor moved the nerve back and took out scar tissue in an August surgery and she was in therapy for two months.

“It was a lot,” she said. “I try to do the best I can now. I know what my team expects of me. I really just try to do the best I can.”

She’s played catch-up all year and Nichols has had to manage her minutes. But Nichols said Martinucci does stuff that doesn’t show up in the stat book.

“She’s a blue-collar lunch pail kid. She has that value,” Nichols said. “She wins 50/50 balls, plays as hard as she can.”

Morton has not lost since Nov. 18 and has barely been challenged, winning its three regional games by an average margin of 54.3 points.

Its only single-digit win of the season came against Waubonsee, 72-63, on Jan. 4. Morton is second in the country in made 3-pointers, first in the country in attempted 3s and first in defense.

Metz, Martinucci and Van Fleet all have state experience from high school and are in a good place for the national tournament. Martinucci said they’re all going to enjoy the once-in-a-lifetime experience.

“We have nothing to lose,” Metz said. “We know everyone down here is capable of beating us and we are capable of beating anyone. We have to compete our hardest and show everyone what we are made of and who we are.”