ELMHURST – Cameron Christie and Rolling Meadows got off to a great start in round one of the 48th annual Jack Tosh Holiday Classic in York at Elmhurst on Monday.
Christie had 26 points, 13 rebounds and three assists in just over three quarters of the game as the top-seeded Mustangs beat Montini 72-43.
“We wanted to make sure we took everyone seriously in this tournament,” said Christie, who was 9 of 15 from the field and 7 of 9 from outside the arc.
“As the tournament goes on, it’s going to get harder and harder, so you don’t want to take any team for granted. We don’t want to have offside games.”
Rolling Meadows (12-1), which is the top seed in the 32-team tournament, played like that from the first tip. The Mustangs took an 8-0 lead thanks to a pair of 3-pointers from Christie.
With their 6-foot-7 duo of Mark Nikolich-Wilson (16 points, 5 rebounds) and Foster Ogbonna (8 points, 10 rebounds, 7 assists) a force on the inside, Meadows has been tough on both ends of the basket.
Ian Miletic had 9 points and Jack Duffer added six points while Tsvet Sotirov played for the first time since suffering an ankle injury Dec. 9 against Hersey.
“I think it’s good to get a win like this to start the tournament,” said Nikolich-Wilson, who was 7 of 8 from the field and barely played in the second half because he’s struggling. against a cold.
“We did not anticipate. It’s tomorrow. It’s fun to win games, but it’s fun to play tough competition outside of our conference.
Despite being the tournament’s top seed, Meadows’ path to the championship might be the most difficult of the tournament.
The Mustangs meet St. Patrick on Tuesday at 5 p.m. The Shamrocks defeated Glenbard North 64-52 and are ranked among the best teams in the Chicago area.
A win over St. Pat’s puts Rolling Meadows in the quarter-finals, most likely against Glenbrook South, a team Meadow beat earlier this season.
“It was a good first game for us,” Mustangs coach Kevin Katovich said. “For me, it’s the best tournament in the state. Of how it is executed. Just the 32 teams from top to bottom. Everyone is here. It’s fun and good to play against teams like that.
Katovich said that part of his schedule begins at a time when the Mustangs are beefing up their non-conference schedule.
“We have a nice streak with those games,” Katovich said. “And then we come back and play Joliet West a week later.”
Montini (3-9) was led by Tyler Pavlik who had 13 points and Maxwell Bell with 10 points.
“We didn’t come here thinking they weren’t really good,” Montini coach Adam DeMong said. “Their program was designed for this. Our program is still under construction. There are going to be some rough nights. If we face very good teams, I expect that we want to play. And there were times when I loved what we were doing and times when we’re still figuring it out.
https://basketball.dailyherald.com/sports/20221226/rolling-meadows-domine-montini-in-tosh-opener/