Lyons Township High School senior Izzy Lee was named second-team all-tournament at the Montini Christmas Girls Basketball Tournament after the Lions posted a 2-1 record in the round-robin affair.

The Lions (14-3) finished impressively by beating Montini 61-43 on Dec. 30 after losing to tournament champion Naperville North 66-57 on Dec. 29 and beating Taft 71-12 on Dec. 28. With teams dropping out of the tournament due to COVID-19 outbreaks, the format became round robin. LTHS received a first-round bye after its first-round opponent, Trinity High School, withdrew.

“With Naperville North, we just didn’t quite execute the way we should have,” LTHS coach Meghan Hutchens said. 

“Montini was a great shooting game for us. I was glad to see them bounce back [from the Naperville North loss] and compete against a good team and control the majority of that game.”

An Illinois soccer recruit, the 6-foot Lee collected 32 points over the three games and 23 rebounds in the final two. Lee had 17 points, 15 rebounds and five assists against Naperville North and was instrumental in the Lions achieving their pre-game goal of winning the rebound battle. 

Ella Ormsby’s 15 points on five three-pointers exemplified the Lions’ strong offensive showing against Montini. Ormsby added to one of her best all-around showings with nine rebounds, four assists and three steals. 

Olivia Mezan also scored 15 against the Broncos, followed by Ally Cesarini (12 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists) and Hailey Markworth (9 points). 

Cesarini added 14 points against Naperville North. Markworth (14 points, 5 steals), Ormsby (13 points, 5 assists, 4 steals), Mezan (12 points), Cesarini (11 points) and Lee and Elin O’Brien (9 points each) led the victory against Taft.

The Riverside-Brookfield High School girls (7-9) finished 12th at the Sandburg Tournament by beating Hammond (Ind.) Central 67-39 Dec. 28.

The Bulldogs were forced to scramble to find a holiday tournament spot at all, after a tournament they were set to host at RBHS was called off when several teams withdrew due to COVID-19 outbreaks.