St. Edward junior Ben Zielinski likes the ball in his hands during crunchtime.
“I like putting myself in those tough situations,” he said. “I like to have confidence in myself in those situations and try to help our team get the win.”
Zielinski didn’t need much help Tuesday night in the fourth quarter against Montini.
The 5-foot-11 guard scored 10 points during a decisive run in the final eight minutes, lifting the host Green Wave to a 49-44 nonconference victory.
Sure enough, Zielinski converted a 3-pointer to start the 15-4 burst for St. Edward (10-5). He also had a layup off a steal and shot 5 of 6 from the free-throw line to clinch the win.
“They left me open most of the time, so I’ll take it,” he said.
Montini (4-6) actually started off the fourth quarter with a 6-0 run in taking a 39-34 lead, but the Green Wave went to work from there.
Zielinski and Robert Wilson hit back-to-back 3-pointers to give St. Edward a 40-39 lead.
The Broncos briefly took the lead back, but seven points from Zielinski and a pair of free throws from Wilson helped keep Montini at bay.
“In the fourth, we were trying to limit our turnovers and look for good shots,” Zielinski said. “We were just working on beating them to spots and not giving up drives because they were getting that early in the game.
“We just really focused on not giving that up and making them shoot to beat us. I was really impressed with the guys.”
Every time the Green Wave fell behind, they had an answer. Montini opened a 26-18 lead to start the third quarter and St. Edward responded with a 12-2 surge.
Jacob Breier and Carson Busto scored all 12 points in the run. Neither player scored a point in the first half.
“I thought our kids played with a lot of heart,” St. Edward coach Andy Zielinski said. “We were telling them, ‘Just trust the offense.’ We challenged them. Montini just beat St. Ignatius.
“I told them, ‘They’re really good and we have to have a solid effort.’ We can’t beat really good teams and score 70 with them. We’re not that kind of team. I think our kids are buying into that. It was a really nice win.”
Andrew Stokes led all scorers with 18 points for Montini.
Ben Zielinski finished with 16 points to pace St. Edward. Wilson added 13.
It’s the second varsity season that Ben Zielinski has played for his father.
“He’s been coaching me throughout my whole career,” Ben said. “It was weird at first, but you start getting used to it after a while.”
Andy Zielinski said much of their communication is of the nonverbal variety.
“I’ll just look at him if he’s not doing something,” Andy said. “He’s a good athlete, tough kid. He does a lot of things, assists, ballhandling.”
The senior class is Andy Zielinski’s first to be with him all four years at St. Edward.
He confirmed wins like Tuesday against Montini and a Dec. 11 win over Bishop McNamara show the message is working.
“They were winning at the lower levels and they’re learning how to play in tough games, which is fun to watch,” Zielinski said. “I thought all our guys battled and fought their way through it. It was a very good night for us.”
Paul Johnson is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.