By MATT GOLDBERG

Herald-Whig Sports Writer

NORMAL -- It was an unforgettable season for the Quincy Notre Dame girls basketball team.

Unlike the previous 33 games, Saturday's Class 3A third-place game was very forgettable -- especially the final quarter.

Lombard Montini outscored QND 11-2 in the final 6 minutes, 37 seconds to win the third-place game 50-35 at Redbird Arena.

Though QND never led in the game, the Lady Raiders entered the fourth quarter only trailing 37-31.

Montini (28-6) didn't build up a double-digit lead until Chrissy Fletcher made a jump shot with 5:17 left in the game to give the Lady Broncos a 44-33 lead.

QND (32-2) lost to the eventual state champion in overtime in Friday's 76-73 semifinal loss to Chicago Marshall. The Commandos defeated Freeport 58-47 in the title game.

"It's kind of disappointing that we didn't come and win it all here," sophomore Karlee Gengenbacher said. "I mean, we had a heck of a season. We played amazing together. We worked our butts off this whole season. I think we proved to a lot of people that our team is a lot better than what they thought we were. They thought we just played bad teams."

Gengenbacher, who led QND with 13 points, said the team was physically drained from its overtime loss 24 hours earlier. On Friday, she scored a career-high 25 points.

Montini 6-foot-3 sophomore Michala Johnson scored a game-high 16 points.

"Our legs were really tired," Gengenbacher said. "We had a hard game yesterday. We still played our butts off but it was just a lot harder because we were worn out."

The physical fatigue showed as QND never was able to get transition baskets. The Lady Raiders, known for their steal-and-score playing style, only scored six fast-break points.

"We were exhausted," Gengenbacher said. "(Montini) wasn't doing anything special. We did not play our best game at all. We weren't playing like the Lady Raiders normally play. If we would've stepped it up a little bit, not been so tired, we would have been there."

QND trailed 18-13 with 4:03 left in the first half. At that point, the Lady Raiders made a line change, taking four starters out and putting in four reserves -- seniors Janell Vermeire, Morgan Grawe, Elizabeth Wolf and sophomore Claire Obert.

Leigh McLaughlin, the only starter left on the floor, scored QND's final five points of the first half.

"Leigh's had a tremendous second half of the season," QND coach Eric Orne said. "She's established herself as maybe one of the best point guards in the state. I've heard that from a lot of area coaches and people here today."

The Lady Raiders re-entered their starters 1:32 later.

"I mean, it stinks that he took the starters out of the game," Gengenbacher said. "You just had to stay confident in your team when you never know what's going to happen."

Orne said only playing one starter in a two-possession game doesn't mean the Lady Raiders didn't try to win the game.

"Obviously, we came here to win the third-place game," Orne said. "That was the goal when we arrived here this morning. We came here to win as many games as we could."

QND returns four of its five starters -- Chloe Barnes, Natalie Siebers, Gengenbacher and McLaughlin -- next season with only senior Renita Bunte graduating. Key reserves Gabrielle Douglas, Hilary Obert and Claire Obert also return.

"We had some new players this year, so we were just trying to get to know each other," Gengenbacher said. "Next year, everyone (will) know what their role is on the team. We're only losing a couple of girls. So, that stinks. But we know what our roles are next year. I think everyone will step up even more and we'll have a great season next season, too."

--mgoldberg@whig.com/221-3367