MONTICELLO – The upset aura at the Monticello boys' basketball regional tournament took Wednesday night off.

After watching the No. 1 and No. 3 seeds lose the previous two nights, second-seeded Monticello (14-13) bucked the Cinderella trend with a 57-32 victory over seventh-seeded Urbana Uni High (13-12).

"Absolutely," said Monticello coach Kevin Roy when asked if he had concerns of another upset. "Our kids watched the games Monday and Tuesday. They saw what happened. Teams have to show up in the postseason. You can't overlook anybody at this stage."

Monticello left nothing to chance against the Illineks, jumping to an 11-point lead at the end of the first quarter behind 10 points from guard Mitch McHale.

The Sages' lead never dwindled below double digits the rest of the night as they shot just under 48 percent from the field and picked up 28 points in the paint.

"We knew we needed to jump on them early," Roy said. "We saw their game on Monday with Sullivan, and (Uni High) just kind of hung around early and just built confidence after that. So, we wanted to put some pressure on them early, get some baskets off turnovers and set the tempo."

Adam Koncel led Monticello with 14 points and nine rebounds. McHale added 12 points and three assists.

Uni High's Warren Skoza finished with a game-high 19 points and nine rebounds.

The win put Monticello in the championship game at 7 p.m. Friday against St. Thomas More, which upset top-seeded Unity on Tuesday.

"At this point, seeds mean nothing," Roy said. "I know St. Thomas More's record doesn't look good, but they've improved throughout the season. They have a solid frontcourt and quick guards, and we've struggled with quick guards this year. So we'll need to be focused and bring our best effort. It should be a good game."