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Benet has seen enough of DeKalb

It’s safe to say Benet has had its fill of DeKalb.

For the second time this season, the Barbs beat Benet in the final seconds. This time a shot by freshman guard Brittney Patrick gave DeKalb a 50-48 win in Thursday’s first semifinal of the Naperville North/Benet Holiday Tournament in Lisle.

“That’s a big shot by a young kid,” DeKalb coach Chris Davenport said. “It was a battle both times we played Benet. They’re a good basketball team.”

Tied at 48-48, DeKalb called timeout with 12.7 seconds to set up a final shot. Patrick drove to the basket, stopped on a dime, spun and kissed a short shot off the glass and in.

She was thankful to make up for a missed free throw with 1:35 left.

“I was just praying it went in,” said Patrick, who scored 10 points. “I was just trying to attack, do what I’m supposed to do.”

With one last gasp Benet advanced the ball near midcourt, then called another timeout. The Redwings passed ahead to Christen Prasse, but a contested running 15-footer from a tough angle caromed too hard off the glass and rim.

DeKalb (15-1), whose only loss came to Whitney Young, previously beat Benet 42-41 on Nov. 27 in DeKalb. In that game the Barbs won with free throws in the final seconds, but the Redwings were chasing the lead throughout.

In this one neither team led by greater than 5 in a nip-and-tuck affair.

“I thought we battled hard. They’re a big team, they got a couple rebounds and layups that I wish we would have had,” Benet coach Peter Paul said. “But all in all, we battled as hard as we could. Chrissie had a good look at it. That’s all you can ask for.”

Benet (10-6), which starts two sophomores and a freshman around Prasse, did commit a couple costly turnovers late with the score tied. The second throwaway with 56 seconds left allowed DeKalb to hold for the last shot.

“It’s growing pains. That one turnover, it hurt,” Paul said. “As we progress we’ll hopefully get better, but we are young.”

Benet led 17-12 early in the second quarter, 22-20 at half and was ahead 38-33 with 6:41 left after a Prasse score. DeKalb answered with a 7-2 run, tying it 40-40 on a Rachel Torres 3-pointer — the Barbs’ only 3 of the game.

Benet, which made 18 of its 22 free throws, did get a big game from one of its youngsters. Sophomore Emily Schramek scored 20 points, got to the line often and made 8 of 9 attempts.

“I thought that was one of her better games,” Paul said. “She attacked the basket rather than sitting back and shooting the ball. She was much more aggressive. She’s only a sophomore. I think sometimes we forget that because she was with us all of last year.”

Prasse added 12 points and Emily Eshoo 8. Torres scored 14 points and Courtney Patrick 10 for DeKalb, which advances to play Wheaton Warrenville South in tonight’s 7:30 championship game at Benet.

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