Benet's Schramek breezes past milestone
Thanks to social media, Emily Schramek and many others knew exactly how close she was to reaching the 1,000-point milestone.
After her mom saw tweets from Benet earlier in the day saying the senior forward was 16 points shy of the mark, Schramek knew it was within reach when the Redwings hosted Naperville Central on Friday night in the Tip-Off Tournament in Lisle.
With the way Schramek came out shooting, it took little time for her to eclipse the mark, and it also meant a less experienced Redhawks team struggled to keep up with 5-0 Benet. Schramek topped the 1,000-point plateau with a lay-up early in the second quarter that gave the Redwings a 31-19 lead on their way to an impressive 80-56 defeat of Naperville Central. There would be a few more baskets from Schramek, who finished with 30 points, equaling a personal high she reached once last season.
“Benet tweeted it and my mom asked me, 'Emily did you know this?' ” Schramek said when asked if she knew how close she was before Friday's game.
The 6-foot sharpshooter had a sense in the team's shootaround that this might just be her night. And the way she came out firing it looked like she might even notch 16 points in the first quarter alone. She missed a couple close-range shots that she'd like to have back, but Schramek made a trio of 3-pointers and scored 12 points as Benet led 23-16 after one quarter.
“During warmups I felt good,” she said. “My shots sometimes during warmups will not go in, and I've been struggling a little this year with my 3, but I felt it today.
In the first quarter besides some open layups that I missed, my outside shot felt good.”
The Redwings, who will play Providence Catholic at 11 a.m. Saturday at Naperville Central for the tourney championship, played even better in the second quarter, outscoring the Redhawks 26-13 for a 49-29 lead at the half.
“We certainly would have liked the second quarter to last 16 minutes instead of eight,” Benet coach Joe Kilbride said. “After half it seemed like our energy level wasn't quite the same, (but) I like the progress that we're making day to day, game to game, it's headed in the right direction.”
Schramek finished with five 3-pointers on her way to scoring 30 points, but she had plenty of help. Emily Eshoo hit a trio of 3s to score 17, and point guard Kathleen Doyle continued her all-around stellar play with 14 points, 8 rebounds, 3 blocked shots and a number of nice assists.
Redhawks coach Andy Nussbaum was impressed with the Redwings' shooting and its trio of stars.
“They can shoot,” he said. “They shot the ball well. It's going to be hard to to beat them if hey shoot like that. I don't care if you're the 76ers.
“I thought we did some good things and yet we clearly didn't do enough good things.Well, it'll be hard to find a team around here with three better players than Doyle, Schramek and Eshoo. Those three are really good.”
For the Redhawks (2-2), Emily Kraft knocked down five 3-pointers on her way to 17 points, while Cierra Stanciel and Casey Smith each added 10 points.