Eshoo hits milestone, Benet wins tournament
When a girls basketball player scores her 1,000th varsity point at Benet, the Redwings give her the game ball.
That could wind up being a problem.
"I said we've got to get a new rack of balls because we're going to run out," Benet junior Kathleen Doyle joked after teammate Emily Eshoo reached the milestone Saturday night. "Everyone's scoring 1,000 points. ... We got a new rack this year and we're already missing two."
Eshoo reached 1,000 points in a 74-59 victory against scrappy Naperville North in Lisle. The victory gave the Redwings the Naperville North/Benet Holiday Tournament championship.
Benet senior Emily Schramek scored her 1,000th point earlier in the season.
Needing 19 points entering the game, Eshoo, a Bradley recruit, reached the milestone with 3:58 to go in the fourth quarter, sinking the first of two free throws. She finished with a season-high 25 points plus 6 rebounds, sinking five 3-pointers along the way.
"It was a really fun game just overall, besides the points and all that," Eshoo said. "It was fun to pull out the win with all the full-court pressure and intensity. That's a really fun way to play. To be able to get that milestone at home with all our fans and supporters is a really good experience."
"I wasn't thinking she'd get there, honestly, because she was guarding (Naperville North senior Kayla) Sharples, which takes a lot of energy," Benet coach Joe Kilbride added. "That costs you on the other end sometimes. But they were playing zone and she got some good looks and got it going."
Benet (13-0) used a 7-point first-quarter run to take a 14-10 lead, and the Redwings never gave it up. The lead reached as much as 18 points before Naperville North (8-5) started a comeback effort in the fourth quarter.
The Huskies trimmed the lead to 6 points with 4:59 to play when Laurel Pereira banked a shot off the glass and in. After the teams traded a free throw apiece, Eshoo notched those milestone free throws followed by a 3-pointer to make the lead 63-52. Naperville North never cut the margin to single digits again.
"I think we grew up tonight as a basketball team. I think after last night we showed some resiliency," Huskies coach Jason Dycus said. "Benet's very good. They don't miss free throws, they don't give you an edge. But there's no quit in the Lady Huskies. We kept battling to the end, and I'm very proud of them for that."
Sharples' 24 points led the Huskies, who also got 15 from Cece Pope and 12 from Pereira.
Schramek scored 19 points for Benet, and Kathleen Doyle added 17. As a team the Redwings made 12 of 26 3-point shots, a sizzling 8 of 15 in the first half.
"They miss a couple of those, we're right there," Dycus said. "That shows you how good they are. And they have so many different girls that can shoot it, you just can't leave them alone."
Sharples and Pereira joined Eshoo and Schramek on the all-tournament team, with Doyle as MVP.
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