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Benet comes up big against Montini

Knowing just how good the opposition was, Benet Academy coach Joe Kilbride said Monday night's showdown with Montini Catholic felt like it went down to the wire.

But in reality, the unbeaten Redwings played one of their best games in a long time while knocking off the 16-2 Broncos 58-42 in the semifinals of the Montini Christmas Tournament in Lombard. The Redwings led 41-31 after three quarters even while Emily Eshoo was limited to just 2 points through 24 minutes due to foul trouble.

A strong team effort, however, proved to be more than enough to advance the Redwings (16-0) into Tuesday's championship game against either Marian Catholic or Trinity.

"It felt like it was a 2-point game in the fourth quarter with two minutes to go … but our kids did a real nice job of executing our game plan," said Kilbride, a first-year head coach who has yet to experience a loss.

The Broncos were without guard Kaylee Bambule, who suffered a knee injury earlier in the tourney, and struggled to hit as many 3-pointers as usual. Montini also didn't get much going inside despite the presence of 6-foot-5 Lindsey Jarosinski and 6-0 Rainey Kuykendall. To make matters worse for the hosts, Montini made just 5 of 15 free throws while Benet was putting down 14 of 19 from the line.

"It wasn't a 16-point game," Broncos coach Jason Nichols said. "It's a 10-point game late and if we make any of our free throws prior to that, that game is tied. Now, they are fantastic. Joe's done a great job and they have a great team. We just broke down mentally with want we wanted to do."

The Montini defense learned what many Benet opponents have learned this season; that is the Redwings have multiple weapons.

Emily Schramek knocked down a 3 off a feed from Kathleen Doyle that closed out the first half with a 7-0 run and a 28-24 lead. Schramek scored 15 of her game-high 24 points in the first half, including 10 in the second quarter that saw Eshoo go scoreless while sitting out much of the quarter with 2 fouls.

"Em is such a big offensive threat," Schramek said of Eshoo, who promptly scored 9 points in the fourth quarter to help secure the big win. "With her out, everyone had to step up. I think this is the game we played most as a team and the most together. Everyone knew their roles and stepped up and we accomplished something great."

Doyle chipped in with 14 points, 6 rebounds and 4 steals, while sophomore center Katie Jaseckas battled the big Broncos posts and finished with 8 rebounds.

"We're a really deep team and I believe in every single one of our players," said Doyle. "Our team motto is 'trust' so I think we've got that done. We're really focusing on locking down defensively. We're going to win games if we get stop after stop in the half court."

For Montini, guard Tiara Wallace drove hard to the rim on multiple occasions and after scoring all 11 of her team's points in the fourth quarter, she finished the night with 20 points and 7 rebounds. Kuykendall added 7 points and 9 rebounds for Montini, which will play in Tuesday's third-place contest. With the Broncos' loss, the streak of top seeds failing to win this tourney will continue at least another year.

Images: Benet Academy at Montini, girls basketball

  Benet Academy's Elise Stout drives to the basket against Montini during tournament semifinal play Monday in Lombard. Bev Horne/bhorne@dailyherald.com
  Lindsey Jarosinski of Montini Catholic tries a shot against Benet Academy during tournament semifinal play Monday in Lombard. Bev Horne/bhorne@dailyherald.com
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