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Benet suffers first loss of season

Benet coach Joe Kilbride didn't mince words when assessing his girls basketball team's 67-53 loss to visiting Morgan Park on Tuesday.

"They did to us what we try to do to other people," he said. "Give them credit. They did it well. They kicked our butts."

Morgan Park (5-1), which features three highly touted transfers - Gabrielle Cooper (Marian Catholic), Deja Cage (Fenwick) and Porsha Sydnor (Trinity) - built an early 10-2 lead and never looked back in handing Benet its first loss in seven starts.

"We were very timid, very tentative," Kilbride said. "We weren't playing north and south. We weren't attacking. Honestly, they outworked us, plain and simple. They outrebounded us. They out-turnovered us. They ran the floor better than us, and that's our game.

"We can't be outworked by people who also play that way, and they did a nice job of doing that. They had a ton of assists. They passed the ball very nicely. You have to be really solid against them. In my opinion they outworked us."

Benet trailed 40-22 with 5:32 remaining in the third quarter when Kathleen Doyle went to the bench after taking a hard spill underneath the Morgan Park basket. The Mustangs took advantage of her absence to extend the lead to 55-30 with 7:30 remaining in the fourth quarter.

But the Redwings did not go quietly. Doyle returned to the lineup and sparked a 21-6 run that had the hosts within 61-51 with 1:01 remaining. The Nebraska-bound senior scored 19 of her game-high 25 points during the final 6:53.

"We did something defensively we haven't really practiced all year," Kilbride said. "Our kids weren't sure what they were doing, but since we were confused I think it was confusing to (Morgan Park). It got us some stops, some turnovers and some runouts, and Kathleen started making some buckets."

Katie Jaseckas added 10 points, 6 rebounds and 3 steals for Benet. Morgan Park was led by 6-foot-1 junior Destiny Harden with 20 points.

"Harden runs the floor really well," Kilbride said. "Honestly, she was just outrunning us. She's an exceptional athlete, but some of it is that you just have to put your head down and get back (on defense)."

Morgan Park also got 16 points from Cage, 13 from Cooper and 12 from Cachet Johnson.

"If we stick together, play as one unit, defend and rebound, we'll be fine," said Morgan Park coach Kedonica Taylor, whose team lost in a Class 3A regional final to Brooks last year. "We want to win the city (Chicago Public School) title. That's one of our goals, to win city and move on in the state tournament."

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