Stack helps Benet secure comeback win vs. York
Lauren Stack is starting to feel like her old self again. The 6-foot-2 Benet junior forward thinks her girls basketball team is starting to play like its old self also.
Stack scored 25 points and Benet came from behind in the second half to defeat York 61-49 in a nonconference game in Lisle. The victory gave Benet (20-4) its eighth consecutive 20-win season.
"I've just been feeling a lot more like myself from last year in practice these past few weeks," said Stack, who tore an ACL about a year ago and was cleared to play just before the season started. "And I'm concentrating on my shot a lot more. I just honestly feel like I'm even better than I was last year. I'm just really excited for the rest of the season."
Her coach said she was "on fire.
"It's the best she's shot the ball all year without question," Benet coach Joe Kilbride said of Stack. " ... She's feeling much better, you can tell. Her legs are underneath her again. Hopefully, it will last."
They hope the Redwings' improved play will last also. Kilbride said the team is still trying to find the best fit for some players who are more recently returning from injury.
"We were in a little rough patch, but I think our chemistry in practice has been a lot better," Stack said. "(Kilbride has) been putting people in different spots, seeing what combinations work, and I think he's found one."
York (15-7) got off to a great start. The Dukes made 6 of their first 7 shots, including 4 of 4 from 3-point range, to take a 14-4 lead at 4:35 of the first quarter. A Kiah Rufus 3-pointer made it 25-15 York midway through the second quarter, and the Dukes led 31-27 at halftime.
"We hit the open looks they gave us the first quarter, the first half," York coach Brandon Collings said. "In the second half we didn't hit an outside shot."
Benet took its first lead with 2:41 left in the third quarter on a Kendall Holmes steal and layup that made the score 36-35. The Redwings never gave up the lead once they got it.
"I think it's one of those games where you're playing a tough team," Collings said. "You get jacked up early, things are going well, a lot of adrenaline. They're going to make a run. I told them at halftime, this is a good team. They will make a run. It's whether or not we can stop that run and then go back, settle things down and get one of our own.
"They made their run and we couldn't settle down after that. I think we're a very good team, but it's situations like that where we need to do a better job."
Danielle Dennis led York with 25 points on 10-of-14 shooting. She also grabbed 5 rebounds.
"She was phenomenal," Collings said.
Junior guard Madison Stark added 8 points and 7 assists for York.