Benet defense stifles Batavia
Clara Prasse had endured a fruitless girls basketball game for Benet for the first three-plus quarters.
But the senior delivered with exquisite timing Friday night in Lisle as part of the Naperville Central Tip-Off Tournament.
Prasse, a senior off-guard, answered the lone Batavia 3-pointer of the game on the ensuing possession for the Redwings' opening points of the last quarter.
Prasse connected on another field goal from beyond the arc moments later as Benet earned a 50-26 victory over the Bulldogs by scoring 17 of the last 18 points.
"We were just moving the ball," said Prasse, who scored all 6 of her points in the decisive sequence. "I knew we needed some momentum. (The 3-pointers) gave us some leeway."
Hailey Orman initiated the fourth-quarter scoring with a 3-pointer for Batavia in slicing the Bulldogs' virtual game-long deficit to 33-25 - the first time the spread was in single digits since the opening quarter.
But the Bulldogs (1-1) would never be able to overcome their 5-for-35 shooting (14 percent) from the field as well as a slew of turnovers in the early-season showdown with the Redwings (2-0), the top-ranked team in the Daily Herald coverage area.
Ten different players scored for Benet as Brooke Schramek, the Redwings' junior standout who has verbally committed to Wisconsin, led the way with 10 points.
It could not have been a more peculiar opening half for Batavia.
Ava Sergio hit a 12-foot jumper from the left wing on the Bulldogs' first second-quarter possession.
It proved to be the only field goal of the first half for Batavia, which trailed 18-6 after the first quarter and 27-14 at the intermission.
"I didn't ever realize that they had only 1 (first-half field goal)," Schramek said.
"You don't realize that when you're in the game," Prasse said.
Benet harassed Batavia the entire first 16 minutes of play with a full-court hounding defense that resulted in 15 turnovers.
Schramek said it was a new point of emphasis.
"Our defense last year was a little bit lazy," Schramek said.
The Redwings, however, were hardly superior marksmen of their own in firing at a 12 of 30 clip from the floor in the first two quarters.
"We have a new offense this year," Schramek said. "We hate digging ourselves holes."
Sergio, who matched the game-high Schramek total of 10 points to lead Batavia, had the Bulldogs' first 3 field goals.
Erin Golden was the only other player to connect from the floor for Batavia.
"At the beginning we weren't really scoring," Sergio said. "Their press is really good. The fourth quarter we let it get away from us. At one point it was an 8-point game."