Benet knocks off another top team
Considering the schedule Benet played this season and the way the Redwings are playing right now, coach Joe Kilbride said he likes Benet's chances against anybody.
That's good, because it seems like the Redwings are playing almost everybody who is anybody at the Class 4A Hinsdale South girls basketball sectionals.
On Tuesday the third-seeded Redwings knocked off Chicago Public League champion Whitney Young 72-63 in Darien. Young, state ranked and the sectional's No. 2 seed, never led.
"I told the kids, we played the toughest schedule in the state in my opinion," said Kilbride, whose team had to beat Public League runner-up and No. 5 seed Simeon in the regional final. "I counted today I think we beat 12 teams this year that are in 3A or 4A sectionals right now. So we're ready for whomever. Simeon was a great opponent. Whitney Young was a great opponent. I thought our kids were very tough today. I thought they executed exactly what we wanted to do."
"We're a very resilient team," added senior point guard Clara Prasse.
Junior Kendall Holmes led the Redwings (26-5) with 24 points, adding 6 rebounds.
"I thought Holmes was a beast," Kilbride said with admiration.
Junior forward Brooke Schramek added 15 points, and Prasse had 12 points, 8 assists and 4 rebounds. Prasse's highlight was a reverse layup that gave the Redwings a 17-8 lead at the end of the first quarter.
"We got contributions across the board," Kilbride said, running through the names of the players who got in the game. "I'm very proud of them. They're playing really focused right now, very together. I told them, I like our chances against anybody."
Next up is not just anybody, it's top-seeded Montini. Montini defeated Benet in last year's sectional championship 54-31 on its way to a second-place finish. The Redwings haven't forgotten.
"Of course," Prasse said. "I've been looking forward to this for a year now. We're going to get to practice tomorrow and get ready and be ready for them."
Leading by 8 to start the fourth quarter, the Redwings held Young (25-6) scoreless for nearly five minutes, building a 64-48 lead while Young missed its first nine shots.
"Our game plan coming in was to load up and get back so they wouldn't have transition, and I think everybody had their mind set on that," Holmes said. "So we were able to get back and stop them, and that led into our offense and we were knocking down shots."
Young scored 15 points in the final 3:08 to keep the Redwings on edge to the final buzzer.
"I think everybody stepped up tonight," Holmes said. "We wanted it, I think, more than them so we came out stronger, faster. We knew that they weren't going to let up and we just pushed through."