Benet shows off its depth, ends Montini's sectional streak

With junior forward Kendall Holmes out with an injury, Benet looked for someone to step up Thursday.

A roster full of Redwings raised their hands.

Third-seeded Benet shocked No. 1 Montini with a 61-33 victory at the Class 4A Hinsdale South girls basketball sectional final in Darien.

"I just feel like the kids have really come together," Benet coach Joe Kilbride said. "They're playing with a unity that we haven't shown this season, and I'm just really so proud of them. I'm so happy for them. We had so many kids make contributions tonight."

Holmes scored 24 points in Tuesday's semifinal victory against Whitney Young and 20 the game before against Simeon, but she suffered a concussion in the final minute Tuesday. Kilbride said there's a good chance Holmes will be available for Monday's supersectional at Lewis University against Oswego.

"I think we were just really pumped going into this game," junior forward Brooke Schramek said. "We were a little devastated before without having Kendall Holmes and I think we were a little nervous, but I think we ... were playing for Kendall."

"It was a little bit of a blow," said Kilbride, who found out hours before the game that Holmes would miss the final, "because she's been so good for us, but the kids kind of rallied, and then you could see we had a lot of kids step up today."

Schramek led the Redwings (27-5) with 16 points, and Ashley Konkle scored 11 with 4 rebounds and 4 assists.

But the surprise contributions came from junior Lindsey Rogers and sophomore Claire Sheehan, neither of whom played Tuesday. Both came off the bench and played like regulars.

"I was so excited for the opportunity," Rogers said. "I know how deep this team is. We all work so hard."

Rogers made all four of her shots, scoring 11 points. Sheehan made 2 of 3 for 5 points, plus 3 assists and 3 rebounds.

"My blessing and my curse is I have so many talented players, and then it comes down to a night-to-night kind of, what's the right matchups for us," Kilbride added. "With their zone (Rogers is) so good at the high post and short corner, we knew she'd help us today and she did. She had good matchups defensively, which is part of it."

"I think us having such a deep bench helps," Schramek said. "I mean some games they don't even go in, and then the games they do they just go off. I'm so happy for our whole team."

The Redwings assisted on 18 of their 22 baskets, with senior point guard Clara Prasse racking up 8 assists.

"Benet has evolved over the last three weeks into the team that everybody thought they were at the beginning of the season," Montini coach Jason Nichols said. "Some people would say they were a hot mess, Benet. They just figured it out, and Joe did a really good job to get all those kids onboard. He shortened up his lineup, and they're a title-contending team and we're not at that level yet."

Montini finished 30-5 despite losing starting point guard Sam Mitchell in November to a torn ACL. Mitchell will play at Alabama-Birmingham next year.

Montini started three freshmen against Benet, with another freshman and a sophomore coming off the bench.

"So I'm proud of them," Nichols said. "We underachieved today, and Benet was a huge reason why. But we did not underachieve during the year. I thought our girls had a great season."

The Broncos not only graduate Mitchell but seniors Frankie Kokkines and Zoe MacKay Zacker. MacKay Zacker led the Broncos with 10 points.

The blowout victory not only avenged last year's 23-point Benet loss in the sectional final to Montini, it ended the Broncos' streak at 14 consecutive sectional championships.

"They beat us in this game last year and we weren't letting that happen again," Schramek said, "but I don't think any of us expected to win by that much."

Benet scored the game's first seven points and never trailed. Montini cut its deficit to 2 points in the second quarter, but Benet outscored the Broncos 15-4 the rest of the period for a 34-21 halftime lead.

"Going into halftime we were so pumped," Schramek said, "and then the second half we just kept going."