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Benet beats Bolingbrook for tournament championship

Playing Bolingbrook takes a certain amount of patience.

"I told them this week," Benet girls basketball coach Joe Kilbride said of his Redwings, "if we rebound, we win. We rebounded just enough, I guess. They really get on the glass. They're long, athletic, and they really get after it. I didn't think we did a great job of blocking out and sealing people. I thought we did just enough."

The Redwings did enough to defeat Bolingbrook 55-46 and capture the Benet/Naperville North Holiday Tournament championship Friday night in Lisle.

Bolingbrook outrebounded the Redwings (14-1) 50-32, but the Raiders (8-1) couldn't turn the many offensive rebounds it grabbed into points. The Raiders made just 19 of 74 shots. It was the first time they had been held to fewer than 61 points this season.

Benet adjusted by playing three 6-footers: sophomores Lindsey Rogers and Brooke Schramek and junior Lauren Stack.

"And just try and see if (Bolingbrook) could make enough shots," Kilbride said. "Because honestly it's the second, third, fourth and sometimes fifth shots they get in a possession that I think can kill you. I mean they really do get after the glass. We just were able to sorta put a hand in shooters' (faces) and get enough rebounds. It wasn't pretty."

How did the Redwings deal with the Raiders' rebounding prowess?

"Keeping our composure for sure and just knowing there's always a next play and just forgetting about the last play," Rogers said.

Benet didn't shoot well, but it shot better than Bolingbrook. The Redwings made 18 of 51 shots.

Benet got off to an early lead, but Bolingbrook tied the game at 14 early in the second quarter. The teams traded the lead four times before the Redwings took it back for good, taking a 25-20 lead at halftime.

Three times in the second half Benet took 11-point leads, but Bolingbrook cut the margin to 47-44 with 3:20 to go in the fourth quarter on a Gabriella Smith layup. Benet responded by milking the clock and taking the game to the free-throw line, where the Redwings made 8 of 10 in the final minutes to pull away.

Gabriella Smith scored 16 points with 8 rebounds. Jahari Smith scored 14 and grabbed 19 rebounds, 18 of them of them on the offensive boards.

Rogers led Benet with 16 points off the bench.

"I'm really comfortable this year," Rogers said. "I think in the summer league I got a lot of playing time and it's a lot of time to be comfortable and run the stuff. More chemistry with my teammates. We just have it going."

Schramek and point guard Clara Prasse added 11 points each for Benet.

"It's a huge game. We really wanted to win this," Rogers said.

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