Benet wins battle of unbeatens

Margaret Temple guided Benet in superlative fashion in the opening quarter Wednesday night in Naperville.

The 5-foot-11 guard drained consecutive 3-pointers at the close of the Redwings' explosive first quarter.

Benet, with few exceptions, would dictate play for the remainder of its nonconference girls basketball game against Naperville North in remaining undefeated with a 51-40 victory.

Temple, who finished with a team-high 17 points, had the last of her four 3-pointers in the final half-minute to accentuate the Redwings' fourth straight win to open the season.

Naperville North (4-1) fell from the unbeaten ranks in the process.

"We really hustled and our main focus was getting stops on defense," Temple said of the Redwings doubling up the Huskies, 20-10, in the first quarter. "We were making sure we were in the right position to score. It was fun to play together as a team."

Temple was hardly the only weapon for the undefeated Redwings, however.

Lenee Beaumont and Kendall Moriarty were interchangeable in the backcourt for the Redwings.

The former, a sophomore with range on the jumper, and Moriarty combined for 25 points.

Tasked with slowing down the Huskies' Oregon State-bound star Greta Kampschroeder, the Redwings essentially were never seriously threatened after Moran Demos' inside score gave Benet a double-digit lead late in the second quarter.

Beaumont found nothing but net from well beyond the 3-line as the first-half horn sounded to extend the spread to 30-18 at the break.

Naperville North would come within single digits only once the remainder of the game.

"We always do a good job of sharing the ball and getting people the right shots," said Beaumont, who finished with 13 points. "It's always hard for the other team to guard when you have more offensive players who can score. It helped us win tonight."

The Redwings' balance overshadowed yet another spellbinding performance by Kampschroeder.

A projected collegiate guard, Kampschroeder dazzled with game highs of 25 points and 12 rebounds.

It was not unusual to see Kampschroeder dribble the ball all the way to the frontcourt after personally clearing the defensive glass.

But Benet made sure other Naperville North players were kept in check.

Only five would score in total for the Huskies as Abby Drendel and Alison Kickel, who spent her first two years in the Redwings' program, finished with 6 and 5 points, respectively.

"We have been working hard on our defense, getting in gaps and getting help," said Moriarty. "Our main focus was to make sure Greta didn't get into the paint."

"We have to remember that those (Benet) girls are talented, they're good athletes and well coached," Kampschroeder said of the Huskies' early defensive issues. "We weren't boxing out well, and they were getting a lot of offensive boards. That's the best team we're going to play all season. That's a very talented team."