Second-half spurt carries Benet past Elk Grove
Senior guard Danielle Canulli called it a great talk at halftime.
Whatever veteran Benet girls basketball coach Peter Paul said, it worked like a charm.
The Redwings turned in their best defensive 16-minute half of the season to overcome a 30-21 deficit en route to a convincing 54-37 victory at Elk Grove on Tuesday night.
The visitors (7-4), using a full-court press, allowed only 2 baskets (one a 3-pointer at the third-quarter buzzer) in the second half and outscored Elk Grove 33-7 to win the nonconference matchup.
“Coach really motivated at us,” Canulli said. “He told us to keep up the intensity. We know the first two minutes of the second half are the most important.”
In those two minutes, Benet got a nice left-handed bank shot by senior Katie Ernsting (7 points, 2 assists), a 3-pointer by senior Ashley Veselik and a driving layup by freshman Sidney Prasse (8 points, 2 steals) to trim the deficit to 30-28.
By the time Maggie Fries hit a 14-footer off an inbounds pass for Elk Grove's first points with 35 seconds left in the third quarter, the Redwings had run off 18 unanswered points.
Veselik scored 12 of her season-high 21 points in the third quarter.
“Ashley had a great game,” Canulli said. “Our team has a lot of weapons. It's always our job to find the person who is having the big night and it was Ashley's night.”
The night looked like it might belong to the Grens (7-5) after they used a 7-2 run to take a 30-21 advantage into the locker room at the half.
Freshman Melissa Solorio (6 points) hit a driving bank shot and Diamond Boyd (team-high 13 points) tossed in a 3-pointer with 1:41 left in the first half to give the Grens' that 7-point cushion.
Teammate Michelle Calmeyn scored all 8 of her points in the first half.
But the second half was a different story.
Benet outscored Elk Grove 19-5 in the third quarter with Fries getting all 5 points for the Grens in the final 35 seconds.
“We knew at halftime they would come back with the press,” said Elk Grove coach Ryan Kirkorsky. “We obviously didn't handle it well. They put more pressure on us with it, and this is a game where everyone must want the basketball in their hands.
“They are a great team and you've got to be perfect against their press and we were not in the second half.”
Veselik also grabbed 8 rebounds for the Redwings while teammate Taylor Valentine had 7 with 3 steals and 8 points. Lauren O'Sullivan also had a pair of steals for Benet.
“We kind of felt we gave them too many easy baskets in the first half,” Paul said. “They were getting to all the loose balls and things like that. We told our girls to wake up and they responded.
“When you play good defense that leads to better offense because you start getting easier shots.”
Stevenson 38, Prospect 36: Junior Christina Brucci (9 points, 1 3-pointer) and senior Sarah Winans (8 pointers, 2 3-pointers) led Prospect (5-5) in Lincolnshire.
Johnsburg 66, Buffalo Grove 56: Andrea DiPrima, Emily Cho and Bailey North each scored 12 points for Buffalo Grove (1-8) while KC Dunne added 10 Alanna Zawlocki 8.
New Trier 55, Maine West 32: Freshman Brittany Collins led the host Warriors (2-10) with 12 points in the Central Suburban League crossover contest in Des Plaines.