Fenwick dispatches Benet

It's like some sort of girls basketball hazing ritual.

Benet will follow Wednesday night's 64-36 loss to perennial power Fenwick with a visit tonight from Whitney Young, ranked No. 1 in Class 4A by AP. The Redwings wrap up the regular season Saturday with an emotional game against arch-rival St. Francis. Then comes next week's Class 4A Hinsdale South regional.

"Losing by a lot is not the best, and tomorrow we've got the No. 1 team, so it doesn't get any easier," Benet coach Peter Paul said. "I would hope they keep in mind who they're playing."

The Redwings are being tested.

"We play a tough schedule," Paul added. "We hope we learn from it."

Fenwick took the Redwings out of Wednesday's game early, scoring the first 10 points and taking a 27-12 lead after one quarter. Senior Serafina Nuzzo led the way with three 3-pointers in the quarter, five for the game. She and teammate Katlyn Payne each finished with a game-high 15 points, and junior Tricia Liston added 10 points despite lingering back trouble.

"She was ridiculous," Friars coach Dave Power said of Nuzzo.

Actually, the Friars' shooting as a team was ridiculous. The Friars made 10 of their 13 first-quarter shots, cooling off only as their lead grew more comfortable and they went deeper into their bench.

"They shot the ball extremely well," Paul said. "When you hit that outside shot, that creates the opportunities inside. We just had a tough matchup today. They were on all cylinders, and we needed them to not be as hot."

Fenwick (25-5, 10-0) clinched its 15th straight East Suburban Catholic Conference championship with the win. Benet (16-10, 7-3) isn't too far behind in the standings, proving maybe that its schedule already has paid off.

"We're delighted," Paul said. "We're going to end up in third."

"Benet's had a great year in the conference," Power added.