Benet pulls off upset of Hinsdale Central

Benet wasn't breathing easy up 9 at half on Hinsdale Central.

The Redwings really were holding their breath when Toni Kokenis released a potential game-winner. They can exhale now - and enjoy a big win.

A Kokenis 3-point attempt as time expired fell short, and No. 17 Benet held on for a 46-44 win over No. 7 Hinsdale Central on Thursday in Lisle.

Benet (6-2) led 26-17 at the half, and after Hinsdale Central tied it 35-35 in the fourth quarter the Redwings crept ahead again 44-38 with 1:17 left.

"We really, really wanted to beat that team," said Benet junior Danielle Canulli, who had a team-high 11 points. "They're a ranked team. We wanted to show how good we can be. Definitely a game to remember."

After Claire Munaretto's free throw nudged Benet ahead by 6, Kokenis hit a 3-pointer, then made an off-balance shot in the lane to make it 44-43 with 56 seconds left. Canulli split two free throws to make it a 2-point game, Maggie Brennan made 1 of 3 free throws with 8.7 seconds left for Hinsdale Central and Munaretto split a pair of free throws with 6.1 seconds remaining. After a Munaretto miss Kokenis raced up the court, but her 3-point attempt well short.

"We were able to fight our way back into the game," Kokenis said, "and put ourselves in the position to win. But we need to come out ready to play more than we were."

Benet built its big halftime lead on the strength of its 3-point shooting. The Redwings hit five 3-pointers in the first half, the first by Canulli to open the scoring. Benet, which never trailed, led by as many as 12 in the second quarter, and 26-15 after an Ashley Veselik 3-pointer.

Veselik drew the unenviable assignment of guarding Kokenis. The Stanford recruit finished with 21 points, 7 assists, 7 rebounds and 6 steals - but had to work for it. Noteworthy, Benet's pressure defense forced 13 Hinsdale Central first-half turnovers, doubling Kokenis in the backcourt.

"Give credit to Ashley Veselik," Benet coach Peter Paul said. "Toni is a great player, but I thought she had to work hard for her 21.

"We had a better scheme of not letting everybody else have theirs. Last year we held Toni to 8, but we lost by 20. You can only hold a great player like that down for so long. But I thought we made them work for their points."

Hinsdale Central (4-2) tied it at 35-35 with 4:49 left in the fourth on a Cody Steinborn 3-pointer. A Veselik free throw broke the tie, and after Benet stole an inbounds pass Canulli converted a three-point play. The Redwings forced a jump ball in Hinsdale Central's backcourt, which turned into two Veselik free throws and a 41-35 Benet lead.

"We expected the pressure," Hinsdale Central coach Lindsey Montgomery said, "but we didn't handle it very well. It looked like we had never seen a press before. We weren't making good decisions."

Nikki Bell scored 9 points, Veselik and Katie Ernsting 8 for Benet. Adabelle Ekechukwu had 11 points and 15 rebounds for Hinsdale Central.