WW South win over Benet a close call

Rob Kroehnke called it "an old-school Wheaton Warrenville South-Benet game."

The Tigers coach, rubbing his head, also had another way of putting it.

"The kind of game that makes you go bald."

Kroehnke could crack jokes with a smile after his team held on for a hard-fought 41-36 win on Saturday at the Naperville North/Benet Tournament in Lisle.

WW South (8-4) led from start to finish. But the game was in doubt until Caitlin Schwark intercepted an errant Benet pass near midcourt and layed in a basket for the five-point lead with seconds left. A Katie Ernsting 3-pointer had pulled Benet within 37-36, before Katie Ottolin's 2 free throws pushed the margin back to 3.

"It came down to the last shot," Benet coach Peter Paul said, "and we didn't execute the way we would have liked to. Usually these games are very much like this one, coming down to the last couple minutes. It's been a nice rivalry."

WW South jumped out to a quick 7-2 lead. The Tigers' biggest advantage came at 26-18 with 2:05 left in the third quarter on a baseline drive by Destiny Neal. Benet twice pulled within 3 and twice within a point, but WW South had the defensive stop and basket to answer each time.

"We always have great battles with Benet," Kroehnke said. "The word for the second half was composure, and the kids really did a great job of holding it together. Our defense kept us in the game and we made enough plays offensively."

Paul pointed to a meager 2-point total in the second quarter that put his team behind 19-13 at the half as too tough to come back from. Particularly against a WW South team that only gives up just over 30 points per game.

Nikki Bell had 13 points and 7 rebounds for Benet but shot just 4 of 13 from the floor. Danielle Canulli added 10 points.

"The first half really didn't go our way at all," Paul said. "Second half we did a better job of pressuring, which got us back into the game."

Annie Shain and Heidi Ansiel each scored 10 points for WW South, which won its second game in as many nights after a brief three-game losing streak.

"It's like the beginning of the Schaumburg tournament," Shain said, paralleling two tournaments where WW South lost its first game. "We started out with a loss there and ended up going 4-1. Hopefully, we can keep it going this week."