Cold fourth quarter costs Carmel to loss to Benet
Saturday afternoon's East Suburban Catholic Conference girls basketball game at Carmel was a contest that either team could have won.
But it was visiting Benet Academy that came through in the clutch as the Redwings outscored the Corsairs 11-5 in the fourth quarter en route to a 37-34 victory in Mundelein.
A missed two-footer by Carmel (10-10, 2-5) with a second left in the third quarter may have been a bad omen as the Corsairs clung to a 29-26 lead headed into the fourth.
Neither team led by more than four points at any point of the game, and Benet (12-7, 4-2) trailed 32-28 when Carmel sophomore Kaitlyn Lynch hit 1 of 2 free throws with 6:36 to play.
But that would be the last major stand by the Corsairs as they committed 6 turnovers in the fourth quarter to only one for the Redwings.
An inside basket, and a driving bucket by Benet sophomore Nicole Valentine tied the game at 32-32 with 3:43 to play, but Carmel took one more lead at 34-32 on junior Erin Quinn's drive with 3:01 remaining.
Benet struggled from the free-throw line overall, hitting only 7 of 21 (33 percent) attempts, but free throws by Mikayla Panko and Nikki Bell tied the game at 34-34 with 1:15 to play.
Bell (team-high 12 points) hit another free throw with 53.6 seconds left to give the Redwings the lead for good at 35-34 before Ashley Veselik also hit 1 of 2 free throws to make the score 36-34 with 48.2 seconds to go.
Carmel senior Kristine Ruhl (team-high 12 points) had her 13-footer go in and out with 12 seconds to play and Benet got the ball back on an alternate possession jump ball with 11.3 seconds to play.
Bell would add another free throw with 8.2 seconds left to give Benet a 37-34 lead. Carmel sophomore Jackie Meier missed a shot from just inside the 3-point line with two seconds left to seal the Corsairs' fate.
"The effort was there and as a group they were together, but we've just got to execute better down the stretch," said Carmel coach Ben Berg, whose team was outrebounded 21-19. "It's something to build on for the rest of the year, and we showed we can play disciplined for the most part."
Carmel turned the ball over three times early in the game, but after that the Corsairs showed they could play with Benet by taking a 21-18 lead into halftime. Ruhl scored 8 points in the first half, while Panko scored 7 of her 8 points in the first half.
Veselik contributed 8 points to the Redwings' offensive output while Quinn chipped in 7 points for the Corsairs. Meier was in foul trouble for much of the contest while Veselik had foul trouble for Benet.
Carmel hit 12 of 29 from the field (41 percent) while the Redwings hit 14 of 44 for 32 percent from the floor.
"(Carmel) battled very hard, they're a tall team, and they took advantage of our foul trouble," said Benet coach Peter Paul. "We didn't play our best, but we're very happy we walked out of here with a win. The other night at Bolingbrook we were 20 for 27 at the line, but nothing was really working for us today."
Ruhl and Quinn had 6 rebounds each for Carmel while Valentine and Veselik grabbed 6 rebounds apiece for the Redwings.