Calm Benet overcomes Naperville Central
It's kind of a tough time to earn your first points of the night, with 13.7 seconds to play in a regional final and your team leading by 1 point.
"Not really," Benet junior Katie Ernsting said after scoring all of her 4 points in the waning seconds of the Redwings' 55-50 victory against host Naperville Central on Thursday night. "I tried to stay calm. It's not a big deal to me. Just free throws."
That pressure-free attitude steadied the Redwings throughout the second half.
Trailing by 5 at halftime, Benet (17-11) scored the first 8 points of the third quarter, and Naperville Central (25-7) never could regain the lead.
"If you want to look at a key minute out of the 32, minute No. 17 was it," Naperville Central coach Andy Nussbaum said. "We're up 5, seemingly in control, holding the ball for the last shot in the first half, and then a minute or so later, we're down and we never get the lead back."
Danielle Canulli started the second half with a 3-pointer, and when a foul was called against Naperville Central near the basket as the shot went in, Benet got the ball back. This time it was Ashley Veselik's turn to score from long range.
"The two 3s that they got to come out and start the third quarter were really, really - they weren't knockout punches, but they were knockdown punches," Nussbaum added. "And I think what it comes down to is they made some key shots and we missed some key shots. I think this game was all about shooting and who made shots. We did not convert on things that we usually convert on. It's very disappointing."
Benet looked in control throughout most of the second half, building a 51-43 lead with 1:29 to go. Naperville Central crawled back in it, pulling within 1 point with 20.1 seconds to go.
"They made it interesting in the end," Redwings coach Peter Paul said. "We kind of thought maybe the game was over and they made a nice run at us and made us sweat it out."
Naperville Central chose to foul Ernsting to get the ball back. She made both free throws.
"I told her you want to be at the line and you want to make the team pay," Paul said.
"I just basically tried to stay calm and think it's just another free throw," Ernsting added. "Just like any other game, just hit them. We practice them all the time. Just a normal free throw. I tried not to think about it too much."
While Naperville Central looked for a tying 3-pointer, Ernsting stole the ball and drove for an uncontested layup as time expired.
Nikki Bell, the lone senior to play for Benet, led the Redwings with 14 points, and Veselik added 13.
"If you look at the flow of the game, certain kids at certain moments always helped us," Paul said. "It was us collectively. It wasn't just one person, it was us collectively."
The Redwings advanced to play Waubonsie Valley at 8:10 p.m. Monday in the Class 4A Oswego East sectional semifinals.
Junior Emma Ondik scored a game-high 17 points and sophomore Jill D'Amico added 12 for Naperville Central.
"When we are able to get perspective timewise, we really had a wonderful season," Nussbaum said. "There aren't a lot of programs that can say they won 25 games. But for tonight it's just very agonizing, disappointing."