Benet crashes Naperville Central's party

Naperville Central had the balloons and signs ready Saturday to celebrate Emma Ondik's 1,000th varsity point.

Benet crashed the party.

The Redwings held Ondik scoreless in the second half until the game's final minute and put away a 55-46 win at the free-throw line at the Naperville Central/Benet Tip-Off Tournament.

"We wanted to shut down the two Emmas, Ondik and Donahue," said Benet senior Danielle Canulli, who made 8 of 8 free throws in the fourth quarter and also helped hound Ondik. "By shutting down point guard Emma we had the ability to stop their offense."

Ondik attempted just 2 field goals both misses in the second half under constant duress. Frustration may have boiled over at a critical time.

Tied at 38-38, Ondik lost a handle on the ball out of bounds. She was whistled for a technical, and Kaity Ernsting split a pair of free throws to give Benet the lead for good. On the Redwings' next possession Ernsting buried a jumper after a Benet offensive rebound.

"They were doubling me on the inbounds, doubling me all over the court," Ondik said, "so I had to give it up and I didn't really get it back. I got frustrated there. I probably shouldn't have done that."

"We tried to get inside Emma's head," Canulli said. "Once she gets tired that's big."

Benet (3-0) did many things well, not the least of which was shoot free throws. The Redwings made 18 of 22 at the line, 13 of 16 in the fourth quarter to pull away in the final minutes.

That wasn't surprising from a good-shooting team. What was more impressive was the Redwings outrebounding a bigger Naperville Central team 27-23 with 13 offensive rebounds. Nicole Valentine, all of 5-foot-8, had 8 boards 4 offensive.

"Give credit to our kids," Benet coach Peter Paul said. "They battled hard. We don't have the size, but I thought in general we made them work for everything they got. Congratulations to Emma on her 1,000 points, but I thought she had to work hard for every point she got."

Ondik, needing 8 points to become the ninth player in Naperville Central history to reach 1,000 points, wasted no time doing so. She scored 8 in the first quarter, a steal and score midway through giving her the milestone.

Ondik finished with 15 points.

"We've had some great point guards here," Redhawks coach Andy Nussbaum said, "and she's certainly one of them. I'm glad she's on my side."

Donahue added 13 points and 9 rebounds, and Jill D'Amico 9 points for Naperville Central (2-1).

"Their intent was to discombobulate us," Nussbaum said, "and they were effective. They disrupted us quite a bit."

Sidney Prasse had 15 points, Christen Prasse 10 points and Ashley Veselik 7 points and 8 boards for Benet.

"We hit free throws when they counted, we shared the ball well no complaints," Paul said. "We did everything that we have to do to beat a team like Naperville Central."