Benet builds big lead, holds on

Benet's first half was just too good for Waubonsie Valley to overcome in the second.

The third-seeded Redwings held off a furious rally by No. 2 Waubonsie Valley for a 56-52 victory Tuesday night at the Class 4A Romeoville sectional semifinals.

"We had a lot of momentum going into this," Benet sophomore Christen Prasse said. "We were really pumped from last year. We lost to them pretty badly last year. Basically that motivated us to go and get them."

The Redwings looked very motivated. Benet led 16-7 after one quarter, 32-16 after two, with the lead peaking at 18.

"They were making their shots. They're an outstanding shooting team and defensively we had a few lapses," Warriors coach Kim Connell said of Benet. "We let them get some easy shots. Things just weren't going our way the first half.

"To get to this point in the season you need to have a little bit of luck, and we got a little bit of luck on our shoulder the second half."

Tami Morice opened the second half with a Waubonsie Valley 3-pointer, and the Warriors began to chip away. The Benet lead was down to 45-36 after three quarters.

Another Morice 3 made it 45-42 with 5:34 to play, but Kaity Ernsting answered with a Benet 3-pointer, and on their next possession the Redwings held more the ball for more than a minute before the Warriors began to foul.

"They didn't play as well in the first half and they certainly came after us in the second half," Benet coach Peter Paul said. "We kind of withstood that down the stretch, hit some key free throws and I thought we really ran clock very well in that fourth quarter for about a few minutes there. That really helped us out a lot."

"We didn't lose our cool at all during the game," said Christen Prasse, who made 5 of 6 free throws in the final 1:13. "We got out to a lead and we kept our lead the whole game."

Morice led Waubonsie with 15 points, and Tanysha Gardner-Walls added 12 before fouling out with 27.5 seconds to play.

"It was a heck of a second half," Connell said. "We spotted them too many points in the first half. I told them at halftime this is about playing with some heart, playing with some pride. Chip away at the lead, keep attacking the basket. I'm disappointed in the finish but proud of the way we played that second half."

Benet junior Sidney Prasse hit five 3-pointers and finished with 19 points, and Ernsting added 9. The Redwings advance to meet two-time defending state champion Bolingbrook at 7:30 p.m. Thursday in the sectional final.

"All it gave us was the opportunity to play the top team in the state that hasn't lost in the state of Illinois over I don't even know," Paul said. "I've lost track.

"... I'm just happy with the win today and we'll see where it takes us."