Eilers’ buzzer-beater helps Benet stun Fenwick
Madeline Eilers wasn’t sure if she had time for one last shot.
She did, and she made it count.
Benet’s senior hit a 3-pointer as time expired, and the No. 12 Redwings rallied from a 14-point first-half deficit for a dramatic 67-66 win over Fenwick on Saturday in Lisle.
Teammates mobbed Eilers, and with good reason — it is Benet’s first win over Fenwick since 1999.
“I thought we were out of time,” Eilers said, “but we weren’t. I was in shock when it went in.”
Benet got one last chance, down 66-64, after Fenwick lost the ball out of bounds on an inbounds play. The Redwings, though, had to go the length of the court in 3.6 seconds.
A long inbounds throw to midcourt just got over a Fenwick defender to Benet’s Christen Prasse, who threw a crosscourt pass ahead to an open Eilers on the wing.
Catch, shoot, swish.
“Honestly, I felt when I passed it to her she wouldn’t have time to get a shot off,” Prasse said. “There was no designed play. Coach just said to get it in and throw a shot up.”
Until the final shot it was a forgettable end to an unforgettable week for Eilers.
Eilers hit a school record 11 3-pointers Tuesday in a win over Plainfield North and had hit 16 of 23 3s in two games before Saturday. Then she missed her first 7 attempts Saturday. The eighth is the only one Benet will remember.
“I had to make at least one shot today,” Eilers said.
“She is a very good shooter, but sometimes the pressure can get to a kid,” Benet coach Peter Paul said. “If we need a shot, we want Madeline or Sidney (Prasse) taking it.”
Sidney Prasse, who was sensational in the comeback with five 3s and 28 points — 13 in the fourth quarter — had faith Eilers’ last shot was going down.
“She’s the best shooter in the state,” Prasse boasted. “She’s like a robot from the 3-point line. Don’t leave her.”
Fenwick (6-2, 1-1 East Suburban Catholic Conference) no doubt felt like it gave one away. The Friars lost a 14-point first-half lead and trailed 63-58 with 3:27 left after a Sidney Prasse 3-pointer, but they came back to go ahead 66-64 with 52 seconds left on a Marek Burchett driving layup.
In the final 30 seconds Fenwick watched its best player, Yale-bound Meredith Boardman, miss 2 free throws, and twice the Friars couldn’t corral a Benet missed shot that went out of bounds. Then, after Benet stepped on the baseline for a turnover with 7.9 seconds left, Fenwick gave it back with an errant long inbounds.
“There were a lot of little things that we didn’t get done at the end,” Fenwick coach Dave Power said. “Our defensive alignment on the last play was poor. I had a timeout to burn and probably should have used it. That lob on Benet’s inbounds was a dangerous play, but they executed it.”
Fenwick, employing a hybrid form of Grinnell College’s chaotic run-and-gun system with frequent mass substitutions this year, seemed to be on the verge of blowing out Benet early. It was 30-16 with 2:42 left in the first half, but an 8-1 Redwings run that was all Sidney Prasse scoring for Benet cut it to 33-24 by halftime.
Benet (7-4, 2-1) further helped its cause by hitting 18 of 20 free throws in the second half. Christen Prasse’s knifing drive through the lane with 5:37 left gave Benet its first lead since the first quarter at 52-51.
Christen Prasse scored 19 points, and Taylor Valentine had 10 points and 11 rebounds for Benet. Boardman had 21 points and 11 rebounds for Fenwick.
“We came into this game thinking this could be our best opportunity to beat (Fenwick) in a long time,” Christen Prasse said. “We really wanted this.”