Prasse sisters lead Benet to 17th straight win
Benet found itself trailing Marian Catholic 11-2 minutes into Thursday's game in Lisle, a situation that usually screams for a timeout.
Peter Paul paused.
"I saw Chrissie (Prasse) attacking, or otherwise it would have been a timeout," Benet's coach said. "That's an honest answer. We didn't want to stop play at that particular moment. She was going to the basket, we got a foul call and it was 11-4 and we made a little run."
When a Prasse has the ball, Paul knows good things are bound to happen.
Christen Prasse poured in 25 points, older sister Sidney Prasse 19 and No. 2 Benet shook off a slow start to beat Marian Catholic 62-45 for its 17th straight win.
Christen Prasse was a big reason why Benet awoke from its early slumber, scoring the Redwings' first 12 points. Benet (21-4, 6-1 East Suburban Catholic Conference) led 14-13 by quarter's end, and two Christen Prasse free throws a minute into the second gave them the lead for good as part of a 21-5 Redwings run.
"It took us a couple minutes to get going, but we got the momentum," Prasse said. "Once we get the momentum, nothing can stop us I believe."
It's also going to take more than 45 points to beat Benet, which averages more than 60 a game. Marian Catholic (16-11, 4-2) hit 5 of its first 7 shots but cooled considerably after that. Not helping matters, Spartans post Megan Walsh went to the bench with three fouls with 6:30 left in the half after scoring 6 early points.
"We came out strong we just got to stay strong throughout and not put our heads down," Walsh said. "I don't know what happened. We started to put our heads down and fell apart after they started making shots."
Down 25-19 at half, Marian Catholic pulled as close as 29-24 in the third quarter. From there, though, a Christen Prasse 3-pointer triggered a 9-0 Benet run. Christen Prasse assisted a Sidney Prasse 3 with a minute left in the quarter, and Sidney Prasse buried a deep one as time expired, making it 46-31.
"When one of our shooters gets hot, we immediately look for her," Christen Prasse said. "None of us are shy to shoot, which helps."
One of Benet's best shooters, Madeline Eilers, played some in the first half before tweaking a partially torn ACL and didn't return after halftime. Count Paul as one praying for a quick return.
"It's day by day, time by time," Paul said of the injury. "She adds a dimension to our team. It forces defenses to come out."
Taylor Valentine did yeoman work on the boards for Benet, pulling down 11 rebounds to go with 9 points. Alanna Ferry scored 12 points and Walsh 10 for Marian.
"Taylor got a ton of rebounds on the weakside," Paul said. "We played well defensively, we shared the basketball and we took care of it for the most part. I'm proud of them."