Scouting the second Class 4A girls basketball semifinal

By Orrin Schwarz

oschwarz@dailyherald.com

Class 4A girls basketball semifinal

8:15 p.m. Friday on Comcast SportsNet HD+

Benet (30-3) at Trinity (29-5)

Road to the championship: Benet defeated Joliet Central (71-40) and Plainfield East (78-56) at the East Aurora regional. The Redwings then beat Neuqua Valley (71-60) and Oswego East (68-60) at a sectional they hosted. Finally, they beat Edwardsville (53-51) in the Bloomington supersectional. Trinity defeated Glenbrook North (72-19) and Maine South (72-41) in regional play, then topped Evanston (42-37) and Glenbrook South (39-23) in a strong sectional. The Blazers defeated Montini (60-53) in the supersectional to advance to state.

Saturday: Friday's winner plays the winner of the Whitney Young-Fremd game in the championship game at 8:15 p.m. The loser plays the loser of the Whitney Young-Fremd game at 6:30 p.m. for third place. Both games Saturday will be broadcast on Comcast SportsNet.

Coaches: Benet coach Joe Kilbride is in his second season since succeeding the retired Peter Paul, for whom Kilbride was an assistant coach. The Redwings have gone downstate both seasons since Kilbride took over, winning the state title last year. They are 64-6 the past two seasons. Trinity coach Mike Valente is in his first season at Trinity. He coached two seasons at Queen of Peace, with a 20-31 record.

Probable starters:

Benet Trinity

No. Name Ht. Yr. Pos. No. Name Ht. Yr.

11 Kathleen Doyle 5-10 Sr. G 1 Annie McKenna 5-5 Sr.

5 Sami Valentine 5-7 Sr. G 11 Lauren Lee 5-10 Jr.

24 Elise Stout 5-8 Sr. G 12 Dee Brown 5-8 Jr.

22 Kendal Schramek 6-0 Sr. F 31 Alisa Fallon 5-10 So.

54 Katie Jaseckas 6-1 Sr. F 22 Kaitlyn Aylward 6-0 Sr.

Key substitutes:

No. Name Ht. Yr. Pos. No. Name Ht. Yr.

1 Clara Prasse 5-6 Fr. G 21 Emma Hayes 5-7 Jr.

3 Ali Kramer 5-10 Jr. G/F 5 Sinead Molloy 5-9 Jr.

15 Emma Lyne 5-8 Jr. G 10 Sheahen Dowling 5-7 So.

23 Lauren Stack 6-1 Fr. C 20 Alex Fanning 6-2 So.

Scouting Benet: Any discussion of Benet begins with Doyle, possibly the best player in Illinois. The Nebraska recruit and first-team all-state player is a tremendous athlete who can do it all for the Redwings, offensively and defensively. She's quick and fearless driving to the basket, and she enjoys earning an assist more than scoring. She also loves to pick up a steal or surprise a fastbreaking opponent by coming from behind for a blocked shot. She's far from a one-person team, however. Valentine is strong defensively and is happy in the role of stopper. Stout, an honorable mention all-stater, can shoot very well and also gets her share of steals in the Redwings' press. Whatever college successfully recruits her will be getting a very good player. She's not afraid to take a big-time shot. Schramek also is a very good shooter. She sometimes takes a back seat offensively to the seniors, but she can take over when she gets hot, as she did against Neuqua Valley in the sectional semifinal when she scored 27. Jaseckas can be tough to guard in the low post, but she also showed this season she can hit the 3-point shot in big situations.

Scouting Trinity: Only four Blazers scored against Montini on Monday, but those four sure were good. Aylward, a second-team all-state player and St. Francis of Joliet recruit, was the best player on the floor that night, offensively and defensively. The Blazers were physical in the paint, keeping Montini from scoring much inside and limiting the Broncos to one shot at a time. Trinity was a force on the boards. Trinity has a good ballhandler in Annie McKenna, a Dartmouth recruit, so trapping her in the backcourt, as Benet likes to do, won't be easy. And you don't want to have to come back against Trinity in the waning minutes of a game because the Blazers are good free-throw shooters. When Brown doesn't score much she can still rebound and defend, but she can get hot offensively. Lee, McKenna and Aylward all can hit the 3-point shot.

Bottom line: Simply put, this is a great group of four heading to Normal for the Class 4A semifinals this weekend. Any of these teams are good enough to win and be considered a very worthy champion.

- Orrin Schwarz