Girls basketball: Briggs scores 25, helps Benet rally past Prospect in fourth quarter
It was a close game from start to finish when No. 3 ranked Daily Herald girls basketball team Benet Academy met No. 17 Prospect Tuesday evening at the 10th annual Exam Jamm Showcase in Lake Zurich.
Prospect (4-4) took a 38-36 lead on a rare 4-point play by senior Allison Warnement with 7:37 to play as the Knights were hoping to pull off the big upset.
But the Redwings would go on a 12-2 run after that point. Senior Emma Briggs (game-high 25 points) gave her squad their biggest lead at 48-40 on a 3-pointer with 3:20 to play.
From there, Benet (7-1) held off Prospect to capture a 52-47 nonconference victory.
"I thought our kids Emma Briggs and Bridget Rifenburg had great games for us and our other kids guarded well and took care of the ball," said Benet coach Joe Kilbride, whose team shot 42% from the field, but only 3-for-15 from 3-point range. "Alli Linke is really good, I thought No. 15 (Zoe) Black shot it well for them, and Matt (Weber) does a good job coaching them."
Rifenburg had a big game with 22 points, including 5 points during the Redwings' decisive 12-2 run in the fourth quarter.
Freshman Mia Marling had a team-high 15 points for the Knights while Linke (13 points) and Black (12 points, three 3-pointers) also hit double figures.
"I think basically we just had to play smart at the end, and once we had a lead we had to keep the lead and make sure they couldn't come back," said Briggs, who had many of her points on drives to the basket. "I think that we definitely didn't shoot the ball great today, but you know it will fall eventually. I think we played really well as a team with some great defense and I think we talked well too."
Neither team could pull away as the Knights led 17-16 after one quarter before trailing 26-25 at halftime and 36-34 after three quarters.
Warnement wound up with 6 points while Ava Mersinger chipped in 4 points for Benet.
"We knew Benet was a handful to prepare for, they're very well coached, and their players are very fundamentally sound," said Weber, whose team shot 33% overall, and only 4-for-22 from beyond the arc.
"We knew we were going to have to limit our turnovers, execute in the half court, and I thought we worked our tails off. As the season's going we're learning what it takes to win versus good teams. And late in the game it came down to rebounding and they hit more shots than us so credit to them. But I'm really proud of our group for fighting for four quarters and we're playing four freshmen so this is a great experience for them."