Redwings topple Plainfield South
It was a good feeling for the Benet girls basketball team to win a game in its own Thanksgiving tournament, even if it was on the third try.
The Redwings pounced on Plainfield South early on Tuesday and never let the Cougars up for a much-needed 66-35 victory.
Benet evened its record at 2-2 without starting guard Annie Doyle, who could miss a significant amount of time with an injury.
"I like the fact that we jumped on them early and never gave them the opportunity to be in the game," said Benet coach Peter Paul. "That was the key for us tonight."
The Cougars (1-3) scored the first basket of the game on a putback by Bridgette McGuire, but that would their only score in the first quarter as the Redwings reeled off 15 straight points.
Benet, sparked by Katie Dunn's 10 points and some nifty defensive work by Kirstin Stein, took a 29-12 lead into the locker room at halftime.
"Our goal for the night was to execute well and keep our composure the entire game," said Dunn, who finished with 12 points. "We sometimes tend to be a little impatient on offense and tonight we were calm. At halftime we talked about staying intense and staying focused because anything is possible."
Nikki Bell took the offensive reins in the third quarter, scoring 8 of her 10 points as the Redwings streaked further ahead at 46-22.
And in the fourth quarter Colleen O'Shea put in 11 of her game-high 13 points as the entire Redwings roster stepped up and achieved its goal of staying intense and focused.
"The injury to Annie could really hurt us, and we still don't know how long she'll be gone," Dunn said. "But it was nice to have her on the bench tonight, and it was great that everyone stepped up and contributed."
The Redwings dominated every facet of the game, playing tough defense, clearing the boards and scoring from both inside and outside.
Bell led with 8 rebounds and Stein had 4 steals for Benet.
"Give credit to Plainfield," Paul said. "They were overmatched, but they hung in there the entire game."
The way the Redwings played will be used as a lesson for the inexperienced Plainfield South players.
"We're practically a new program this year," said Cougars coach Tor Erickson. "This tournament is an eye-opener for our girls to show them where we can be some day. Benet showed great discipline on both ends of the court. They hold their ground in the man or the zone the way we'd like to. We want to eventually be known as a team that doesn't back down to anyone and never quits."
Krista Matsui led the Cougars with 9 points.
-- Neil Shalin
Rosary 52, Wheaton North 37:ŒBalance was key for Rosary in its game against Wheaton North.
The Royals had three players score in double digits, which helped them beat the Falcons 52-37 in the second day of Geneva's Thanksgiving tournament Tuesday.
"We have a lot of talent … and it's only going to get better," Rosary coach Dave Beebe said. "It's not just a 1-2 person show anymore."
Faith Jones led all scorers with 13 points. Jordan Rettig added 11 points and Victoria Alvarez finished with 10. Katie Petrando led the way on the boards with 8 to go with her 8 points.
"We were looking for each other, and everyone stepped up," Jones said. "Everyone did their job."
Wheaton North and Rosary exchanged leads for most of the first half until the Royals (4-0) went on an 8-0 run that allowed them to lead 22-16.
Rosary's lead grew from there. It eventually went on a 13-1 run at the end of the third and into the fourth quarter.
"I thought if we went on a nice run, we could beat these guys," Beebe said. "It was nice. They stepped up today."
By the time the run was over, the Royals led 45-27.
"We just went cold," Wheaton North coach David Eaton said. "We were shooting the ball, but the shots weren't falling. We had a lot of good looks, but today was a bad day shooting … it just wasn't our day.
"Rosary is a great team. You have to give them credit for giving us problems. They are big and athletic, but our biggest thing was we didn't score."
Wheaton North (1-1) was led by Michelle Scandora's 7 points and 4 steals.
-- Christine Bolin
Glenbard West 52, Glenbard North 49:ŒThe Hilltoppers (1-3) held a 16-9 lead after one quarter on the way to winning the game in the Rachel Bach Memorial Tournament at Glenbard East.
Nicole Hazemi dropped in a game-high 20 points, while Abby Hastings and Kathryn Lux contributed 11 apiece in the victory.
Glenbard North (0-3) received 13 from both Jennifer Petrosky and Amoni Reynolds.
Glenbard East 49, Downers North 39:ŒKelsey Taylor netted 19 points and Jackie Foreman scored 11 for Glenbard East (1-1) in its tourney.
The Rams outscored Downers North 16-6 in the second quarter to go up 25-22 at halftime before outscoring the Trojans 17-9 in the final quarter.
Kristi Koszewski and Missy Blazej led Downers North (1-1) with 12 points apiece.
Glenbard South 51, Addison Trail 38:ŒAt Glenbard East, Glenbard South (2-1) outscored Addison Trail in each quarter to beat the Blazers behind Danielle Pipal's 14 points.
The Raiders made 12 of 16 free throws.
Erika Spear pumped in a game-high 18 and Jen Schulmeister chipped in 11 for Addison Trail (2-2).
Driscoll 55, Willowbrook 50:ŒDriscoll improved to 3-0 by outscoring the tournament host 37-24 in the second half, including 23-17 in the fourth quarter.
Courtney Lindfors scored a game-high 16 points, while Allie Divito and Gigi DiGrazia each added 12 for the Highlanders.
Ashley Kanelos' 12 points topped Willowbrook (2-1).
St. Francis 56, Lisle 43:ŒChrissy Belniak's 16 points and Catherine Culligan's 14 sparked the Spartans (4-0) to a triumph in the Burlington Central Tournament.
St. Francis held a 12-5 advantage after one quarter and a 31-14 cushion at halftime.
Danielle Fernette delivered a game-high 18 points and Sara Urban kicked in 11 for Lisle (0-3).
Waubonsie Valley 66, Naperville North 20:ŒJessica Morice and Brittany Upshaw each scored 13 points in leading the Warriors (3-0) to victory in their WarHawk Tournament.
The host built a 43-13 lead by intermission.
Timothy Christian 48, Holy Trinity 33:ŒThe Trojans (3-1) used 12 points from Katie Kirkse and 11 from Lindsay VanderBrug to register a nonconference win on the road.
VanderBrug also pulled down 7 rebounds for Timothy Christian, which jumped ahead 16-6 in the opening quarter.
Lake Park 71, Leyden 14:ŒSamantha Arnold poured in 23 points and Devin Johnston tacked on 11 for the host Lancers (3-1), who won big in the Elk Grove/Fenton/Lake Park Tournament.
Lake Park held leads of 21-5 after the first quarter and 34-7 at halftime.
Boys basketball
Wheaton Academy 75, Streamwood 61:ŒBen Euler scored 12 first-quarter points and fueled an early 13-0 run as Wheaton Academy raced out to a lead over Streamwood.
Though the Sabres succeeded in slowing down the Warriors' high-octane attack, and outscored their opponent in the second half, the hosts were able to maintain a cushion throughout and won the game 75-61.
"Last night we were a little bit tentative in our game against South Shore," Wheaton Academy coach Paul Ferguson said. "But what that did was give us a lot of confidence coming into this game."
The game closed out Day 2 of Wheaton Academy's Thanksgiving Tournament and served as Streamwood's season opener.
"I was disappointed with our defense, because I thought we'd do a better job of stopping people," Streamwood coach Tim Jones said. "I think it was because this was our first game, and Wheaton Academy is a very good team playing at home."
The Warriors led 23-8 after one quarter and extended that lead to 38-21 at the half behind a stingy defense.
"That was the best aspect of our game tonight," Ferguson said. "We varied our pressure very well on the perimeter, showed a lot of help and closed out well."
But the third quarter began with Tim Rusthoven, Wheaton Academy's big man, becoming ill and leaving the game. As Streamwood junior guard Tem Esikiel started heating up, scoring 11 of his team-high 12 points in the third quarter, the Sabres began to get into a rhythm.
"We had a bad beginning, but I like how we battled back," Jones said.
Ryan Kiesel added a pair of threes, and Streamwood looked poised for a run, though it still trailed 58-42 after three quarters.
With 4:42 left in the game, the Sabres pulled to within 61-51 for the first time since the opening quarter. But Euler, who led all scorers with 27 points, stepped up again and helped the Warriors (2-0) put the game on ice.
"Ben's a gamer," Ferguson said. "We move the ball pretty well and that allowed Ben a lot of open shots."
Rusthoven scored 11 before leaving the game. In his absence Paul Werkema stepped up and scored 10 points and pulled down 8 boards.
T.J. Enno and Kyle Holder each scored 11 for the Sabres.
-- Henry Perez
Glenbard East 55, Glenbard North 45:ŒDerak Stanback led the Rams (1-1) with a game-high 17 points in their win at the District 87 tournament. Ryan Gasiorowski scored 16 points and Reid Hulett tallied 12 for Glenbard North (0-2).
WW South 55, South Shore 52:ŒThe Tigers improved to 2-0 at the Wheaton Academy tournament behind Derek Babb's 16 points and Sam Carlson's 14 points.
Naperville Central 62, Elk Grove 48:ŒDrew Crawford scored a game-high 26 points for the Redhawks (2-0) at the Fenton tournament. Matt Neufeld added 12 points and Harrison Daniels 10 points.
Timothy Christian 74, Montini 65:ŒAt the Lisle tournament the victorious Trojans (2-0) placed three players in double-figure scoring led by 21 points from Jaaron Holmes. Andrew Logan poured in 19 points and Vince Williams added 10 points. Alex Blashewski led Montini (0-2) with 20 points. Anthony Blashewski scored 19 points.
Driscoll 52, Maine West 49:ŒJake Lindfors scored 24 points and Matt Kaban added 16 points for the Highlanders (2-0) in their win at the Lisle tournament.
Immaculate Conception 43, Mooseheart 38:ŒMatt Purdom scored 16 points and grabbed 15 rebounds for the Knights (2-0) in their win at the Somonauk tournament. Jack Dempsey added 17 points including three 3-pointers.