Defense sparks Benet win over WW South
Ask anybody about Benet, and the descriptions "good-shooting team" and "smart kids" inevitably pop up.
Better add good defense to the conversation.
The third-seeded Redwings shook off a second cold-shooting night this week and held off No. 6 Wheaton Warrenville South 42-34 on Thursday to win the Class 4A Naperville North regional.
"Everybody's been talking about our offense and our shooting, but we've really been focusing on our defense," said Benet's Ashley Veselik, who scored 9 points. "Hopefully, next week we'll be able to put them both together."
For the second straight year Benet (23-6) advances to play No. 2 seed Waubonsie Valley, next Tuesday at the Romeoville sectional. This time it's no upset. Benet has lost just once since Christmas, and it's only losses this season are to state-ranked teams.
"We haven't had one game this season where we were supposed to win and we lost," Veselik said. "That's something to be proud of."
Benet, which beat WW South 45-43 in December, became the first opponent to hold the Tigers under 40 points since Dec. 23. WW South (22-7) had as many turnovers through three quarters 18 as points.
"We talked about helping out one another, because we knew they were a driving team," Benet coach Peter Paul said. "We played the drive, and tried to have more help defense than we did the other night."
"We just couldn't get anything to drop," WW South coach Rob Kroehnke said. "We were a step slower than them. Usually when we're a step faster we look pretty good."
Benet missed 14 of its first 15 3-point attempts until Sidney Prasse threw in a 30-footer as time expired in the first half for a 22-14 Redwings lead.
Benet made its first 5 shots out of the break. Nicole Valentine, who had a team-high 12 points, scored twice off Veselik feeds, Danielle Canulli hit a 3-pointer and Kaity Ernsting knocked down a 3 to make it 34-18 after three quarters.
WW South went almost six minutes without a score but found a second wind courtesy of its pressure defense. The Tigers got four straight baskets off Benet turnovers, a Meghan Waldron jumper with 4:39 left making it 35-26.
Waldron, who had a game-high 16 points and 8 rebounds, converted a three-point play with 3:35 left to make it 37-29. But WW South's next four possessions resulted in two turnovers and two missed layups.
"We made a nice run just think how many shots we had," Kroehnke said. "We couldn't go at that pace the whole game, but we decided now was the time. It was one of those games where the shots didn't fall, but what a great year."
Similar to the teams' first meeting, and Tuesday's Benet win over Naperville North, the Redwings struggled late with the lead.
Uncharacteristically, Benet made just 6 of 17 free throws in the fourth quarter and committed 8 turnovers.
But the Redwings move on.
"We started to panic a little bit," Paul said. "Normally we shoot free throws a little bit better than we did today. Maybe part of it was the nerves. Our defense got us through."