Benet shoots down Carmel
It was a memorable Senior Night for the Benet girls basketball team Thursday in Lisle.
There was the introductions of the six seniors and their parents, the passing on of well wishes for the future, and for the finale, an air show.
Well, obviously a basketball-type of air show.
The Redwings rained nine 3-point baskets, including eight in the first half, on visiting Carmel to breeze past the Corsairs 63-40 to close out the regular season and get set for Tuesday’s start of the postseason.
“I’m very, very pleased. We ended up 21-6 and we had a great year. But now the real season is beginning,” Benet coach Peter Paul said.
Benet, a No. 3 seed in the Class 4A Romeoville sectional, opens Naperville North regional play at 6 p.m. Tuesday against the winner of Monday’s battle between the 14th-seeded hosts and 19th-seeded West Aurora.
“Coach said after the game that we had a great record. But the playoffs are here and we’re 0-0 and we need to get through seven games to get where we want,” Benet senior Danielle Canulli said.
It was huge night for Canulli, who finished with a game-high 22 points, which included five 3-pointers.
Carmel (16-11, 4-5 East Suburban Catholic Conference) took control of the game early, hitting four of its first five shots to take a 9-3 lead, which made Paul take a timeout with 4:36 left to try and cool off the Corsairs. Benet (7-2 in the ESCC) trailed Carmel 17-15 at the end of the first eight minutes.
Then the Redwings’ 3-point shooting required oven mitts to handle and helped Benet take control of the game. The Redwings shot 5 of 6 from long range in the second quarter and 8 of 12 in the first half.
“Offensively, that’s us,” Paul said. “We have to shoot the ball well to be successful because we don’t have the height.”
Kaity Ernsting contributed 11 points for Benet. Mikayla Panko had 9.
Carmel managed just 8 points in the second quarter to trail 43-25 at intermission. Benet led 61-36 after three quarters.
“They shot the lights out. Part of that was our fault,” Corsairs coach Kelly Perz said. “We didn’t get a hand in their face (in the second quarter) and we didn’t box out. They got a lot of second-chance opportunities.”
Carmel is seeded ninth in the Class 4A Mundelein sectional and faces eighth-seeded Prospect at 8:10 p.m. Tuesday to start Deerfield regional play.
“I told the girls to move on from this and learn from it. We have three more days of practice to work on what we need to,” Perz said.
Carmel was led in scoring by Madeline Felipez with 11.