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Benet hits 65 in girls basketball triumph over Metea Valley

This is not the Benet girls basketball team that averaged better than 70 points a game on its way to winning the Class 4A title one year ago. Not yet, anyway.

But the Redwings can still play some pretty tenacious defense. By the time coach Joe Kilbride unleashed his third wave off the bench with more than four minutes remaining in the third quarter Friday, Benet led Metea Valley by 43 points and had forced more than two dozen turnovers.

Benet (2-0) opened the Naperville Central Tip Off Tournament with a 65-21 victory over Metea Valley in Lisle.

"We graduated 40 points per game between the five seniors," Kilbride said. "I don't know that we'll replace them. It's a different group. There will be a different formula for this group to be really successful, and I don't know if it will be averaging 70 points per game.

"We have to figure out where the points will come from, but it's still early," he added. "We're still trying to figure out which rotation works, what's the best grouping, even positionally what works well. But it's a process."

One player whose role on offense will likely expand is 5-foot-8 senior guard Elise Stout, who averaged a little better than 7 points a game as a junior but who scored 12 in limited minutes during Friday's romp.

"My role last year was to get in there, play defense and make some big plays," she said. "I'm definitely going to have to be a bigger factor on offense this year, not just scoring but getting the assist and everything.

"I've been working on my midrange game a lot because I know I'm not always going to have an open 3-pointer," she added. "It's always nice to have a little backup shot. But our defense is our main energizer. As long as we keep that going we should be getting some easy buckets."

Kathleen Doyle led Benet with 16 points, 6 steals, 6 assists and 5 rebounds. Sydney Stephens added 8 points off the bench, including a pair of 3-pointers, and freshman Lauren Stack had 6 points.

"It's nice to have a chance to let them all play," Kilbride said. "They all work hard in practice, There are 14 on the roster and it's not always possible to let them all play. It's nice to be able to reward their efforts with some playing time."

Freshman Ashley Konkle led Metea Valley (0-2) with 9 points and 7 rebounds.

"It's the beginning of the year, and we're just trying to find a good fit, a good chemistry with our kids," Metea Valley coach Cedric Williams said. "We're young. We sorely miss our three seniors from last year. We just have to find some pieces of the puzzle.

"We just got to get better," he added. "We have to stop putting our heads down. It's too early to do that. We've got a long season. We just have to go back to the drawing board and find out what works for us."

  Benet's Jenny Degnan goes to the floor fighting for a loose ball below Metea Valley's Aaliyah Johnson during the 2015 Naperville Central Girls Basketball Tip Off Tournament at Benet Academy Daniel White/dwhite@dailyherald.com
  Metea Valley's Janiece Thomas, right, drives the lane under the eyes of Benet Academy's Jenny Degnan, left, during the 2015 Naperville Central Girls Basketball Tip Off Tournament at Benet Academy. Daniel White/dwhite@dailyherald.com
  Benet Academy's Lauren Stack right, defends the lane during the 2015 Naperville Central Girls Basketball Tip Off Tournament at Benet Academy. Daniel White/dwhite@dailyherald.com
  Benet Academy's Maddie Bozych drives the lane against Metea Valley during the 2015 Naperville Central Girls Basketball Tip Off Tournament at Benet Academy. Daniel White/dwhite@dailyherald.com
  Benet Academy head basketball coach Joe Killbride battles Metea Valley during the 2015 Naperville Central Girls Basketball Tip Off Tournament at Benet Academy Daniel White/dwhite@dailyherald.com
  Metea Valley girls basketball coach Cedric Williams encourages his team against Benet Academy during the 2015 Naperville Central Girls Basketball Tip Off Tournament at Benet Academy Daniel White/dwhite@dailyherald.com
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