The Benet Academy Redwings varsity girls basketball team rode into state competition on a wave of momentum, looking to continue their recent postseason success. On their journey through the playoffs, they defeated: Hinsdale South in the regional semifinal, Simeon in the regional championship, Whitney Young in the sectional semifinal, and Montini in the sectional championship. The super sectionals painted a lopsided win against Oswego with a score gap of 33 points, sending the Lady Redwings off to state.

Benet’s first opponent was the Mother McAuley Mighty Macs. The game began with Jenna Badali scoring the first two points for McAuley, who, along with Grace Hynes, were the most productive players on their team that night. Benet’s first two points came from Lauren Stack. During the first quarter, McAuley was able to pull away, but Benet brought it down to a seven-point game at the end of the first by using the height advantage they had with junior Brooke Schramek and senior Ashley Konkle in the post.

The Mighty Macs appeared comfortable, but the Redwings came out strong in the second quarter. Junior Kendall Holmes took the ball to the basket at the start of the quarter, drew the foul, and made both free throws. She followed that up immediately with a steal on defense for another possession. The team as a whole did a good job beating McAuley’s press, especially senior Clara Prasse, who single handedly beat it more than once. Benet also was strong on defense throughout the entire game, getting stops in key situations. Sophomore Molly Sheehan was brought into the game in the middle of the second quarter and made a three to bring Benet’s deficit to one point.

To start the third quarter, Holmes hit a three and on the other end got a charge. This gave the girls a surge of momentum in the game. Heading into the fourth, the score was 33-30. The Mighty Macs were fouled often and made almost all of their free throws, which helped them secure a win. Jenna Badali had 21 points, over half of which were free throws. The game came down to the last few minutes in the fourth, but the Mighty Mac came out victorious in the 48-38 showdown.

The next night, the Redwings competed for third place against the Hononegah Indians. Benet started the game off strong by securing the ball at tip off. Schramek scored the first two points off of a perfect back door pass by Konkle. On the next possession, Schramek hit a three, bringing the score to 7-0. This forced Hononegah to call a timeout to prevent Benet from building up any more momentum in the first few minutes. The Redwings came out of the break firing, though, as sophomore Kendall Moriarty drained a three right after the timeout. Hononegah finally made their first basket after six minutes. At the end of the first quarter, the score was 12-3. The Indians came back in the second quarter, heading into halftime with a 23-22 lead. The second half consisted of the same back-and-forth style of play, with each team taking the lead at various times. The game came down to the last second, making it a close matchup where either team could have come out as the winner. In the end, however, Benet fell short 43-39, and Hononegah received third place.

The Redwings finished with a 28-7 record. They had a phenomenal season and ended with fourth place in state. The team is proud of all of their accomplishments and with several key contributors returning next year, expect much more next year.