The girls basketball team headed down state with sweet memories from last year in the back of their minds. “It was scary to be going down for the second year in a row because we knew that the pressure was on us to win. Obviously, we were so excited to be playing in the state tournament, but you could feel the pressure,” senior Elise Stout said about qualifying for state for the second year in a row.

However, when the girls were on the court, they did not let that pressure get to them. For seniors Kathleen Doyle, Elise Stout, Sami Valentine, Maddie Bozych, Megan Will, and Sydney Stevens, it would be their last chance at state. Doyle, Stout, and Valentine, along with juniors Katie Jaseckas and Kendal Schramek, composed the starters for the Lady Redwings. After handily defeating Trinity 68-51 in the state semifinal, the girls prepared to take on Fremd. Top-ranked Fremd was sixth-ranked Benet’s opponent in this year’s showdown, just as they were one year ago.

The game started out tough, for the Redwings were down 6-3 at the end of the first quarter. All of Benet’s points from the first quarter came from senior Sami Valentine, who continued to play strong throughout the remainder of the game. The team kicked it up to high gear by the end of the first half, beating Fremd 21-13. In the fourth quarter, Benet fans were biting their nails in anticipation, for Fremd was in the lead with a score of 35-31. In the minds of every spectator there, the game could have gone either way. However, senior Kathleen Doyle had two huge 3-pointers to retake the lead for the Redwings.

The Lady Redwings continued on that track for the rest of the game. They defeated Fremd once again for the state championship with a final score of 42-39. Doyle, who was named Ms. Basketball of Illinois for 2016, scored the highest number of points of any player on either team, with a grand total of 24 points for the Redwings (eleven of those points being scored in the fourth quarter). Arguably the most important points that Doyle scored came in the last few minutes of the game. er two three-pointers which retook the lead from Fremd came with 4:46 and 2:24 left in the game. With 12.8 seconds remaining in the game, Elise Stout sol
idified the Redwing’s 42-39 lead with a free-throw.

“The celebration and victory was well worth the hard work and effort we put into our season,” Doyle, team captain, said. “It is so nice to see all of our hard work pay off. This just shows how much heart and love of the game this team has.”