Waubonsie Valley bows out against Benet
By Paul Johnson For Sun-Times Media February 21, 2012 10:38PM
Waubonsie Valley's Rachel Ross tries to block a shot against Benet. | Brian Powers~Sun-Times Media
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Updated: March 23, 2012 8:21AM
Benet Academy’s girls basketball team has developed quite a formula for success.
In Tuesday’s Neuqua Valley Class 4A Sectional semifinal game against Waubonsie Valley, that formula called for a whole lot of senior Sidney Prasse in the first half with a heaping helping of junior Christen Prasse in the second half.
The duo combined for 44 points to lead the Redwings to a 68-53 win and set up a showdown with three-time defending state champion Bolingbrook in Thursday’s 7:30 p.m. sectional title game.
Sidney Prasse scored 16 of her game-high 23 points in the first half, helping Benet to a 10-point halftime lead. Christen Prasse then slammed the door shut on the Warriors in the second half with 13 of her 21 points.
“I can’t say enough about them,” Benet coach Peter Paul said. “If we shoot the ball well, we’re almost unbeatable. I think that’s just us. We have to shoot the ball that well on Thursday. If we shoot the ball well, we’ll be in the ballgame.”
Waubonsie (25-3) hung around most of the first half before allowing a 13-2 run that blew the game open for Benet (25-6). Sidney Prasse started the run with a three-pointer, followed by a three from Taylor Valentine and a three-point play from Christen Prasse. That turned a 24-23 Benet lead into a 37-27 halftime lead.
Then ,Christen Prasse started the third quarter with a three-pointer just seconds into the half to really apply the pressure to the Warriors.
“That was a huge test for us because when she hit that, it put all the weight on our shoulders to see how we would respond,” Waubonsie senior Becky Williford said. “We were supposed to respond in a positive way and push it up. We did that, but we were exchanging points back and forth.”
Every time Waubonsie tried to claw back, there as a Prasse sister waiting to push Benet’s lead back up. Waubonsie cut it to 43-35 on Erica Jordan’s pull-up jumper late in the third, but Christen Prasse scored eight points and Sidney Prasse five points as part of a 13-6 run that extended the lead to 56-41 early in the fourth.
“We came out ready to play,” Sidney Prasse said. “We just set good picks and had good passes. We were really focused for this game. None of us wanted to lose. We wanted to get the chance against Bolingbrook and I think we did really well.”
Gratia Brooks and Williford each scored 14 points to lead Waubonsie. Rachael Ross added 12 points and Erica Jordan scored 11 for the Warriors. Of Waubonsie’s three losses this season, two came at the hands of Benet.
Benet now gets a shot at Bolingbrook and its eight Division I players in Thursday’s title game.
“We’ve been there before,” Paul said. “Last time we gave them a game for a half. We’d at least like to go a little further than that. It’s a tough assignment.”
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