Benet comes at teams in waves.
Substitutions don’t come as frequently as hockey line changes, but it’s close. Benet has multiple players that warrant playing time, and coach Joe Kilbride intends to use the depth to the team’s advantage, particularly in the early portion of the season.
“I like to play deep, especially early when I’m trying to figure things out,” Kilbride said. “We have good depth. I’m not just throwing bodies out there; we got some good players.”
The Redwings played 11 players in the first half of Tuesday’s 63-40 win against Homewood-Flossmoor. Depth is at the Redwings’ disposal, and they use it to wear teams down throughout a game — 10 different Redwings scored on Tuesday.
The depth, coupled with a zone defense and a full-court press, make Benet a hard team to play against. The Red Wings’ defensive execution allowed them to get an early lead while they waited for their shots to go down. They really broke the game wide-open with a 27-point third quarter. Benet’s depth advantage allowed players to stay fresh throughout the game.
“We’re trying to run with the ball fast and get up the court,”said senior guard Lindsay Harzich, who scored 15 points. If we’re out of breath, we have subs to come in. So it’s great to have the depth that we have.”
The depth is also battle-tested and experienced. There’s also a familiarity that exists among the team, with 12 players returning from last year’s 24-7 team that lost in the IHSA Class 4A sectional championship, including starters senior guards Harzich and Aria Mazza, junior guard Bridget Rifenburg and junior forward Emma Briggs.
“Every single person on this team contributes something,” said Mazza, who scored eight points. It’s nice to have all this talent.”
Also in the Redwings’ favor is height; they have three players that are 6-0 or above and four players that are at least 5-10 — Homewood-Flossmoor has just two players 6-0 or taller. With that height advantage, the Redwings are a force on the glass. On Tuesday, the Redwings had 39 rebounds. Every shot that is missed is usually pursued by a Redwings player.
Benet prevented Homewood-Flossmoor from getting extra shots with its commitment on the glass, allowing the Redwings to control the possession game. It’s paramount that Benet controls the glass to ensure they have ample opportunities to control the game’s pace.
“We knew that they would be an aggressive team, but we took advantage of how they were short and got good rebounds and good layups,” Harzich said.
Harzich, a Brown commit, really got going in the third quarter, knocking two threes and finishing a layup. Her ability to impact the game without scoring showed how far she’s developed as a player.
“She’s defending, rebounding, playmaking and making her shots,” Kilbride said. “That’s what we need her to be as a player.”
With Harzich as a steadying force and Mazza as a strong senior guard who can create shots for herself and others, Benet has the roster construction of a formidable team. But its depth is what separates Benet from other teams in the state. The Redwings aren’t dependent on one player to carry the scoring load. They have a multitude of players who can lead the team in scoring on any given night, making them a hard team to play against.
“Nobody’s great every night, so we have the kind of group where we can ride the kids who got it going any night,” Kilbride said. “As long as we find somebody who got it going, we’ll be alright.”