Thanksgiving weekend’s traditional fare of food, football and shopping is giving way, at least at the high school level, to girls hoops and several holiday tournaments.
Naperville Central and Benet co-sponsored the annual Tip-Off Tournament, which concluded on Saturday with a victory by Benet over Providence to take the title in the eight-team field.
Last week, Benet won the red pool with victories over Bartlett (68-39), North Chicago (68-52) and Oswego East (72-39) to give them the No. 1 seed going into the championship bracket. On Friday, the Redwings defeated Naperville Central 80-56 to advance to the championship game.
It was a milestone performance for senior forward Emily Schramek, who scored the 1,000th point of her Benet career with a game-high 30 points, which was also a career high for her. Benet, which advanced to the sectional semifinals last season, proved that it will once again be a contender with the convincing 75-45 win over Providence.
Naperville Central started the tournament strong with a hard-fought victory over last year’s tournament champ, Metea Valley, 50-45. The school followed that with another close one, beating Rockford Auburn 61-55. But in their final game in pool play, the Redhawks lost to Providence 48-44, dropping their first game of the season. After the loss to Benet in the opening round of the championship bracket, Naperville Central fell again, this time to North Chicago, 62-48, to take fourth in the tournament.
Naperville North opened its season at the WarHawk Tournament, which is co-hosted by Waubonsie Valley and West Aurora. The Huskies ended the first game of the season tied in regulation against Lutheran High School, but lost in overtime 85-80. But from there, they went on a hot streak, defeating Waubonsie Valley 58-35, followed by wins against DeKalb (55-23) and West Aurora (55-45).
Neuqua Valley was the area’s strongest team last year, winning the Joliet sectional championship and advancing to the final eight in the state before falling to eventual state champ Whitney Young.
This year, Neuqua Valley opened the season at the Hinsdale South Tournament and defeated the host in the opening game 54-42. The team followed with another win against Sandburg 51-37. But in the final game of pool play against Montini, the Wildcats couldn’t buy a basket. It was 10:26 into the game before they scored their first point — a free throw — and fell behind 18-1. Neuqua Valley’s Bryce Menendez made the Wildcats’ first basket to make the score 18-3 with 2:34 left in the first half. In the end, Montini won the defensive struggle 41-19.
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The Wildcats’ shooting touch returned in their next game against Stagg High School, which they defeated 56-34, and they ended the tournament with a victory against St. Ignatius 48-28.
Neuqua Valley will have two more tournaments this month, with the Marian Catholic/Oswego Tournament from Dec. 13-20, followed by the Montini Showcase Tournament from Dec. 20-30, in which they’ll likely get another chance to take on Montini.