St. Benedict’s girls hoops wins opening game

The St. Benedict’s girls varsity basketball team kicked off its season on Dec. 11 with a 27-20 win against St. Gregory the Great at Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary Church.

Guard Kristy Luce scored St Benedict’s first four points from the foul line, allowing them to take an early first quarter lead.

Forwards Katie Trabert and Kristie Nasr and Center Alexis Hall added another six points and were tough on the boards throughout the first half.

With center Skyler Sweeney and forward Lauren Pristach and Clara Wu’s help off the bench, St. Benedict’s defense was very stingy underneath.

Despite this, St. Gregory played hard and made a run in the last few minutes to pull to a 12-10 lead at the end of the first half.

St. Benedict’s defense picked up their aggressive play to start the second half and guards Alex Saleh and Mary O’Rourke had several steals which resulted in points on the offensive end.

The third quarter saw St. Benedict’s take the lead for good after a fastbreak layup by guard Gaelynn Ryan put them up 14-12. Guards Nina Anders and Claire Wincott, and forward Shannon Okonczak came off the bench throughout the game to provide much needed help and fought hard for the Tigers while in the game.

Ryan finished with nine points. Hall and Luce had six points each. Nasr added four. Trabert chipped in two.