Emma Briggs leads Benet’s fourth quarter surge to top Downers Grove North

BOLINGBROOK – Benet center Emma Briggs is always trying to find a way to beat opponents.

The 6-foot junior came up with several on Tuesday.

Briggs scored a team-high 12 points, including two big baskets early in the fourth quarter, to help Benet knock off fourth-seeded Downers Grove North 42-32 in a Class 4A Bolingbrook Sectional semifinal.

The Redwings (29-2) advance to play second-seeded Waubonsie Valley (30-1), which rallied from a 14-point deficit to beat third-seeded Bolingbrook 57-44, for the sectional title at 6:30 p.m. Thursday.

“I think I’m a big mismatch for some people,” Briggs said. “I’m a bigger player but I’m not very slow, so when I get matched up with a bigger forward than I am, then I think it’s easier for me to drive and get downhill.”

Briggs scored eight points in the first half, including a free throw that gave the Redwings a 23-16 halftime lead.

Benet stretched the lead to 31-20 after three quarters, but sophomore star Campbell Thulin opened the fourth quarter by sinking a 3-pointer to bring the Trojans (22-10) within 31-23.

That’s when Briggs really put her mark on the game. She scored on a drive, then blocked a shot by Abby Gross at the other end.

That led to a fast break in which senior guard Aria Mazza fed Brings for an inside hoop.

On Downers North’s next possession, Briggs rebounded a missed shot and fired a long pass to sophomore guard Ava Mersinger, who found Mazza open in the right corner.

Mazza buried the 3-pointer to stretch the lead to 38-23 with 5:21 remaining, forcing Downers North to call timeout. That tactic didn’t stop the bleeding as Briggs made a steal that led to a Lindsay Harzich basket and Mazza later scored on a layup to made it 42-23 with 2:28 left.

“I’m proud of our group,” Downers North coach Stephan Bolt said. “I thought we competed really hard.

“I thought we just needed to be tougher in some stretches and for a stretch there, they blew the game open at the start of the fourth quarter. We gave up a big run and that was kind of that.

“They’re a really good team, so once they have that lead it’s really tough to claw back in. ”Indeed, the Trojans’ blueprint for victory is to get an early lead and then use their tough defense and patient offense to hold off opponents.

But Benet didn’t let that happen. The Redwings never trailed, taking an 8-2 lead as Mazza, Mersinger, Briggs and Richmond-bound junior guard Bridget Rifenburg each had two points.

Thulin scored the first 14 points for the Trojans and finished with a game-high 21 points and four steals. But no other player tallied more than four points for Downers North.

The Redwings, meanwhile, got solid performances from all five starters. Mazza had 10 points and two assists, Rifenburg tallied nine points, five rebounds and two blocks and Harzich, a Brown recruit, had seven points and nine boards. Mersinger chipped in four points, three assists, three steals and a block while playing terrific defense.

“Their depth was a huge factor down the stretch,” Bolt said. “We’ve got kids winded. We don’t go deep into our bench.

“They have more players, period, coming at you in waves sometimes. They continue that pressure.”

Indeed, the Redwings switched to a box-and-one zone to contain Thulin in the fourth quarter. It was the first time they had played that defense this season.

“That was good,” said Briggs, who added six rebounds, three steals, one assist and a block. “We were more on the ball and more occupying spaces and they couldn’t get those easy shots as well. So I think defense is what changed for us.”

Now the Redwings are into the sectional final for the tenth consecutive year and get a chance to avenge last year’s sectional title game loss to Waubonsie valley.

“It’s great,” Briggs said. “Obviously, we have some unfinished business. Now we’re back and we’re ready.”