It’s always intense when the St. Benedict Bengals and Gordon Tech Rams square off in girls basketball, and Monday was no different.
The Bengals (3-0, 1-0) downed the Rams 55-42 at St. Benedict in the first conference matchup of the season for both teams. The Bengals held Gordon Tech to just six points in the fourth quarter, as the Rams hit their first shot of the quarter with just over 2:00 to go in the game. Both teams had some butterflies coming into this rivalry game, but it was the Rams who felt the effects late in the game.
“I think over the years, we’ve been kind of jittery when it comes to playing (St. Benedict),” said Rams junior guard Jillian Conneely. “Within the first couple of minutes, we were nervous because we grew up playing these girls. We came into the game expecting to win, and it didn’t turn out the way we wanted it to.”
Senior guard Alexis Genge led the Bengals with 22 points, while senior forward Ashley Krysztopik put up 17 points. Conneely notched a team-high 14 points for the Rams, while senior forward Melanie Claudio tallied 11.
Genge was proud of how her team stayed focused late in the game and did what they had to do.
“One of our biggest downfalls in the beginning of the game was that we just weren’t focusing,” she said. “In the fourth quarter, it was just about us getting together as a team and getting our passes back on track. It was all about coming together as a team and playing our hardest.”
