Bridget Rifenburg was just along for the ride when Benet advanced to the Class 4A state championship game last year.
The 5-foot-11 sophomore guard is in the driver’s seat this season.
Rifenburg has emerged as one of the area’s breakout stars and could prove to be the linchpin for the Redwings in the state playoffs, which begin with a regional semifinal against West Aurora at Neuqua Valley on Monday.
“She’s definitely stepped up,” Benet senior guard Emilia Sularski said. “She means so much to our team. She can basically do anything, so we really need her in the playoffs.”
Rifenburg’s role is vastly different than it was last season, when she averaged 2.6 points and 1.4 rebounds in limited playing time. She was on the floor for five minutes in both of Benet’s state games at Illinois State’s CEFCU Arena.
“It was such a fun environment to play in,” Rifenburg said. “The lights and the amount of people, even though it wasn’t packed, it was still such a fun experience to have as a freshman.
“I definitely want to get back there for our seniors and finish what we didn’t finish last year.”
A lot is riding on the shoulders of Rifenburg, who is averaging 7.0 points, 5.0 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 2.0 steals. She leads the Redwings (21-6) in free-throw attempts and free-throw percentage at 81.3%.
While this will be Rifenburg’s first time in a starring postseason role, Benet coach Joe Kilbride isn’t worried.
“She’s had a full season under her belt,” Kilbride said. “She’s played the most minutes of anybody on the team. She’s one of our handlers. She’s guarding the other team’s best player a lot of the time. So she’s really important to us.”
After a slow start, Rifenburg has adjusted to her role, and the Redwings have clicked along with her, winning 12 of their past 13 games.
“She’s improved a great deal from the beginning of the year,” Kilbride said. “She’s worked really hard at addressing some of the things that were problems earlier and has done a great job of getting herself into position to be really impactful for us.”
Rifenburg has done so by honing her defense. The next step is becoming more of a scorer. This season, Benet hasn’t had a dominant scorer like Lenee Beaumont, who is a freshman at Indiana.
“Last year, I was being more of a facilitator, getting open shots for Lenee,” Rifenburg said. “But this year I definitely need to step up and take a bigger role attacking and finishing.”
That evolution is a work in progress, but Rifenburg loves to work.
“Her activity level is elite,” Kilbride said. “She just plays so hard. Playing hard is a skill, and it’s a skill she has in abundance. She’s gotten so good this year at playing on two feet, she’s one of our best defenders, she’s rebounding and she’s playmaking for us.”
Now comes the really hard part — leading in the postseason. The Hillsdale-bound Sularski was a first-time varsity starter two years ago when she and her twin sister Maggie helped Benet finish fourth in 4A, so she is mentoring Rifenburg.
“Going downstate, I was very nervous, but Lenee really helped me through it,” Emilia Sularski said. “I want to help Bridget through it. I’m so proud of her. I mean, she’s been doing good overall. She just has to bring it each game.”
The Redwings, who are seeded fourth in the Oswego Sectional, know they will have to bring their best every game to return to state. This will be the first time in a decade they are not favored to win a sectional.
“I actually think it’s kind of nice to be an underdog,” Rifenburg said. “It definitely gets us hyped up, and when we get those big wins, we’re really excited about it. It definitely fuels us because once we get one big win, then we can just grow off of that and then keep going.”
Benet has reached the sectional final in each of the past nine full seasons. Doing so again would require beating 13th-seeded West Aurora (10-17), possibly fifth-seeded Neuqua Valley (17-10) on its home floor in the regional final and likely top-seeded Bolingbrook (23-3) in the sectional semifinals.
“I definitely need to help lead,” Rifenburg said. “We need to all make sure we’re playing with each other and for each other. I think that’s how we’re going to make it far this year.”
Matt Le Cren is a freelance reporter.
