Naomi Benson, Ella Kassan form lethal post duo for Streetsboro
Naomi Benson gets a lot of attention.
Deservedly so.
The 6-3 Streetsboro sophomore has tremendous wingspan, is lethal on the glass and also has great touch, whether it’s passing or shooting the ball.
She is one of the top young posts in the state, and probably the country as well.
What’s wilder is she’s not alone.
The Rockets actually have two of the best posts in Portage County as junior Ella Kassan has raised her game this season, demonstrating slick post moves and a soft shooting touch.
Tuesday’s non-conference game against Aurora was just the latest example as Kassan led both teams in points (14) on a slick 7-of-10 night from the field while Benson led both teams in rebounds (17). Then, two days later, Benson dropped 31 points against Roosevelt.
Entering the Christmas break, Benson is easily averaging a double-double (19.9 points and 16.6 rebounds), while Kassan is nearly averaging a double-double (8.6 ppg, 8.3 rpg) herself.
“The combination of those two together, it's tough,” Rockets coach Carl Singer said. “I would not want to coach on the other side of it.”
Kassan on the rise
Perhaps no one knows Kassan’s game better than Benson.
After all, the two battle each other in the paint all the time at practice.
Even so, Benson acknowledged being stunned by Kassan’s growth this season, particularly how the junior’s post moves have improved.
“I've been shocked,” Benson said. “Like we're at practice, she'd be doing it on me and I'd just be flabbergasted, but she's really grown and I'm proud of her for that.”
Kassan’s improved post moves have combined with a nice short and mid-range shooting touch for her position and plenty of strength on the boards (she had another 11 rebounds against the Rough Riders Thursday).
“She's a basketball diehard,” Singer said. “Since day one that she's been here, she's always asking questions about what she can do to get better and she has a little bit of everything in her game. She can shoot it, she's got great moves in the post, great footwork in the post, and she's just tough to defend.”
Perhaps the biggest challenge for Kassan has simply been realizing how good she is.
“This year, I'm mainly working on my confidence, which I struggle a lot still, but I'm really trying to push toward it,” Kassan said. “Just playing with great teammates, Naomi's gotten a lot better over the years, so she's also made me a better player.”
Benson finds early success
Benson, of course, has been a star from the moment she broke onto the high school scene, starting with an 18-point, 22-rebound performance against Tallmadge in her very first game.
Actually, Benson had carved out a reputation well before that, already landing an offer from West Virginia before she played a single game for Streetsboro.
And once Benson took the court for the Rockets, well, it was magical, as she averaged a double-double as a freshman (14.0 points, 12.2 rebounds), including scoring double-digit points in each of their first four games of the season.
“She's a special player and that's why obviously she's getting recruited by all the big-time schools,” Singer said. “She can do things out there that you wouldn't expect her to be able to do for her size.”
That included a pair of ridiculous steals at the top of the Rockets’ defense Tuesday.
No, that’s not a typo.
The 6-3 center can guard anywhere on the floor — and that included poking the ball out twice at the top of Streetsboro’s defense and turning those into a pair of fast breaks.
Equally impressive Tuesday was her selflessness.
With Benson a single point from a double-double, she could’ve just chucked up shots until she hit the prestigious milestone. Instead, she dropped a couple of dimes, including a nifty high post to low post dish to Kassan, to finish with nine points and 17 boards.
“The great thing about those two,” Singer said. “They have such good chemistry together and they work so well together. I mean you saw some of the passes they made tonight just playing off of each other. It's fun to watch when they get in sync like that.”
To forge that chemistry, Singer said he likes to mix it up in practice.
Sometimes, the two posts play on the same team so they can build chemistry.
And sometimes, they go to battle.
“They don't take it easy on each other,” Singer said. “They're good friends, but when they get on the floor, they're battling because they know that that's what's going to help them get better.”
“I know Naomi's one of the top players obviously in America,” Kassan added. “So honestly, I just try my best because I know I'm going to get better whenever I play against her.”
Streetsboro has amassed impressive depth
That depth in the paint is something the Rockets are hoping to replicate all over the court with a sea of even younger but talented guards, including sophomore Sydney Abbuhl (9.1 ppg, 2.1 spg, 2.0 apg) and freshman Olivia Johnson-Wilson (4.9 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 3.0 spg, 2.9 apg), along with another fascinating young talent in wing/post Carlee Bedford (5.9 ppg, 3.6 rpg), who pairs post size (5-10) with a willingness to shoot (she leads the team in 3-point makes and attempts).
“We talk about how lucky we are all the time because we have kids that don't even start for us that would probably start for a lot of other teams and they come off the bench and they give us defense, offense, a little bit of everything,” Singer said. “We have consistently five players out there that are all threats to score and having Naomi makes things easier, but you take one thing away, we've got two or three other things that can come right at you.”
And while the Rockets are young, Singer has preached confidence to his team.
“A lot of coaches talk about youth and we're young,” Singer said. “We're starting two freshmen, two sophomores and a junior, but I told them, I'm like, ‘You guys have played more basketball and you guys put in more time than a lot of juniors and seniors even have,’ so I feel like experience-wise we've put in the time.”
This article originally appeared on Record-Courier: Naomi Benson, Ella Kassan form lethal post duo for Streetsboro
