Greenwich high girls’ basketball senior standouts Abbie Wolf and Caroline Beneville are living proof of the old cliché that says hard works pays off.
Gone are the days of starting the first day of preseason with goals of possibly qualifying for a postseason berth. Now the goals for the Lady Cardinals are simple: to bring home hardware in the form of both conference and state titles.
Two seniors on the roster, Wolf and Beneville, are some of the main reasons why Greenwich can aim high with its goals.
“They both came out of Central [Middle School] and have been able to come in here and be the focal point of our team has been really good for the program,” Greenwich High School head coach Chrys Hernandez said. “It’s also been good for the community. They taught the younger players work ethic and that if you want something, you got to work hard to get it done. You just can’t talk about it. You really have to put the work in.”
And Monday before the game against Fairfield Ludlowe High School, the Greenwich community has the chance to honor the team’s two seniors as Big Red will host Senior Day at the high school gym prior to the start of the game.
“Senior Night means a lot,” Wolf said. “As an underclassman, just respecting and showing appreciation for the upperclassmen and then being here today is just great to feel appreciated.”
“I have been on the team for four years and remember my freshman year decorating the team room and it seemed so far away back then,” Beneville said. “So for it to finally be here is kind of exciting and it’s definitely a big day.”
For Hernandez, having both Wolf and Beneville come into the program at Greenwich High School together has been a rewarding experience.
“They were a good one-two punch,” Hernandez said. “Abbie is big inside and you have Caroline on the outside that could knock down shots pretty much at will. Between the two of them they have the best personalities. They’ve always been a pleasure and to have them for four years has been great.”
It’s easy to see that the duo of Wolf and Beneville put in plenty of hard work and dedication to the team and were two of the cornerstones that helped change the culture of the GHS basketball program.
“We’ve come so far,” Beneville said. “Even the year before I got here we had four wins and my freshman year we had eight. Then last year we over 20 wins and this year we are doing really well too. That upward trend has been really nice to see.”
During their freshman season, GHS had a regular season record of 9-11 and barely made the class LL playoffs as the No. 24 seed, losing to E.O. Smith in the opening round. A year later things improved drastically, as Big Red finished a 15-5 regular season, entered the tourney as a No. 13 seed and beat Bristol Central 45-28 in the opening round before falling to fourth-seed South Windsor.
“They came in and were definitely impact players early on,” Hernandez said. “They always want to, not only get themselves better, but they want to get those around them better. They have great work ethic. Between the two of them, they motivate each other. They also motivate those around them, but not in the ways you would think. They lead by example.”
Last season was another step in the right direction. The Lady Cardinals had a 17-3 regular season, advanced to the FCIAC championship game, entered the class LL tournament as the eighth seed and advanced to the quarterfinals. Greenwich blasted Norwalk 57-37 in the opening round and exacted revenge on Ridgefield in the rematch of the FCIAC title game before falling to top-seed South Windsor in the class LL quarters 69-66.
“We have really come together,” Wolf said. “Making States was a big deal my freshman year and now that’s a given. We are making States and we are going far in States. It’s just not being happy to be there in the first round. We made a name for ourselves and we have to continue it. Every night we are the team that people are after. We are not the underdogs and everybody is trying to beat us.”
And don’t for a second think that the duo became close because of being the only two seniors on the roster. That couldn’t be further from the truth. This friendship started just before eighth grade at Central Middle School began.
When Wolf moved to Greenwich in eighth grade, she met Beneville during a practice at the Boys & Girls Club of Greenwich.
“She was there and very welcoming and at Central Middle School we were such a dynamic duo and it has continued to today,” Wolf said.
From that point on, there’s been a special bond between the two standout athletes.
“Abbie and I have been there together since day one, so it’s really nice to share that together,” Beneville said. “We have become really great friends, so it’s been really nice.”
To read more on the dynamic duo, check out the feature story in Friday’s Greenwich Sentinel.
