[ccfic caption-text format="plaintext"]
By Robert Rosen
Hometown Weekly Staff
Noble & Greenough point guard Katie Benzan, a Wellesley resident, has been named the Gatorade Massachusetts Player of the Year.
“When she was in seventh grade we knew she was special,” Nobles coach Alex Gallagher said. “Her ability to handle and shot the ball was simply remarkable.”
A 5-foot-5 senior point guard, Benzan led the Bulldogs to a 24-4 record and their fifth straight New England Prep School Athletic Council Class A Tournament championship this past season when she averaged 20.6 points, 7.1 rebounds, 5.4 assists and 3.5 steals. She was also named the NEPSAC Class A Tournament MVP for the third time and has been the ISL MVP twice She concludes her career with 2,153 points.
“She is the most intelligent basketball player I have ever coached,” Gallagher said. “She is also the most steady and consistent kid I have ever coached and both qualities have allowed her to be a coach on the court since a very young age.”
Benzan has committed to play for coach Kathy Delaney-Smith at Harvard next year.
“I think Harvard has a star arriving on campus in the fall,” Gallagher said. “I think she will battle for a starting spot on the team right away and I can’t wait to become a regular in the stands in Cambridge.”
Benzan has maintained an A-minus average in the classroom and is a member of Sister to Sister, an affinity group for young women of color at Nobles. She has also volunteered locally at her school with special needs students and participated in a service mission to New Orleans.
“What I will remember forever is how incredibly humble she is/was,” Gallagher said. “All she cares about is the team. Simple as that.”
Robert Rosen is an Editor for Hometown Weekly. He can be reached at news@hometownweekly.net and followed on Twitter at @roberterosen.
