The last postseason for Benet’s Lenee Beaumont is the first for Naperville Central’s Trinity Jones. Will they meet?

Benet senior Lenee Beaumont begins her final quest for a state championship when the playoffs begin Monday.

Naperville Central freshman Trinity Jones will be getting her first crack at a title.

The star guards have never played against each other, but that’s the matchup many people would love to see.

If it happens, it would be in the Class 4A West Aurora Sectional championship game on Feb. 23.

“That’s a long time from now,” Naperville Central coach Andy Nussbaum said. “There are several teams that are going to have something to say about that along the way.”

Benet (19-7) is the top seed in the sectional. Naperville Central (21-10) is seeded seventh but has won 15 of its past 16 games.

“If it happens, it happens,” Nussbaum said. “But it sort of reminds me of the Candace Parker/Lindsey Wisdom-Hylton days, where you’ve got two of the best players in the country in the same gym at the same time.”

The 6-foot-1 Jones had 23 points and 14 rebounds when the Redhawks edged Benet 56-55 on Nov. 26. The 6-0 Beaumont, an Indiana commit, didn’t play in that game because she had food poisoning. But she knows Jones.

“I’m friends with Trinity. She’s awesome,” Beaumont said. “I played a few open gyms with her in the fall before the season started. I knew she was good, but playing against her really showed me the potential she has. She’s a freshman, but I would say she’s the leader of that team.”

Jones is averaging 19.9 points, 12.1 rebounds, 2.3 blocks and 2.2 steals.

“I don’t know how she is vocally, but clearly the way she carries herself on the court and how she is competing out there is just amazing,” Beaumont said. “So I’m really excited to see what she does.

“I can’t say too much because we might play them.”

Both teams will have to win three games to get to the sectional final. Benet opens in the Yorkville Regional, where eighth-seeded Plainfield North (22-9) is the toughest competition.

Naperville Central, which has won 11 straight at home, is hosting a regional. The Redhawks begin against 11th-seeded West Aurora (15-15) and likely would have to get past third-seeded Plainfield East (21-6) in the regional final.

Second-seeded Naperville North (19-11), which has beaten Benet, hosts a regional and will likely have to get past sixth-seeded Waubonsie Valley (21-7) to win it. Fourth-seeded Neuqua Valley (19-10) is favored to win the Downers Grove South Regional.

The Redhawks have beaten Naperville North and Neuqua Valley in recent weeks, giving credence to the potential for a run to the sectional final. What would it mean to Jones to get a shot at playing against Beaumont?

“It would be a good experience,” Jones said. “She’s a great player. I’m a great player. Her team is a good team. We’re a good team. So I think it would be good.”

Fans aren’t the only ones hoping for such a meeting. Some players are too.

“That would be incredible,” Naperville Central senior guard Megan Norkett said. “Obviously, Trinity is one of our special players. She has really stepped up into an important role even though she’s a freshman, and I feel like over the season her confidence has grown.”

So has Beaumont’s. She has 1,108 career points and is averaging 19 points, seven rebounds, four assists and two steals, but numbers don’t matter to her.

“I don’t care about any individual award or anything that might come my way,” she said. “Since the start of the first practice of the fall league, that’s all I’ve wanted is to win state.”

Beaumont and the Redwings came close last season, finishing fourth in 4A.

“As soon as we get the chance to go down there, I’m pretty confident in our team and our coaches and that we’ll get the job done,” Beaumont said. “Just to get there is a hard road.

“We play so many good teams in the sectional, so every day you’ve got to bring your best.”

Jones has done that all season. Can she do it in the glare of the postseason spotlight?

“I don’t think any of the pressure bothers her,” Nussbaum said. “She is driven and wants to do well. She makes all our other players better too. Megan Norkett and Erin Hackett get wide-open shots because (opponents) don’t want Trinity to have the ball.”

Jones is planning to have a ball, whether the ball is in her hands or not.

“I’m stoked,” Jones said. “I’m ready.”

Matt Le Cren is a freelance reporter for the Naperville Sun.