High School

Ellet's Caitlyn Holmes, Streetsboro's Naomi Benson keep improving, showing leadership in their junior year

Caitlyn Holmes and Naomi benson are two of the top players in Ohio girls basketball in the Class of 2025

Ryan Isley, SBLive Sports

STREETSBORO, Ohio – Naomi Benson grabbed a defensive rebound, passed the ball and then trailed the play down the court. When her teammate missed at the other end, Benson somehow worked her way through three opponents to grab an offensive rebound and put it in the basket.

That play during a 77-69 win over Ellet was one that epitomizes how the 6-foot-3 Streetsboro junior has become a leader for the Rockets and why she is one of the best players in the class of 2025 in Ohio.

“It makes it easy to get everybody else to do the same thing,” Streetsboro head coach Carl Singer said. “When somebody leads by example like that, everybody else has to follow along with that lead. Otherwise, they don't feel like they're doing enough. And so she just she pushes us every night.”

On the other team in that game was another of Ohio’s top juniors in Ellet’s Caitlyn Holmes. The 5-foot-7 guard showed her leadership through her play as well.

When Holmes turned the ball over late in the first quarter on a pass that was tipped and stolen by Benson, she didn’t hang her head. Instead, she sprinted ahead and tracked down Benson from behind and knocked the ball away while also sliding across the floor.

The two juniors have had plenty of time to learn leadership skills, as they have been prominent players on their high school teams from the minute they walked into the gym as freshmen.

In her first two high school seasons, Holmes had 840 points, 229 rebounds, 121 assists and 174 steals while Benson had 719 points, 653 rebounds, 123 steals and 87 blocked shots.

Despite those numbers, the two both feel like they have improved their games heading into their junior year,  especially when it comes to how they see the game.

“I have gotten a lot better with my decision making and a lot better on reads in general,” Holmes said. “(I have gotten) better driving and kicking and getting looks for my teammates rather than just trying to go to the hole every time. But I still (can get to the hole).”

She showed the ability to do both of those in the game against Streetsboro Tuesday night, as she scored 24 of her game-high 29 points in the second half on drives and jumpers. But she was also able to find open teammates, as she did when Streetsboro brought a double team and Holmes got the ball to junior Sanaiiya Gray, who was able to finish and draw a foul.

“That's one of the things I've always noticed is she will make the right play,” Ellet head coach Nick Harris said. “She's not a chucker, she'll give it up. “Last year when she had to get a lot of shots, she would, but that's not how she plays. She knows her teammates need to make shots for us to be successful as a team. And she buys into that.”

Playmaking has also become a staple of Benson’s game, as she sees the floor well and can make a pass from just about anywhere on the floor. In the win over Ellet, she made passes from the low block, the short corner and the free throw line that all turned into buckets for a teammate. She also had an assist on a fast break early in the game where she grabbed the rebound and led the break before passing off to Olivia Johnson-Wilson for a layup.

“I would say the difference from freshman me to me now is I've become really more of an open team player,” Benson said. "My freshman year I just came in not sharing the ball because that just wasn't me, but I feel like now I'm more of a team player and my IQ has gotten better.”

Part of her basketball IQ comes from the time spent on the floor with her teammates. The more time the Rockets spend together, the more the chemistry and trust in one another has developed.

“It just helps my IQ, like with my teammate (senior post player) Ella Kassan,” Benson said. “I know that she's going to cut and it is just like a trust thing. I think (my teammates have) really improved my IQ as well.”

Her head coach has also seen the improvement in Benson’s game, especially in her willingness to pass the ball.

“She's just such an unselfish player and she doesn't need to go out there and score every night to make a difference and make an impact on the game,” Singer said. “Some really good players, they can be a little selfish at times. They can have a little bit of an attitude when they're not getting theirs. And that's what sets her apart is she doesn't have that. You know, she just wants to win and she wants to help her team. She wants to make the right play.”

Benson’s unselfish play also helps her coach make a point to the other players that they need to always be moving and thinking while they are on the court.

“It sends a message to the whole team, that she can go out there and score you know, but she's going to make the right play and find the open teammates,” Singer said. “So as long as we're moving and we're working hard to make ourselves available, she's going to find us.”

The evolution of Benson’s game makes Streetsboro even more dangerous year over year. The Rockets are a combined 37-13 overall in the last two seasons, and 22-6 in the Metro Athletic Conference. In each of the last two seasons, they have won a pair of sectional games to move to the district tournament.

For Holmes, the biggest difference in her game from her freshman year to her junior year just might be that the game isn’t going as fast for her as it was then.

“The way she sees the game is noticeably different, I feel like it's slowed down for her,” Harris said. “Last year it was a lot of attack, attack, attack without really reading what was in front of her. Now I feel like she's confident she can get to any spot she wants. And she's kind of letting the defense dictate because she feels comfortable taking whatever is available. So the game looks a lot slower to her. She will manipulate it better with her eyes and ball fakes. (She is) kind of a step ahead now.”

The two players shared a hug and a laugh before and after the game, as they have known each other since a younger age and were even teammates at one point in AAU when they both played for Ohio Xtreme.

Streetsboro's Naomi Benson and Ellet's Caitlyn Holmes take time for a photo after playing each other on November 28, 2023. Photo credit: Ryan Isley, SBLive Sports  / Ryan Isley, SBLive Sports

Benson enjoys going against her former AAU running mate.

“It’s so much fun, it makes the game more interesting and more hype, more energized to play someone like that,” Benson said. “Playing against good players in general makes me better and it makes my team better."

And while Holmes also enjoys sharing the court with one of her former teammates, she tries to not pay any attention to the other team’s roster when she steps on the court.

“It's really nothing, it's just like another game,” Holmes said. “I don't really look at anybody any different. Whoever I'm playing, I’m playing.”

Her coach knows this side of his star well. And he knows it is no disrespect to other players, as Holmes has just one thing on her mind.

“She's competitive as hell in the best way possible,” Harris said. “She's known Naomi from AAU and they've had a relationship since they were junior highers. She knows who other top players are, and she wants to compete against them. But it's really not about rankings with her. It's about winning.”

And Ellet has done a lot of winning since Holmes entered the school on Woolf Avenue in Akron.

In the past two seasons, the Orangemen are 31-15 overall and 17-1 in the Akron City Series, with two more City Series wins coming in the championship game, giving them back-to-back City Series titles. They also won a sectional playoff game last season.

And those wins have not only changed the thinking around Ellet girls basketball, but it has helped make Holmes a household name in the Ellet community.

“She thinks it's so funny how little kids want to ask for her autograph,” Harris said. “I tell her there's young girls who now think Ellet has always been good in the city and they've never seen anything but Ellet championships, which for people like me who coached for a long time, we never saw Ellet win a championship. She has kind of changed the whole narrative in the city, and then are shown that Ellet is a place you can come and be successful.”

Even with what could be perceived as more and more pressure on her shoulders, Holmes remains true to herself and never changes the way she approaches the game.

“I don't really try to pay attention to the pressure because I know it's going to mess me up,” Holmes said. “I just keep my head straight and try to just do what I'm good at. All of the work (I put in) makes me feel confident.”

Both Benson and Holmes have confidence in themselves and what they can do on the court, but also know they must keep working to get even better.

The other thing about both players is that no matter who you talk to – coaches, opposing coaches, teammates, opponents, teachers, etc. – you won’t hear a negative word about either as a player or as a person, meaning they are just as good off the court as they are on it.

And that’s why both of these players have been such good leaders for their respective teams and will continue to be for the next two seasons.

Published
Ryan Isley, SBLive Sports
RYAN ISLEY, SBLIVE SPORTS

Ryan Isley is a regional editor at SBLive Sports for the states of Ohio and Pennsylvania. Ryan, a native of Akron, Ohio, has been following and covering high school sports in Ohio for more than 20 years, including the St. Vincent-St. Mary basketball teams that featured NBA superstar LeBron James. Ryan joined the SBLive staff full-time in May, 2022 after freelancing for SBLive Sports for nearly nine months, beginning with his experience covering Bishop Sycamore, which was featured in a documentary in the summer of 2023. You can reach Ryan at ryan@scorebooklive.com

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