Redwings relentless in pursuit of win

Even with his team ahead 22 points in the second quarter of its game against Elmwood Park on Thursday night, Benet coach Marty Gaughan implored his team to hit the floor for loose balls and play as if the game were tied.

Benet's relentlessness on both sides of the ball lasted all four quarters, leading to a 63-25 victory on the second day of the Plainfield North Holiday Tournament.

"That's just something we talked about at halftime. We said, 'If you beat the game, you're going to beat your opponents more times than not,' " Gaughan said. "I wanted to make sure our kids understand that we're not going to let the score dictate what our expectations are.

"If we're up 30, down 30, we're up 2, we're down 2, a play is a play. We want them to do it the right way."

Benet (5-5) executed the right way as soon as the game began, charging out to a 13-0 lead highlighted by 6-foot-8 senior Ryan Haggerty finishing off an alley-oop for the Redwings' second basket of the game.

"The first time I did that in a game was in this tournament last year," Haggerty said of his high-flying acrobatics. "Obviously, it pumps me up, (and) it pumps my team up."

The Redwings carried their offensive energy into the defensive side of the court, holding Elmwood Park to just 10 first-half points on 20 percent shooting from the field.

"We wanted to extend our pressure against them, we didn't want them to feel comfortable when anybody ever caught the ball," Gaughan said. "Our mentality was to just really pressure the basketball, make them put the ball on the floor, and I felt that that was probably the reason we were successful defensively tonight."

Benet took a 17-7 lead into the start of the second quarter before again peeling off a sizable run, this time an 11-0 run that pushed the Redwings lead to 28-7.

"Right before the game we made a statement that we don't want to wait until the second half to start playing," Gaughan said. "I think our start was really premised by the idea that we really wanted to play a great 32 minutes tonight."

Four Redwings notched double digits in points, led by senior Alex Gasick's 14. Gaughan knows that when needed, his team's depth will be there to supply the Redwings with fresh legs.

"With the way we defend … you need to have people who are going to be able to play with a lot of intensity," he said.