Benet 61, Lake Park 49

Coming into Monday's Class 4A Bartlett regional quarterfinal, Benet's boys basketball team knew it needed to take care of Lake Park for a shot at top-seeded Batavia today.

Thanks to a 13-2 run that started in the third quarter, the Redwings were able to set that date. Benet handled the Lancers 61-49 to advance to the regional semifinals against Batavia tonight at Bartlett.

"The whole thing tonight was getting to the next 32 (minutes)," Benet coach Marty Gaughan said. "Right now, it's 32 more minutes. Our next thing is to get to the next 32. It's going to be a challenge. They're a great team. We don't need to beat them in a best-of-seven. We need to beat them for 32 minutes."

Benet (14-11 overall) needed to stem the tide in the third quarter Monday to make the Batavia game a reality. A pair of Danny Baylis 3-pointers, the second coming with three minutes left in the third, helped Lake Park (8-19) cut the lead to 35-32.

"They're a good outside shooting team," Benet senior Ryan Haggerty said. "I think they switched their press from zone to man and that kind of flustered us for a possession or two, but that's all they needed to make that run."

But the Redwings calmly took control of the game back. Chris Blaney scored 6 of Benet's 13 points in the decisive run and then the Redwings iced the game at the free-throw line. Benet hit 12 of 13 from the stripe in the fourth quarter.

"We thought if we could get the lead on Benet, we'd be fine, but we were never able to get that lead," Lake Park coach Cray Allen said.

Benet burst out of the gates, leading 10-2 at the outset. The lead moved to 23-13 in the second quarter after an outstanding individual play from Haggerty. Haggerty drove the baseline and threw down a thunderous dunk that got the crowd going.

"It was weird because it was a broken down play," Haggerty said. "(Alex) Gasik got trapped in the corner and he threw it to me and I went baseline and it just kind of happened. It was really cool. To do it in the playoffs was cool."

Lake Park responded with a 9-0 run, but, once again, was unable to secure the lead. Benet led 27-22 at the break. Baylis led all scorers for the Lancers with 19 points. Benet was led by 14 points off the bench from Emmett Carrier and 11 from Haggerty.

Now the Redwings will turn around and face Batavia, a team that they are familiar with. Haggerty and Brian Gaughan played with Batavia star Nick Fruendt with the AAU Illinois Wolves over the summer.

"Obviously, they're a great team," Haggerty said. "We're going into the game with no fear. We have nothing to lose. We're excited to play them. I think we'll come out with a lot of intensity."