Batavia 59, Benet 56

Timing is everything, and Batavia's Phil Albrecht certainly had it Tuesday night.

After admittedly struggling to find his jump shot throughout the majority of the contest, the 5-foot-10 senior guard picked the most opportune time to regain his touch, draining the game-winning 3-pointer with 1.7 seconds remaining to help the Bulldogs (21-5) edge Benet 59-56 in the Bartlett Class 4A regional semifinals.

"I was struggling throughout the game hitting my shot," said Albrecht, who made just 1 of his first 8 field goal attempts before nailing his only 3-pointer. "I just wasn't in any good rhythm, but making that shot at the end for sure makes up for the rest of the game."

Two free throws from Benet senior guard Brian Gaughan (10 points) had tied the game at 56 with 1:17 remaining.

After Batavia worked the clock down and called a pair of timeouts -- the last with 16.4 seconds remaining -- junior guard David Bryant found a wide-open Albrecht near the Bulldogs' bench.

And like any good shooter, Albrecht (7 points) was ready to deliver.

"I had that confidence even though I was struggling to knock it down," said Albrecht.

His teammates did, too.

"We all have a thousand percent confidence in Phil," said senior teammate Nick Fruendt, who poured in 14 of his game-high 25 points in the second half. "He's a good shooter. He was ready like always and knocked it down."

Benet coach Marty Gaughan was pleased with his team's defensive strategy on the Bulldogs' final possession.

"We really thought that Nick (Fruendt) was going to get the basketball," said Gaughan. "We wanted to take the ball out of their best player's hands and we did that. When another guy steps up and hits a shot like that -- that's why they're a real good basketball team because they've got people who are able to do that."

Benet (14-12), which entered regional action as the 16th seed, showed it was a good basketball team as well, battling toe-to-toe with the top-seeded Bulldogs.

Jordan Smith's layup provided Batavia with its biggest lead of the night at 29-20 with 2:40 left in the second quarter.

But the Bulldogs were unable to shake the Redwings and found it difficult to slow down 6-8 senior forward Ryan Haggerty, who almost single-handedly kept his team close in the first half.

Haggerty scored 16 of his team-high 21 points and grabbed 7 rebounds in the opening half, as the Redwings trailed 33-30.

A pair of baskets by Jono Davern and Alex Gasik's 13-foot jumper put Benet on top 36-33 in the opening minutes of the third quarter.

At that point, the Bulldogs' season appeared to be in serious jeopardy.

"We felt the urgency when they took the lead in the third quarter," said Fruendt. "It's a credit to their coaches and players. They kept running it (spread offense) through the best that we've seen all year."

Following a timeout, the Bulldogs scored the next 5 points, including a 3-pointer from Bryant (12 points) that gave them a 38-36 advantage.

Fruendt's layup upped the Bulldogs' lead to 54-49 with 3:57 left, but 5 straight points from Haggerty, including a three-point play, tied the game at 54 with 1:49 remaining, setting the stage for a wild ending.

"We stuck with them," said Brian Gaughan, one of 9 Benet seniors playing their final high school game. "They were the one seed. We did what we wanted. We got the ball out of Nick Fruendt's hands and Phil Albrecht hit a big shot at the end. We played our game and it just didn't bounce the right way for us."