Wagner's heady play sets stage for Benet win

It's an admonition young basketball players hear ad nauseum from their coaches: Follow your shot.

On Friday night Benet's Austin Wagner harkened back to those early teachings as he rebounded his own missed free throw with 32 seconds left in a tie game to set the stage for Dave Sobolewski's game-winning basket. The Redwings scored the final 7 points in a 60-56 East Suburban Catholic Conference victory over visiting Joliet Catholic.

"I thought that offensive rebound by Austin off the missed free throw in a tie game was a huge play," said Benet coach Gene Heidkamp. "By getting that ball we could play offense instead of having to go down and get a stop on defense."

The offense Heidkamp had in mind was getting the ball to Sobolewski, who had sliced up the Hilltoppers (2-13, 1-5) all night with penetrating drives to the basket. Calling a timeout with eight second left, Heidkamp ordered up more of the same, and Sobolewski obliged by using a pick from Joe Meyerhoff and then slithering through three defenders for a layup that gave the Redwings (6-7, 3-2) a 58-56 lead with two seconds left.

Phil Hayes' two free throws after a Hilltoppers turnover then sewed the game up.

"Credit (Sobolewski)," said Joliet Catholic coach Mike O'Toole. "They ran a high ball screen and we wanted to belly up and go under it, but we didn't and he read the screen well and we failed to help."

In dissecting one that got away, O'Toole could fall back on another tried-and-true coaching bromide: Make your free throws.

The Hilltoppers certainly didn't do that as they were only 4 for 12 for the game, including six misses in the fourth quarter.

"We make free throws, we win," O'Toole said. "We had a couple chances to put it away, but didn't, and that's disappointing."

The Hilltoppers, who trailed 32-30 at the half, nipped at Benet's heels throughout the second half thanks to Dan Dispenza's 15 points and finally forged a tie at 51 courtesy of Xavier Myers' steal and layup.

Wes Koral then gave them a 56-53 lead by canning a 3-pointer with 1 minute, 24 seconds to play. Mike Runger's free throws sliced the deficit to 1 for the Redwings before Wagner hit the first of two free throws and then corralled his errant second chance to set up Sobolewski's game-winning heroics.

"This was a team effort, a lot of guys contributed," Heidkamp said. "We're starting to come together and play better as a team and we're starting to put more points on the board."