Simeon's hero stops Benet's hopes for trip to Peoria
Benet's student section dressed in a superhero theme, a noisy, suitably obnoxious segment of the 3,200 fans packed into Hinsdale Central's gym for Tuesday's Class 4A supersectional.
There was Mr. Incredible, Super Mario, the Hulk, and Superman.
It was Spearman, though, who struck fear into the hearts of the Benet faithful.
Simeon senior forward Brandon Spearman, receiving teammate Jabari Parker's rebound and outlet pass off a missed Benet free throw with 6.1 seconds left in regulation, hit a one-handed, splayed-legged 3-pointer from the right elbow as time expired to force overtime tied at 39-39.
Spearman also grabbed an offensive rebound and made a pair of free throws with 2.5 seconds remaining in the first overtime to send it into a second extra session.
Simeon (23-9) outscored the Redwings 12-4 in the second overtime to win the supersectional 58-50 and punch its ticket to Friday's 4A semifinal against O'Fallon, a 53-50 winner over Joliet.
Spearman, headed to Dayton, scored 17 of his game-high 24 points after the third quarter.
"We set him down in the fourth quarter to try to settle him down," said Simeon coach Robert Smith. "We put him back out there. He said, 'Coach, I'm ready to go.' He showed up. Now we're headed to state."
Benet (26-4) was unable to hold a 38-34 lead with 17.1 seconds left in regulation, or a 45-41 lead in the first overtime period.
"My hat's off to (Spearman)," said Redwings coach Gene Heidkamp, who got 20 points from point guard Dave Sobolewski and 15 from center Frank Kaminsky, both juniors who will return from Benet's first supersectional club since 1983.
"He obviously played very, very well down the stretch," Heidkamp said of Spearman, ably assisted by Wolverines guard Jaleni Neely's 15 points, including a big 3-pointer in the first overtime and 8 of 10 free throws in the second.
"Tremendous player, he made the big-time plays at the end," Heidkamp said of Spearman. "He was the reason they won the game."
Simeon, which seeks its fourth state title to join championships in 1984, 2006 and 2007, initially seemed to fall prey to Benet's tempo, as did Glenbard East and East Aurora at the Neuqua Valley sectional.
"We've known all season we could play with anyone if we played well," said Benet senior forward Mike Runger. "We played pretty well today, but it obviously wasn't enough. We were on a 16-game winning streak, so I don't think there was a lack of confidence with anyone."
Slowly, though, the Wolverines crept in. They withstood early power by Kaminsky, who finished with 10 rebounds, that had Simeon in an 11-4 hole after a quarter.
A 7-0 Simeon run at the end of the second quarter, including a putback by Rashawn McElrath at the buzzer, drew the Wolverines within 21-19 at halftime.
Holding Benet scoreless for 9:15 spanning the second and third quarters, the Wolverines took their first lead, 22-21, on a Darien Walker 3 at 3:06 of the third.
Benet immediately countered with an inside bucket and a 3 both by Dylan Flood and Blake Lantero's 3-pointer from the left elbow at the end of the third quarter for a 29-24 Redwings lead.
When Kaminsky and Sobolewski - who fouled out with 1:20 left in the second overtime - started going to the foul line at 1:56 of the fourth quarter it looked like it'd be a repeat of the Redwings' sectional wins.
Simeon then produced its own superman.
"It was tough," Heidkamp said. "Our kids battled back, our kids battled the whole time. It just wasn't meant to be."