Benet gets busy in third quarter, cruise to tourney win

Benet coach Gene Heidkamp appeared to be in the holiday spirit of giving as he headed into the locker room for halftime during Thursday's game against Lincoln-Way North in the Plainfield North Holiday Tournament.

But the giving, which came in the form of a halftime pep talk, wasn't on the holiday wish list of any of the Redwings as Heidkamp couldn't have been pleased as Benet only led 29-25 at intermission.

"It really wasn't that bad," Benet senior guard Matt Parisi said. "He calmly told us what we need to do and it really helped and got to us and we did it one possession at a time."

In return the Redwings thanked Heidkamp by playing one heck of a third quarter and went on to win 71-49. Benet (8-0) opened the third quarter with an 8-0 run and behind a pair of 3-pointers by Dave Sobolewski and three more from Parisi, outscored the Phoenix 24-7 in the quarter to open a commanding 53-32 lead.

"My teammates did a great job of getting me the ball," Parisi said. "I owe it all to them, if not for their penetration and nice passes it wouldn't have happened and I was just fortunate enough to knock down the shots when they got it to me."

Lincoln-Way North got some easy buckets from Daryle Morgan and 3-pointers from Brandon Collins and Jake Harper to keep it close in the first half but couldn't halt the Redwings' scoring barrage to open the second half.

"Today they came out and probably hit more than 11 3s," Harper said. "You can't do much more than that. It's better a 3 than a layup. If they beat you that way, they beat you that way."

Benet 7-footer Frank Kaminsky only scored 2 of his 16 points in the second half, but his involvement in the offense led to the open shots from beyond the arc.

"Frank's a huge force inside and we love getting it inside to him so he can go to work and get easy baskets inside," Parisi said. "And if they collapse on him, which sometimes they do, he will kick it outside to shooters and he'll find us open."

Parisi drained six 3-pointers and led the Redwings with 20 points. Sobolewski added 15 points.

"It's always great whenever everyone starts hitting on all cylinders," Parisi said. "It's a fun experience."

Harper led the Phoenix with 9 points.