Hinsdale South defeats Metea Valley for third place
Brock Benson, a sports name if there ever was one.
The name conjures thoughts of tough play, and Hinsdale South's 6-foot-8 senior forward measured up to lead the Hornets to a 68-63 win over Metea Valley for third place on Monday at DeKalb's 83rd Chuck Dayton Holiday Tournament.
Sporting a shiner under his right eye and broken blood vessels in it from a poke he took Dec. 17 at Proviso East, Benson tallied a game-high 22 points and 11 rebounds.
He was ably assisted by Joe Petrak with 17 points, all-tourney pick Phil George with 15 and energetic Andy Nkansah, who supplied 4 points and 10 rebounds off the bench.
Benson survived foul trouble and with it Hinsdale South (8-5) had height only Metea Valley's 6-foot-6 Shiv Desai could approach. Benson, however, had the edge in quickness and touch around the basket.
“We really wanted to get Brock touches and build from the inside out,” said Hinsdale South coach Vince Doran, whose Hornets will host their own 16-team holiday tournament starting next season.
“That's really what we did most of the tournament, and we had much more success than relying just on perimeter jump shots.”
The arc is a strength of Metea Valley (8-7). After a close first quarter Hinsdale South led 21-17, Metea took its first lead, 29-28, on a Milan Bojanic 3-pointer.
The Hornets answered to take a 38-35 halftime lead, but with Benson benched with his third foul at 5:36 of the third quarter, Metea took advantage.
The Mustangs went on a 10-0 run fueled by Kenny Obendorf's 3-pointer and four straight Tre'sean Mackey free throws. Ryan Solomon, who led Metea with 13 points, scored inside off a Mackey assist for a 53-49 lead after three quarters.
Doran shifted to a 1-3-1 zone defense from a man-to-man to start the fourth quarter. Metea went seven straight possessions without scoring while Benson, George and Chris Chacko combined on an 8-0 run that gave the Hornets a 57-53 lead. They increased it to 65-55 with 1:17 to play.
“When we switched to our zone we definitely stopped them a little bit and we got a lot of momentum going,” Benson said.
“We just didn't make the best choices when we had the lead,” said Metea's all-tourney pick, LaShawn Cargo. “We should have took care of the ball in crucial possessions, and played better ‘D.'”