Benet saves best for last against St. Charles North
Benet boys basketball coach Gene Heidkamp talks often about how his veteran team has competed in just about every type of game the last two years.
He can add another to the list.
The Redwings didn't lead until the last half-minute of regulation, then needed overtime to edge St. Charles North 61-59 in Saturday's entertaining nonconference matchup in Lisle.
Liam Lyman knocked down a 3-pointer, converted a three-point play and scored 8 of his 19 points in the extra period to lift Benet (19-6) within a victory of its eighth straight 20-win season. He also snared a steal and hit a pair of free throws with 22.1 seconds left to stretch the overtime lead to 5 points.
"We're just prepared and come in with a lot of experience," Lyman said. "We've all played in big games and we're used to it."
After scoring the first 9 points of the game, St. Charles North (16-7) controlled the bulk of regulation. Benet tied the game five times in the second half, but the North Stars kept opening another lead.
St. Charles North built a 36-26 third-quarter advantage after a three-point play by Kyle King, who scored 15 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in his first action since his older brother Austin died in a car accident on Tuesday.
"We've had a tough week," said North Stars coach Tom Poulin. "But this is a tough group. Games like this kind of get you ready for the tournament as long as you make them productive losses and learn from them."
Justin Enochs scored 8 of his 11 points in the third quarter to spark the Redwings' rally. Zach Ludwig, who scored 11 points, made a pair of 3-pointers to give the North Stars a 48-43 lead, but Benet's increased backcourt pressure led to multiple converted turnovers.
David Buh scored for Benet's first lead of 51-50 with 26.1 seconds left in regulation and St. Charles North's Anthony Delisi, who scored 16 points before fouling out in overtime, split a pair of free throws to eventually force overtime. Benet's Jack Nolan, who scored a game-high 20 points, missed a shot at the buzzer.
"We've had a lot of games like this so we always believe we can win," Enochs said. "We've just got to keep playing, and the big plays will happen."
Cade Callaghan also fouled out for St. Charles North, but not before scoring 12 points.
"Our guys have been through every situation you can think of," Heidkamp said. "We weren't happy with how we were playing, but we weren't rattled."
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