Benet heads to holiday tournament fresh off overtime victory against Naperville North
High school basketball fans were given quite a show Saturday afternoon when Naperville North and Benet put on an overtime thriller in Naperville, but only the visiting Redwings head on to their holiday tournament with the energy a victory gives.
The Redwings prevailed 44-41 in overtime, but not before the Huskies (7-5) stormed ahead 18-3 on six 3-pointers early on and then battled to the wire behind the inspired play of Luke Williams, who led all scorers with 22 points.
“It was a really exciting game. We came into this game, and we knew they were going to give us their best and that’s what they did, making 6 of 7 threes [early],” Redwings 6-foot-6 sophomore Gabe Sularski said. “Eleven-and-0 feels good. Now we’ve got Pontiac (tourney), but it’s good being undefeated going into Christmas.”
Sularski was held scoreless in the first half as Naperville North led 25-15 after two quarters. But he helped rally Benet with a pair of baskets in each of the third and fourth quarters and opened the scoring in the extra session on a reverse layup off a feed from Blake Fagbemi. Teammate Patrick Walsh – 6 for 6 from the foul line in the game – sealed the Redwings victory with four foul shots in overtime.
“Patrick’s been so big for our team and he played well out there tonight,” Redwings coach Gene Heidkamp said of Walsh, a senior leader on a team filled with underclassmen.
The veteran coach also was impressed with his opponent. Prior to the tip-off, Huskies coach Gene Nolan was honored for his induction into the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame. Then his Huskies went out and almost handed the Redwings their first loss of the season, even after guard Cole Arl was injured early in the second half and did not return.
“Naperville North played an unbelievable game,” Heidkamp said. “We expected that coming here. We knew they would be well-prepared, which they were. They’re extremely well-coached. They play great defense. They made it really tough for us to get shots and then they ran good offense, got open shots, and made the shots.”
Benet tied the game in the third quarter with a 10-0 run before Williams banked in a shot at the buzzer for his team’s only points of the quarter. The game went back and forth from there, with each side missing key free throws late. Max Steele hit two big 3s in the fourth quarter for the Huskies off the bench and Jayden Wright connected on a key 3 for the Redwings.
“We lost some people, so people had to step up from the bench,” said Williams, after Bryce Welch missed the overtime and Arl was injured earlier. “Max Steele, Ben Johnson, Ben Victor, they all came up to give us the energy to keep going. I feel like we’re getting better as a team… We’re believing.”
Benet 7-footer Colin Stack finished with 9 points, including a game-sealing dunk in overtime. Welch added 7 points for Naperville North but couldn’t quite get his driving layup at the end of regulation to fall. Not only did the shot not deliver a win, but he was hurt on the play and missed the overtime.
“We got better for having played in this game,” Nolan said. “There’s growth in areas. We’re getting better, and our kids gave a great effort. I feel like we’re improving, and that’s the biggest thing.”