Boys basketball notes: Benet brings home two holiday tourney titles; unique ending at IC/Westmont Classic

Benet Academy’s basketball team enjoyed a December to remember.

Following a 69-65 loss to St. Ignatius on Nov. 30, the Redwings earned 14 consecutive victories in 31 days during a December that included a 3-0 trip to Philadelphia early in the month and a pair of holiday tournament titles to finish the busy stretch.

Coach Gene Heidkamp’s squad began the holiday season by capturing the Hinkle Holiday Classic at Jacobs with wins over Bartlett, Crystal Lake South, and Barrington, prior to its dominating 60-28 title triumph over Naperville North.

Led by tournament Most Valuable Player Jayden Wright and 7-foot senior center Colin Stack, the Redwings (17-1) jumped out to a 19-5 first-quarter lead over Naperville North in the championship contest.

Three days later, Benet opened the 94th Pontiac Holiday Tournament with a convincing win over Plainfield North, then knocked off Peoria Manuel on Dec. 29.

The following day, the 3rd-seeded Redwings downed Curie, 74-41, behind Wright’s 23 points, 6 assists, and 2 steals, while 6-8 Edvardas Stasys added 15 points and 8 rebounds, and Stack chipped in with 9 points and 8 boards.

Four hours later, the Redwings returned to the court against defending Pontiac tourney champion DePaul Prep in a battle between the defending Class 4A and 3A state champs.

Benet, a 2nd-place finisher at Pontiac the past 3 seasons, captured its first title with a 52-43 victory over the Rams.

Stack, a North Dakota State recruit, led a balanced attack with 15 points and 4 rebounds, supported by all-tournament selection Stasys (14 points, 10 rebounds), and EIU-bound Wright (11 points, 5 assists).

Wright earned the A.C. Williamson Award combining Most Valuable Player/Sportsmanship during the prestigious 3-day tourney.

“The timing of the tournaments allowed us to compete in both this season,” said Heidkamp. “We’re moving to a new league (Chicago Catholic) next year, so we’ll see what happens next season.

“We’ve been going to Pontiac for 12 years now. It’s a great experience. It’s a bigger than basketball things.”

Having already played 18 games, the Redwings will return to a more “normal” schedule this month.

“Now, we’ll be able to have more practices and work on things before we start preparing for the tournament,” said Heidkamp.

Neuqua Valley wins DeKalb tourney: Outscoring its four opponents by an average of 34 points (74-40), Neuqua Valley (14-1) captured the 98th Chuck Dayton Holiday Classic in DeKalb.

Led by tournament Most Valuable Player Cole Kelly, the Wildcats defeated Bulls Prep (91-22), Belvidere North (71-42), and East Moline United Township (58-53) before their 76-45 title triumph over Rockton Hononegah on Dec. 30.

Kelly, a sophomore, averaged 16 points, 8.3 rebounds, 4.2 assists, and 2.5 steals per game during the 3-day event.

Junior Mason Martin also earned all-tournament honors for the Wildcats.

Martin, who led the tourney with 92 points (23 ppg), shot a blistering 43% from 3-point range (17 for 40), while adding a perfect 23-of-23 effort at the free-throw line.

Carter Coviello (7.8 ppg), Lucas Balgro (6.3 ppg, 11 of 17 from the field), and Daniel Mikuta (5.8 ppg) also contributed for Neuqua.

Kaneland cruises at Plano: Led by tournament Most Valuable Player Marshawn Cocroft, top-seeded Kaneland (13-0) captured its third consecutive Plano Christmas Classic title with a 78-47 championship victory over No. 2 see Yorkville Christian on Dec. 30.

Cocroft, who scored 97 points in 4 games (24 ppg), led a balanced Knights attack with 22 points and 6 rebounds against Yorkville Christian. The senior guard tallied a tourney-high 35 points during Kaneland’s 67-50 semifinal win over LaSalle-Peru.

Against Yorkville Christian, 4 other Kaneland players reached double figures, including Jeffrey Hassan (17 points, 12 rebounds, 7 blocked shots), Isaiah Gipson (12 points, 6 rebounds), Connor Kimme (10 points, 6 rebounds), and Evan Frieders (10 points).

Marmion (9-4) bounced back a 45-43 opening-day loss to Sandwich with 3 straight victories, including a 44-32 consolation championship win over Northridge Prep.

All-tournament junior guard/forward Joey Kramer led the Cadets with 13 points and 7 rebounds.

IC/Westmont Classic features wild ending: Willowbrook (7-6) stretched its winning streak to 5 by capturing the ICCP/Westmont Christmas Classic.

Led by tournament MVP Otis Powell, the Warriors defeated IC Catholic Prep 52-45 in the title contest. Powell finished with a game-high 20 points and 10 rebounds, supported by Jaylen Griffin (10 points, 5 rebounds), Mikey Garner (11 rebounds), JJ Miulli (7 points, 3 assists), Jory Crocker (6 points, 3 rebounds), and Antwain Walker (5 points).

Earlier, the Warriors posted tourney wins against Providence-St. Mel (82-59), Aurora Central Catholic (77-35), and Winnebago (68-66).

Perhaps the craziest game over the holidays took place at IC Catholic Prep, where the host Knights outlasted Taft in a 75-68, 5-overtime classic that stretched two days.

“Mass is held weekly in our chapel at 4:30 p.m., which is located directly below the gym,” said Knights coach TJ Tyrrell. “We pushed the game as close as we reasonably could so as not to disrupt Mass.”

After the third overtime, Knights athletic director Rick Bertenshaw called both coaching staffs together to discuss the possibility of suspending the game.

“The decision was made to begin a fourth overtime with the expectation that the game would likely conclude by then,” said Tyrrell. “Unfortunately, it did not, and the game extended into a fifth overtime.”

At that point, the game was suspended and completed the following day.

“I have never been part of a game that was suspended and resumed at a later date,” said the coach. “I also have never coached in a game that went beyond two overtimes. This was certainly a first for me.”

Led by sophomore Will Schmidt, the Knights placed second in the tourney.

“We led the championship game by 11 points with about a minute remaining in the third quarter,” said Tyrrell. “Credit to Willowbrook for making big plays down the stretch.”

Tyrrell also credited junior Noah Valadez and freshman Donnel Harris for their contributions.