Boys basketball: Benet clinches Pontiac Holiday Tournament championship that had eluded it

Benet’s win in the title game at the Pontiac Holiday Tournament was something of a catharsis.

Despite loads of program success in recent seasons, including a Class 4A championship last season, the Redwings were frustrated in their quest to capture the Pontiac title to go with their other impressive stack of hardware.

Benet had reached the last three title games at the Pontiac Holiday Tournament but lost all three encounters, including last year’s final at the hands of DePaul Prep.

But with a precise attack and a suffocating defensive front, Benet finally captured the crown it coveted, earning a 52-43 win over DePaul Prep on Wednesday night in a matchup of defending state champions.

Benet led the entire way but wasn’t quite able to break free until midway through the third quarter with a 6-0 run that gave the Redwings a 6-point advantage. And in a game that featured two teams that don’t give an inch defensively, that proved to be too big of a mountain for DePaul to scale. The Rams couldn’t get closer than four points the rest of the way.

“I think our defense was good the whole way,” Benet coach Gene Heidkamp said. “To hold a team like that to 43 points, it’s a good effort.”

“We got good contributions from everybody. I guess we were due. And I think we had a little extra determination because we had been here so often.”

The Redwings (16-1) opened up the game late with a series of dunks and lay-ins from the combo of Colin Stack, who scored a team-high 15 points, and Edvardas Stasys in the fourth quarter. The duo accounted for 10 points on five consecutive possessions, which allowed Benet to get the needed separation for the victory.

It was something of a wild night for Stasys, who juggled foul problems for most of the night and was whistled for his fourth foul with 4:53 to play and played the tightrope between picking up his fifth foul and playing aggressively enough to still be an effective performer.

Eight of Stasys’ 14 points came in the fourth quarter.

“I just couldn’t make any dumb fouls,” Stasys said. “I had to stop reaching and be a tad bit less aggressive, but I was still able to contest some good shots and keep playing.”

Benet jumped out to a 9-1 lead right out of the gates as Jayden Wright, who scored 11 points, led the way scoring his 1,000 varsity point on his first basket of the night. But DePaul Prep sliced the lead down with a late second-quarter scoring run fueled almost exclusively by Rashaun Porter, who scored on three of four possessions as the first half winded down.

Benet still managed to hold on to the lead, though, taking a 20-18 lead into halftime.

AJ Chambers paced DePaul Prep (13-2) with 17 points and Porter finished with 15.

“It feels really good to get this win, especially for him (Heidkamp),” Wright said. “Because we obviously know the history.”

“Amongst the players getting this was definitely one of our goals. I think it’s the best Christmas Tournament, the atmosphere, so I’m going to miss it for sure.”

Wright was named to the first-team all-tournament squad and was also awarded the tournament’s A.C. Williamson Award for exemplary play.

Stasys was a second-team choice, while Stack received honorable mention notice.

Benet 74, Curie 41

The Redwings were dominant in the semifinal win earlier Wednesday against their Chicago Public League foe, outscoring the Condors in every quarter.

Benet led just 7-6 midway through the first quarter but closed the first half on a 24-9 scoring run to build a healthy advantage at half, 31-15.

Curie did push back to within 38-30 midway through the third quarter, but Benet finished the period on a 15-2 scoring run to put the win on ice.

Wright paced Benet with 23 points, and Stasys contributed 15 as nine Benet players recorded points.