Schmit: Will Benet, York or Kaneland bring home a boys basketball state title?

What does it take?

Thirty-some games into a season, the vast majority of them victories, what is it that sets one team apart from another when it comes to winning an IHSA championship in boys basketball?

Based on history, there are no definitive answers. But, when it comes to this weekend’s participants at the University of Illinois in Champaign, we do have some hints.

Among the semifinalists are Kaneland (35-0) in Class 3A, and Benet (35-1) and York (31-4) in 4A. Each has an intriguing resume.

Benet is attempting the rare feat of repeating as 4A champion, although Belleville West did it as recently as 2018 and 2019 and Simeon won four straight titles from 2010 to 2013.

The Redwings can become the third repeat champion in 4A since the four-class system began in 2008. Behind an experienced core of Eastern Illinois-bound Jayden Wright, 7-foot Colin Stack and 6-8 junior Edvardas Stasys, they enter the weekend as the favorite to win again.

If, of course, they get past DePaul Prep — which has won three straight titles in 2A and 3A — in the semifinals. Win that and the Redwings face the winner between York and Marist (31-5).

Few teams beat their head against the wall trying to win a title more than Benet over the last 15 years, and even longer going back to the Bill Geist teams of the late 1970s and early ’80s.

Three second-place finishes and a third were claimed by the Redwings, not to mention talent-laden teams that never made it that far. Then last year’s team stormed to the title.

What made the difference? Benet lost in the sectional with Division I-caliber players. Teams with Division III talent came within a hair of winning a state title against opponents with future NBA players.

Watching those Redwings teams year-by-year and their playoff paths, you could point to any number of factors forging the difference between disappointment and triumph.

York falls into a similar category. The Dukes set a program record with 32 wins (so far) this season, but three other times since 2019 they won at least 26 games.

What set this team apart from the rest, enough to net the program its first sectional title since 1982 and first trip to state since 1968?

Something pushed Joseph Lubbe to 20 points in Monday’s supersectional win over St. Ignatius despite a sprained ankle. Something focused Sawyer Asgedom’s shooting touch on a 3-pointer late in overtime that gave York the lead for good.

It’s the kind of magic that could carry a team to a state title. Emphasis on the “could.”

Finally, there’s Kaneland. We saved history for last.

I doubt the Knights want to talk too much about the wins and (no) losses, but being 35-0 heading into the semifinals automatically puts a target on your back. It doesn’t matter what kind of talent semifinal opponent Deerfield (24-11) offers, or the other semifinal 3A teams — Leo (27-6) and East St. Louis (31-4).

Senior guard Marshawn Cocroft, 6-9 junior Jeffrey Hassan and the rest of the Knights are attempting to become the first unbeaten state champion since Seneca went 35-0 as the Class A champion in 2006.

Anything less than a title will be an understandable disappointment to Kaneland. And it’d beg the inevitable question.

What does it take?