Benet hangs tough

Senior Pat McInerney and the other Redwings starters made sure all of Benet’s hard work didn’t go to waste.

McInerney had 22 points, and three other Benet starters scored in double digits as host Benet outlasted St. Patrick 61-56 in East Suburban Catholic Conference boys basketball action Friday evening.

“Pat’s a tough kid,” Benet coach Gene Heidkamp said. “It may not always be pretty with Pat, but he plays defense, he rebounds, and he’s very unselfish. He does a little bit of everything for us.”

Benet raced out to a 15-4 lead, paced by McInerney’s 6 points in the first quarter. The Redwings dominated from the beginning, beginning with a 7-0 run. St. Patrick fought back, buoyed by junior guard Royale Ewing, a thorn in Benet’s side all night. Ewing helped the Shamrocks erase a 10-point defecit and scored the go-ahead bucket late in the first half, giving St. Patrick a 20-19 lead. But Benet sophomore Sean O’Mara converted two free throws, handing Benet a 1-point advantage heading into halftime.

“We let up a little in the second quarter,” McInerney said. “In the third quarter, that’s where we turned it on. They made some great passes to me and I made the layups.”

The Redwings (17-5 3-2) adjusted to Ewing and the Shamrocks, ripping off a 7-0 run in the first three minutes of the second half. Senior Joe Schuesler opened the quarter with a 3 while McInerney, O’Mara, and senior Griffin Hanekamp paced the Benet scoring attack. The Redwings ended the quarter with a Hanekamp 3-pointer and a 43-31 lead.

The Shamrocks pulled within 5 near the end of the fourth, but timely shots and free throws helped put the Shamrocks away for good.

“We played well enough on offense to give ourselves enough of a cushion in the third quarter,” Heidkamp said. “They played really hard and they’re really athletic. We knew it would be a dogfight until the end.”