Sobolewski sits as Benet handles Oswego

Depth. It's a beautiful thing.

Learning that one of the best guards in the state can't play due to injury might cause many a coach to scream like Homer Simpson.

But Benet is not that type of team. This, so far, is not that type of season. And Gene Heidkamp is certainly not that kind of coach.

Senior guard Dave Sobolewski was in a sportcoat and tie on the bench because of a back injury as the Redwings took on Oswego on Saturday night in the Naperville North Shootout.

Led by Frank Kaminsky's 25 points, the Redwings calmly cruised past the Panthers 58-33 to run their overall record to 18-0.

“It's game-by-game with him,” Benet coach Gene Heidkamp said of Sobolewski.

The Benet coach estimated that the Northwestern-bound Sobolewski shouldn't be out more than a week.

The Redwings have three games this week: Tuesday at home against St. Viator, Friday at Marist and Saturday versus Glenbard East in the Hoops Showdown at the Sears Centre in Hoffman Estates.

And if Benet's well-balanced roster continues to come through, those opponents will have a difficult task ahead of them just like Oswego faced. The other big man in the lineup, James Roemer, followed Kaminskiy with 12 points. Pat McInerney hit for 11 with 8 rebounds.

“The team needed me to step up. We all needed to step up,” Kaminsky said.

Like Thursday night's conference win over Marian Catholic, this one was over early.

Oswego (10-5) trailed 14-4 after the first quarter and didn't score its first basket until 1:24 remained in the opening period on a layup by Elliot McGaughy (who shared team-high scoring honors with Miles Simelton with 13 points). The Redwings didn't let up and led 28-8 at halftime after shooting 13-for-25 from the field in the first two quarters.

“This team is not a bunch of individual guys,” Heidkamp said. “But they (the players) do what they have to do on an individual night. I'm very proud of our guys. They came out determined and came out to play.”

Benet had Friday night off while Oswego defeated Suburban Prairie Conference foe Plainfield North in a tough 59-56 battle.

“It's quite possible,” Panther coach Kevin Schnable when asked if Friday's game took something out of his team. “I really can't speak to that. That's something for the players. I would hope not. This was such an opportunity. We don't get much chance to play teams like Benet. They're going to do good in March.”

But for now, the Redwings aren't getting ahead of themselves..

“It's just game-by-game,” said Kaminsky. “We want to get through conference. We have St. Viator on Tuesday and then we'll think about next weekend.”