advertisement

Benet regroups to down St. Viator

There was an alarm going off on the Benet bench, and in Gene Heidkamp's head.

The Redwings sure weren't playing like themselves to start Friday's East Suburban Catholic Conference showdown at St. Viator.

They were letting the host Lions score like crazy.

St. Viator had five 3-pointers in the first half and scored 30 points.

"We're giving up about 40 points a game and St. Viator already had 30 points at halftime," Heidkamp said. "St. Viator pretty much did whatever they wanted. They picked us apart.

"That's uncharacteristic of our defense. They dominated the toughness factor in the first half. We just didn't match the intensity they brought. I told the guys (at halftime) that we needed to dig down and we needed to be tougher."

Message received.

Benet got much tougher on defense in the third quarter, and limited St. Viator to just a single field goal. Meanwhile, the Redwings generated enough offense to tie the game by the end of the period.

Another stingy defensive effort in the fourth quarter paved the way for Benet to a hard-fought 43-40 boys basketball victory over St. Viator that preserved its 40-point points allowed average.

"This was two hard-nosed teams getting after it, two programs that really emphasize defense," said 6-foot-8 Benet center Colin Crothers, who will be playing at Johns Hopkins next year. He was Benet's only double-figure scorer with 13 points. "Being down 10 at halftime, we knew that we had to come into the second half and just get stops."

The Redwings, who sit in third place in the ESCC and are 21-8 overall and 7-2 in the league, got plenty of them as guard Michael Campagna was the only player to score for St. Viator in the third quarter, on a drive to the basket. Meanwhile, Benet scored 12 points, including big 3-pointers by reserves Michael O'Connor and Colin Gillespie.

Benet held St. Viator (18-9, 4-4 ESCC) to single digits again in the fourth quarter, allowing just 8 St. Viator points.

St. Viator leading scorer Connor Kochera, one of the leading scores in the area at around 25 points per game, was held to a single basket in the second half and just 13 points overall.

"We just couldn't score," St. Viator coach Quin Hayes said of his team's second-half troubles on the offensive end. "They were making shots and we weren't. That's what it came down to. Also, in the first half, we had 2 turnovers and 8 assists and in the second half, we had 8 turnover and 2 assists. It was the tale of two halves for us."

Senior Jack Mahoney got St. Viator off to its good start in the first half. He came out sizzling by going 3-for-4 from 3-point range, scoring all 9 of his points from long range.

The story of Mahoney is a heartwarming one.

He was the starting quarterback of the football team, broke his leg midway through the season in October and worked and worked to make sure that he could be back for basketball.

Not only is Mahoney a four-year, three-sport athlete who didn't want to give up on basketball and his streak of playing three sports a year, he's also a longtime friend to all of his basketball teammates and couldn't imagine not finishing his basketball career with them.

He returned about six games ago after a 3-month absence from the sports scene to complete his rehab.

"This being my senior year, I'm just trying to leave it all on the floor, and do whatever I can for my guys," Mahoney said. "It was a really tough recovery. It really tested me mentally getting back into it. I was out for so long that I was kind of second-guessing how I would be athletically when I came back. Thankfully, I got to come back and play basketball and finish it out my senior year."

Article Comments
Guidelines: Keep it civil and on topic; no profanity, vulgarity, slurs or personal attacks. People who harass others or joke about tragedies will be blocked. If a comment violates these standards or our terms of service, click the "flag" link in the lower-right corner of the comment box. To find our more, read our FAQ.