Sports
Boys Basketball: Benet Survives North's Upset Bid
Benet 43, Naperville North 42 (2 OT). The Redwings' keep their state title dreams alive by escaping North with the regional title.
Many people assumed that Benet Academy’s road to a boys basketball state championship would be paved in gold, with the Redwings cruising to Peoria and coming home with some hardware.
Apparently, Naperville North had other ideas.
The Huskies gave Benet all it could handle in Friday’s Class 4A Naperville North Regional title game, but Jovonn Griffin’s shot in the final seconds of double overtime did not go in and Benet escaped a massive upset with a 43-42 win.
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Benet will face East Aurora, an overtime winner over Neuqua Valley Friday, in Tuesday’s Class 4A East Aurora Sectional semifinal at 7:30 p.m.
“If people think that we overlooked them, we definitely did not,” Benet senior Dave Sobolewski said. “We didn’t look past them at all. We came to play. Maybe we didn’t play our best game, but they just played really well tonight. Every timeout I grabbed the guys that were in and said, ‘Guys, this isn’t going to end tonight. We’ve got a goal and we want to realize it.’ We just did a great job of defending them at the end.”
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Benet (29-0) held a 30-24 lead going into the fourth quarter, but they did not score in the fourth until Pat Boyle’s three-pointer with 1:21 left gave the Redwings a 33-31 lead. Matt LaCosse scored two buckets in the paint for the Huskies (16-12) and Jon Mengel’s three-pointer with 4:30 left gave North its first lead since it was 3-1, 31-30.
Sobolewski and Frank Kaminsky each hit two free throws to open a 37-34 lead with 19 seconds left, but LaCosse, who is not known for his outside shooting, drilled a three-pointer with 2 seconds left to force overtime. Benet took a 40-37 lead with 36 seconds left in overtime on a Kaminsky free throw, but LaCosse did it again, hitting another three to force double overtime.
“Coach drew up a play that was supposed to go to Mengel, but I got the ball and decided to shoot,” LaCosse said of the three that forced overtime. “I guess that was good, because it went in. The second one, I just said, ‘What the heck? Might as well shoot it.’ And that one went in. I don’t know if luck was on my side or what.”
Benet had chances to put the game away at the free-throw line, but as a team the Redwings hit only 2-of-8 in the overtime periods. Kaminsky’s basket in the lane in double overtime gave Benet a 43-42 lead and the Redwings hung on for dear life on the defensive end to escape Naperville with the regional title.
“We’re fortunate to be playing on Tuesday,” Benet coach Gene Heidkamp said. “Tuesday’s a new day. We’re looking forward to playing again. We have a good team. Our season could have ended tonight, there’s not doubt about that. But we’re looking forward to playing again Tuesday. We’ll play better in that game. Again, the credit goes to Naperville North. They should be very proud of what they did tonight.”
North lost to Benet by 21 points in early December with LaCosse out with a knee injury. The second time around, the Huskies had the state’s No. 1 team on the ropes with the ball in their hands in the final seconds of double overtime with a chance to win the game.
“For me personally, that’s the greatest game that I’ve ever been a part of,” North coach Jeff Powers said. “The way our kids played and their kids played, the will to not die and keep coming back, I just thought it was an unbelievable effort by both teams.”
