Another historic Benet Academy boys basketball season has come to an unfortunate end.

The Redwings fell just short on Tuesday in a 53-46 loss to the Larkin Royals in the Class 4A DeKalb Super Sectional, putting an end to their 2017-18 season.

Benet fans showed up in spades at Northern Illinois University’s Convocation Center in DeKalb, Illinois. Donned in all black attire, they were eager to see their beloved Redwings make it to the state tournament for the second time in three years.

The Redwings struggled coming out of the gate, tallying 10 turnovers in the first half alone. They also had plenty of issues from behind the arc, shooting just one-for-12 from three-point range in the first two quarters. The Royals entered the second half with a 21-11 lead and managed to hold Benet scoreless for the first five minutes of the second quarter.

Despite a poor first half, the Redwings were prepared to overcome the 10-point deficit and advance to the state finals. Senior David Buh stepped up late in the game, scoring 9 of his team’s 19 points in the fourth quarter. Fellow senior Jake Ronneberg also dominated in the fourth quarter, scoring all 10 of his points in that time. The Redwings pounced on the Royals’ misses from the free-throw line to cut their lead to 48-46 late in the fourth quarter.

However, Larkin proved to be too much for Benet to handle. Larkin junior Pierre Black caught fire in the fourth quarter en route to an 18-point outing. Senior Anthony Lynch, who had been a key contributor for the Royals throughout the season, added 16 points of his own.

Benet finishes the season at 27-5. Before their loss on Tuesday, they had won 18 games in a row, including a 67-40 win in the Sectional Finals against the Willowbrook Warriors. The Redwings will be losing three starters next season, with Jake Ronneberg, David Buh, and Jacob Petrovic all graduating this year. They will look for incumbent starters junior Will Engels and sophomore Colin Crothers to lead a young team to the program’s tenth straight 20-win season, which appears to be a daunting task. However, the Redwings are hopeful that they will continue to overcome the odds.