A deafening crowd donning sports jerseys packed St. Ronald gymnasium with sports Friday night to support the Benet Academy Redwings boys basketball team against their longtime rival, the Marian Catholic Spartans.

WCIU’s Game of the Week brought a large crowd that was fully engaged throughout the game. Despite Benet’s putting up an impressively aggressive fight, but it wasn’t enough to counter the nationally-ranked Spartans, who won the matchup 77-68. Prior to their matchup, Benet’s record was 18-6 with an Illinois state ranking of 46. Marian Catholic, on the other hand, had a reported record of 22-3 and were ranked eighth in the state. Seeing as the Redwings were the obvious underdogs, it is a miracle they held the game as close as it was.

Throughout the course of the game, the score jumped all over the place. A small gap would form for one of the team, and it would appear that Benet had the game lost, but then they would slowly come back and close Marian Catholic’s lead to just a basket. Defense – or lack thereof on Benet’s end – is what allowed the Spartans to run away with a lead multiple times. However, incredible shooting and aggressive play under the basket kept Benet level with their competition. This fight lasted the entire game, until there was no time left to fight back. Senior guard and noted three-point specialist Trevor Casmere fouled out of the game with minutes left in the fourth quarter, securing a victory for the Spartans.

As the Redwings move into the final three games of their regular season, they look to learn from their mistakes and build off of their accomplishments achieved in this difficult game.