The Benet boys basketball team had a very successful season, culminating in a second place finish in the State Championship. The team finished with a 36-2 record and featured 3 all-state players.

Regular Season

After a tough loss to St. Ignatius in the first week of the season, the Redwings went on an incredible winning streak that lasted the rest of the regular season and most of the playoffs. Their schedule wasn’t easy either. They went undefeated during a three game trip to Philadelphia, and defeated highly ranked teams in the state such as Warren, DePaul Prep, Marist, Currie, and St. Patrick. Benet won both the Hinkle Holiday Classic and the Pontiac Holiday Tournament. This was the first time in program history that the Redwings won the prestigious Pontiac Tournament.

Benet picked up some big wins in the regular season, including a road victory over St. Patrick. After getting upset by the Shamrocks last year, the team made sure it didn’t happen again. In front of a packed crowd, the game was close with the game tied 21-21 at halftime. Late in the third quarter, the Redwings started to pull away and never looked back. The game was sealed shut with a Jayden Wright steal and lay-in late in the fourth quarter. The 53-43 victory set the tone for the remainder of the regular season. Additionally, highlights from the game were shown on NBC during the Bears playoff game after a commercial break.

The Redwings picked up another big win over Warren in a rematch of last year’s state title game. The Blue Devils, led by star point guard Jaxson Davis who had multiple impressive plays during the game, proved to be a difficult challenge for Benet. In a packed St. Ronald’s Gym, the Redwings outscored Warren in every quarter but the fourth claimed a 67-60 win. A big play in the game was when Jayden Wright and Ethan MacDermot both got Warren defenders playing in the air with pump fakes before making big 3s.

The impressive season led to some honors for the Redwings. Jayden Wright was named first team all-state while center Colin Stack was second team and junior Ed Stasys third team, respectively. Also, Wright was named ESCC Player of the Year and coach Gene Heidkamp won ESCC Coach of the Year. Benet was ranked as high as #8 on Max Prep’s high school national basketball team rankings.

Playoffs

The team dominated the playoffs picking up huge wins left and right. Although they weren’t able to finish it in the State Championship, this was still a playoff run to remember. Out of all of their playoff wins, the two that stand out are the victories over Bolingbrook and DePaul Prep.

To start, the Redwings took on the Raiders of Bolingbrook for the Sectional Championship. Bolingbrook, led by nationally ranked sophomore Brady Pettigrew, shot lights out in the first half and went into the locker room at halftime with a one point lead. The Redwings did not back down though, as they fought hard in the third quarter keeping it a close game with the lead changing multiple times. Now, in a one possession game with the tension building on both sidelines, the Redwings looked for someone to step up and lead the charge to victory. Two players in particular stepped up in Edvardas Stasys and Perry Tchiegne. Stasys made many pivotal plays on the offensive side of the ball which led to him scoring 13 points in the final twelve minutes of the game. Tchiegne was great at keeping the energy of the team up and played both impressive defense and offense. His biggest play came with 16 seconds left in the game when he stole a pass and went on a fast break on his own. He then threw down a one handed dunk sending the Redwings to the Super Sectionals with a 51-44 win over the Raiders.

After a blow out win over Rockford in the Super Sectionals, the Redwings faced off against DePaul Prep in the State Semifinals. This game was led by Benet’s two seniors Jayden Wright and Colin Stack. Stasys also played well on the boards. This game was led by excellent defense from both teams and was a back and forth low scoring affair. Both teams went into halftime ready for a battle in the second half as the score was tied at 17-17. Jayden Wright would go on to make some huge baskets as he was very effective driving through the paint. On the other side though, DePaul kept matching baskets with the Redwings. It would come down to who would get the ball last. With the score tied at 38 a piece, DePaul had the ball with just over ten seconds left in the game. They were going to try to hold the ball for the last shot, but then when Depaul attempted to drive towards the hoop, the guard was cut off and in the process he dribbled the ball off of his foot. The Redwings picked up the ball and went on a fast break with the clock winding down. Stasys had the ball and was about to attempt the game winning shot when he was fouled on the ground from behind. With less than two seconds left, the Redwings ran their inbounds play from under the hoop, and with 1.1 seconds left Colin Stack was fouled on his shot attempt. Stack made 1 of his 2 free throws and gave his team a 1-point lead. The Redwings won 39-38.

We should all be thankful for such a great season as the Redwings went to the State Championship for the 2nd year in a row. Many accomplishments were achieved throughout the year too and we are all looking forward to another great season next year. Go Redwings!