Benet Concludes Best Basketball Season

The Benet Academy boys' varsity basketball Redwings finished the 2013-2014 season with a record of 25-8, and the team lost in the IHSA Class 4A State Championship to Whitney Young High School.  This marked Benet's first-ever appearance in the state championship game, and the second-place finish is the highest in school history.

The Redwings started the season with six consecutive wins, four of which led to the Hoops for Healing Tournament championship.  Benet also defeated Redondo Union High School of California at the Chicago Elite Classic held at the University of Illinois at Chicago.  However, the Redwings lost six of their next eleven games, including an overtime loss at Marian Catholic, a four-point loss to Providence-St. Mel, and one-possession losses to Rockford-Auburn, St. Viator, and Milwaukee-Hamilton.  After the loss to Hamilton, Benet won eight of its last nine regular-season games en route to the #1 seed in the East Aurora High School Sectional.  Benet first won the Lemont High School Regional by defeating Lemont and Waubonsie Valley by a combined 69 points.  Benet then beat Hinsdale Central 61-50 in the East Aurora Sectional semifinal and defeated Geneva 60-41 to capture the school's first Sectional Championship since 2010.  The Redwings earned their first trip downstate since 1983 with a thrilling 62-59 win over Glenbard North in the Hinsdale Central Super-Sectional in a game that saw the Redwings erase a 7-point deficit in the final three minutes.

Benet clinched the school's first-ever state championship appearance with a 38-33 win over Edwardsville, but the Redwings fell 46-44 to Chicago Whitney Young in the IHSA Class 4A State Championship Game.
Xavier-bound senior Sean O'Mara became the school's all-time leading scorer during the season, and he averaged nearly 24 points and 13 rebounds per game.  Senior guard Collin Pellettieri, who advanced to the State Three-Point Showdown, averaged three three-point shots per game and hit the game-winning three with 26 seconds left against Glenbard North to send Benet downstate.  Pellettieri scored a game-high 26 points in the Super-Sectional win.  Seniors Josh Yesufu, Liam Nelligan, Joe Boyle, and Dan Roemer all contributed greatly throughout the season, as did sophomore Dan Sobolewski.  The Redwings will graduate nine seniors, and only junior Colin Bonnett will return from the starting lineup.

The win over Edwardsville gave Coach Gene Heidkamp his 140th win at Benet against 41 losses for a .773 win percentage.  The Redwings are 128-26 in the past five season, an .833 win percentage.

Benet Falls Just Short in State Championship Game

The Benet Academy varsity boys' basketball team ended their season with a 46-44 loss to Whitney Young High School in the IHSA Class 4A State Championship Game at Peoria's Carver Arena.  The Redwings finished the year with a record of 25-8, and the second-place finish is the highest in school history.
Benet started slowly in the championship game and trailed by double digits for most of the first half.  However, the Redwings cut a 10 point halftime deficit to five by the end of the third quarter and closed the gap to three early in the fourth.  Whitney Young responded with an 8-0 run to extend its lead to 42-31 with 3:07 left and held a 44-34 lead with just over one minute remaining in the season.  The Dolphins missed two one-and-one opportunities after Benet fouls, and two Collin Pellettieri threes cut the deficit to 44-40.  Sean O'Mara then collected an offensive rebound and scored a layup with about 20 seconds left.  However, Whitney Young's Paul White drained two free throws after a Benet foul, and the Redwings' final score came with under five seconds remaining, so Whitney Young was not required to inbound the ball. Benet fell in the school's first-ever basketball state championship game 46-44 to the #12 team in the country.  Young's Duke-bound Jahlil Okafor scored 8 points and grabbed 6 rebounds, the Georgetown-bound White also scored 8 points and added 7 rebounds, and St. Louis-bound Myles Reynolds scored a game-high 19 points for the Dolphins.  Xavier-bound O'Mara scored 8 points and collected 8 rebounds, Colin Bonnett scored a team-high 12 points with 6 rebounds, and Pellettieri contributed 11 points.
This was a fantastic weekend to end the best season in Benet basketball history.  Congratulations to the players and coaches, and good luck to the graduating senior class.

Benet Wins Sectional Championship

The Benet Academy boys' varsity basketball team defeated the sixth-seeded Geneva Vikings 60-41 on Friday, March 14 to win the school's first Sectional Championship since 2010.  The top-seeded Redwings, who defeated Hinsdale Central 61-50 in the East Aurora Sectional Semifinals on Tuesday, March 11, led by one possession for most of the first half and held a 26-23 halftime lead.  Benet outscored Geneva 18-6 in the third quarter and held a double-digit lead for much of the second half.  Sean O'Mara scored 16 of his game-high 24 points in the second half, and Benet clinched a sectional championship with its fourth consecutive playoff win by more than 10 points.  Only Marian Catholic, Stevenson, and Benet have won all four games by this margin.
The Redwings' next game is on Tuesday night at Hinsdale Central against Glenbard North.  The sixth-seeded Panthers upset the #2 seed, Proviso East, in the Bartlett Sectional semifinals and the #4 seed, Morton, in the championship game.  The winner of this game goes 'downstate' on Friday, March 21 and Saturday, March 22.  Benet has not won a Super-Sectional since the 1983-84 season.

Benet to Play Geneva on Friday

The Benet Academy varsity boys' basketball team defeated Hinsdale Central by a score of 61-50 in the East Aurora Sectional semifinal on Tuesday, March 11.  The #1 seed Redwings and #4 seed Red Devils traded baskets throughout the first half and were tied at the end of the first and second quarters.  Benet started the second half on a 20-6 run and never led by fewer than 10 points in the second half.  Sean O'Mara led all scorers with 27 points, and Collin Pellettieri added 22 points.  On Wednesday, #6 seed Geneva upset #2 seed West Aurora 70-68 in the other sectional semifinal.  Also, #1 seed York and #2 seed Proviso East lost in the Bartlett Sectional semifinals to #4 seed Morton and #6 seed Glenbard North, respectively.  Benet faces Geneva at East Aurora High School at 7:00 PM on Friday, and Morton faces Glenbard North at Bartlett High School at 7:00 PM on Friday.  The winners of each game will face each other at Hinsdale Central next Tuesday in the Super-Sectional, and the winner of that game goes 'downstate' to the final four.
Come support the Redwings on Friday night at East Aurora as they look to win their third sectional title since 1983-84.  Tickets are available Thursday and Friday.

Benet Wins Lemont Regional

The Benet boys' varsity basketball team opened the playoffs with two blowout wins over Lemont High School and Waubonsie Valley High School in the Lemont Regional.  On Tuesday, March 4, the Redwings picked apart Lemont, led by 40 for much of the second half, and won 81-36.  The margin of victory is still the largest of any game this postseason in the Hinsdale Central Super-Sectional.  Then, on Friday, March 7, Benet stormed out to a 26-8 halftime lead over Waubonsie and led by as many as 35 points in the second half.  Number 1 seed Benet won its fourth regional in the past five years with a 57-33 win over the eighth-seeded Warriors.
Benet's next game is on Tuesday, March 11 against fourth-seeded Hinsdale Central, who defeated Hinsdale South 63-47 in the regional semifinals and Naperville Central 53-51 in the regional championship.  The game is one of two East Aurora Sectional semifinals, and the winner of this game will face the winner of West Aurora and Geneva.

Benet Beats JCA in Wild Weekend

“The Original March Madness” began 8 days early this year, and this weekend of basketball was absolutely spectacular.  Seeds for the IHSA State Tournament, which begins on March 3, were released on Thursday, and the playoff brackets were released Friday.  On Friday, #1 Curie outlasted #3 Whitney Young by a score of 69-66 in four overtimes to win the Chicago Public League tournament championship in a game that saw the Condors blow a six point lead in the final 30 seconds of regulation.  That same night saw a double overtime contest between #2 Stevenson and #15 Lake Forest.  Lake Forest forward Evan Boudreaux scored 43 points, but Stevenson junior point guard Jalen Brunson, who already has five Big Ten offers, scored a school-record 56 points.  Lake Forest hit a game-tying shot with three seconds left in regulation to force overtime and then tied the game again with 16 seconds remaining in the first overtime.  However, a Brunson runner with six seconds left in the second overtime put the Patriots up 95-93 and proved to be the dagger for Stevenson. 

Neither team had any time to rest, as Stevenson played #6 Simeon on Saturday, and Lake Forest played #4 Marian Catholic.  The Patriots were able to defeat Simeon 65-56 in a rematch of last year’s IHSA Class 4A State Championship.  Stevenson trailed in the second half, but a personal 8-0 by junior guard Connor Cashaw put Stevenson up 42-36, and Stevenson led the rest of the way.

Lake Forest, however, could not keep pace with Marian Catholic and fell 67-63.  Marian senior point guard Tyler Ulis, who has committed to play at Kentucky, scored 35 of a career-high 42 points in the second half.  Lake Forest led by one with just over one minute remaining, but Ulis scored seven points in the final 55 seconds to seal the game for the Spartans.  A heartbreaking weekend for Lake Forest ended with two losses by a combined six points to teams whose combined record is 49-3.

And now back to the East Aurora Sectional in which Benet is the #1 seed.  On Friday, Glenbard North upset #5-seeded Naperville Central to force a three-way tie in the DuPage Valley Conference.  West Aurora, the third team in the first-place tie, kept pace with a 50-38 win over Wheaton North.  The following day, #2-seeded West Aurora survived an upset-minded #9-seed Naperville North 42-40 in overtime.  Senior guard Jontrell Walker scored a game-high 24 points, and junior Tommy Koth hit a game-winning layup with 1.2 seconds left in overtime.  Naperville Central responded with a blowout win over Wheaton North, and #10-seeded Plainfield East surprised #7-seed Neuqua Valley 61-58.  Lastly, Benet pulled away from Joliet Catholic in the second half and won 72-46.  The Redwings led 25-24 in the second quarter before a 41-10 run put the game out of reach.

Benet’s final regular season game is on Wednesday, February 26 at home against Carmel.  A win in this game guarantees at least a third-place finish in the East Suburban Catholic Conference behind conference champion Marian Catholic and St. Viator.

Benet, as noted earlier, is the #1 seed in the East Aurora Sectional, followed by West Aurora, Bolingbrook, Hinsdale Central, and Naperville Central.  The Redwings face the winner of Lemont High School and Oswego East on Tuesday, March 4 in the regional semifinal, and would then play the winner of Naperville North and #8-seed Waubonsie Valley in the Lemont Regional championship.  Looking farther ahead, Benet would likely face the winner of Hinsdale Central and Naperville Central in the sectional semifinal, and then the winner of West Aurora and either Bolingbrook or Geneva in the East Aurora Sectional final.  West Aurora has won the last two sectional championships, including a 42-38 upset of Benet last year.  If the Redwings survive their sectional, Benet would face #1-seed York, beaten earlier in the season by the Redwings, or #2-seed Proviso East for a chance to go to the State Final Four.  The other teams ‘downstate’ would likely be Marian Catholic, Stevenson, and one of the Chicago Public League powers, Curie, Whitney Young, or Simeon.  Because of their geographical proximity, only one of Chicago’s three top basketball schools can win a sectional championship.

Benet Uses Second Half Surge to Blow out Nazareth

The Benet boys' varsity basketball team defeated Nazareth Academy 66-45 on Friday, February 14 to improve its record to 16-7 overall and 4-2 in the East Suburban Catholic Conference.  Neither team was able to take control of the game early in front of two enormous student sections spurred on by a war of words on Twitter throughout the week.  The Redwings and Roadrunners traded baskets for most of the first half, and Benet took a 23-21 lead into halftime.  However, the Redwings scored 28 points in the third quarter and extended their lead to 51-40 at the end of the quarter.  Nazareth hit a three-pointer to start the fourth quarter, but Benet responded with a 13-0 run that put the game out of reach.  Sean O'Mara, who led all scorers with 25 points and exceeded 1500 points for his career, had several consecutive dunks and layups in that run, including one 'and-one' dunk that ignited the Benet crowd.  The Redwings held the rival Roadrunners to two points in the last 7:30 of the game and won their third consecutive ESCC game.
Benet's next game is on Tuesday at home against Wheaton Academy.  The game is Senior Night for the Redwings.