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.
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