Off to a somewhat surprising 9-3 start heading into the 2015 calendar year, Benet has gotten back to what it knows so well.
Defense.
Defending at a high-rate clip, which had seen eight straight opponents not reach 50 points, the ease and rate Fenwick scored at to tally 27 first-half points Saturday night definitely raised eyebrows.
Adjusting defensively in the second half while getting offensive production from several sources, Benet overcame a 13-point halftime deficit to get Fenwick into overtime before a pair of Friars, Mike Smith and Mike Ballard, took over.
Smith and Ballard, who combined for 37 of the Friars’ 62 points, combined to put forth 12 of the 15 points Fenwick (11-4) scored in the extra session to help Fenwick pull out a 62-60 victory in overtime in Lisle.
“(Coach Rick Malnati) actually called out that play for me, so it was a play that I knew I was going to come off (a screen) and I was pretty sure I was going to make it,” Ballard, who scored 17 points, said of his fifth three-pointer of the game, which opened up the scoring in the overtime as the Friars would never trail in the four-minute extra session.
Allowing its first opponent to reach 50 points in a game since Naperville Central scored 56 points in an overtime game on Nov. 28, 2014, Benet (9-4) hasn’t allowed an opponent to score 50 points in regulation since Neuqua Valley scored 60 points on Nov. 26, 2014.
While not happy with how his team played defensively in the first half, that fact is something Benet coach Gene Heidkamp can take some solace in.
“It’d be a better story if we had come back and won the game, but to come back and tie it a few times, I think it says a little bit about our (team). I think there’s some character in our locker room,” Heidkamp said. “So you’re never happy to lose, but also obviously I think our kids showed something, some resolve that they being down 15 at the start of the third quarter against a very good team, I think it says a little bit something about the way they fought back and got to where the game was a few times and in overtime.”
Heidkamp can also take some solace in the effort he got from his senior star, Colin Bonnett.
Bonnett, coming off earning A.C. Williamson Award honors at the Pontiac Holiday Tournament, tallied a game-high 25 points while only playing the last three quarters and the OT.
Bonnett hit five three-pointers while also coming through with one big shot after another to try and get the Redwings back in the game.
Bonnett’s final nine points in regulation, including a game-tying shot with 37 seconds left in regulation to tie the game at 47-47, helped bring the Redwings all the way back from a 15-point, third-quarter deficit.
His three 3-pointers in overtime all got Benet to within one score, but it wasn’t enough to overcome a balanced offensive night from Fenwick, which got double-digit scoring games from Smith, Ballard and sophomore Jacob Keller.
“He played great. He played great down the stretch, didn’t he?” Heidkamp said. “How about that? I want you to talk about that. He played really well, so I think that’s the story.”
Danny Sobolewski scored 12 points for the Redwings, who got seven points apiece from James Dockery and Sean Gerken.
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