In the seven years he has spent at the helm of the Benet basketball program, Gene Heidkamp has had just one losing season.
Since taking over for Marty Gaughan before the 2008-09 season, Heidkamp’s only losing season has come in his first in 2009 as the Redwings went 12-15 while taking top-seeded Neuqua Valley, the eventual Oswego East Sectional winner, to overtime in a 2009 Class 4A Batavia Regional Semifinal as a No. 17 seed.
From there, while the names have constantly changed, from the likes of Frank Kaminsky, David Sobolewski, Matt Parisi, Pat McInerney, Sean O’Mara and Colin Bonnett, the results haven’t changed much at all.
Home victories last weekend over Nazareth and Hoffman Estates pushed the Redwings’ record to 20-6, with road games against Marian Central and Carmel left before the state tournament commences.
A measure of pure consistency, the Redwings have won 20 games in six consecutive seasons and have an opportunity to reach another milestone with two more victories this season.
Two more victories would give Heidkamp’s program 150 victories over the course of the last six seasons, which has been highlighted by sectional titles in 2010 and 2014 and a sectional final appearance in 2013.
“It’d be a nice accomplishment for our kids, especially with this group of guys that I don’t know if much was expected from them coming in and I think they’ve certainly represented themselves well and represented our program well,” Heidkamp said. “So to be 20-6 at this point, I think, is a nice accomplishment. But we hope it’s not the end. We hope we got some wins left in the tank here coming up.”
For the guys left from last season’s 25-win team that went all the way to the Class 4A state title game, led by the exploits of O’Mara, the program’s all-time leading scorer, the sixth straight 20-win season means a lot.
“I mean, I almost don’t know how to explain it. Every year, even last year going into it, we’ve heard from a couple people we weren’t going to be that great,” Bonnett said. “Same thing coming into this year. We weren’t supposed to be that great. When I was a sophomore, it’s kind of the same story. Every year they tell us, ‘This might be the year it falls off.’ But, you know, between the coaching staff we have here and all the kids that have come through this program, I just don’t see (a fall off). I don’t know if it will ever fall off.
“I mean, the way Coach (Heidkamp) coaches and from every team I’ve been on, every kid on the floor would play, give 100 percent every time they step on the floor. Everyone, whether it’s people in the stands, you know. We get great support from our student section, you know, parents, stuff like that. It’s just kind of the community and the program as a whole. I think it’s more than just 20-win seasons and stuff like that.”
Bonnett’s game-high 22 points on his Senior Night helped ensure a 56-49 victory over Hoffman Estates on Saturday, a night after James Dockery and Cameron Graves combined to score 29 points in a 23-point triumph over Nazareth.
Currently on a nine-game winning streak, Benet hasn’t lost in nearly a month amidst finding itself in the thick of the East Suburban Catholic Conference race.
Its last loss came on Jan. 19 in a semifinal of the 2015 Wheaton Warrenville South MLK Tournament as it dropped a 61-52 decision to Champaign Central, coached by former Illinois standout Sergio McClain.
The Redwings responded mere hours later by beating the host Tigers in the third-place game, 71-62, in overtime.
While no one was sure what 2014-15 would bring, especially considering the fact it would be the first time neither Kaminsky or O’Mara would be residing in the post since Heidkamp’s first at Benet in 2008-09, perhaps no one should be surprised at what the Bonnett-led group has done.
“I think we found a chemistry and we found things that work for us. I think we found our strengths and I think we use our strengths very well,” Graves said. “We play very well as a team. A lot of teams that play well like that usually find a way to win no matter what, no matter if you’re shooting well or not. So I think we use that to our advantage. We rebound very well and I think that’s one of our biggest keys. We play defense and we rebound. Even when there’s games where we don’t shoot well, we get the boards and we find a way to score.”
