Experience is what you get when you don’t want it.
Fortunately for Benet, it has Danny Sobolewski.
Sobolewski’s 18 points helped top-seeded Benet escape a game effort from 17th-seeded Willowbrook with a 56-46 victory on Tuesday in a Class 4A Benet Regional Semifinal.
Playing in his 10th career postseason game, dating back to playing on the Redwings’ Class 4A runner-up team in 2013-14 as a sophomore, Sobolewski scored 11 of his 18 in the second half.
“We came out, played a little bit scared – a lot more than I would have liked,” Sobolewski said. “But down the stretch – especially in the second half – the team was looking for the seniors, me and (James) Dockery to make plays. And I think whenever we needed a play, we did whatever we could to help our team win.”
While Sobolewski had a double-digit scoring effort in the second half for Benet (26-3), which moves on to play either Naperville Central or Wheaton Warrenville South Friday, Dockery had a similar tale.
Saddled with foul trouble in the second quarter, Dockery notched 14 of his game-high 21 points in the second half as Willowbrook and Benet went back-and-forth.
“Seniors really stepped up,” Benet coach Gene Heidkamp said. “The story of the game for us was that our seniors made big plays down the stretch. They’ve been through it, like I’ve said before, and in crunch time – those guys made really big plays. So that was the story of the game for us.
“Willowbrook is a nice team and they’re playing really well. And they have young kids that really grew up through the course of the season and they’re playing at a high level. So that’s a good game for us to get through and I give Willowbrook a lot of credit.”
After watching the lead exchange hands eight times while being tied three times in the first half, the start of the second half provided much of the same.
The third quarter saw the lead change five times as the pesky Warriors did what they could to stay with the Redwings.
After a Neal Paxton triple with 2:42 left in the third gave Willowbrook a 30-29 lead, Dockery followed with a bucket 18 seconds later.
Benet would never trail again on its way to claiming its 11th straight victory – using a 9-1 run to turn a 37-35 lead into a 46-36 advantage with 3:10 left to play in regulation.
“I was playing confident out there,” Sobolewski said. “I’ve been through it before. I just didn’t want my career to end. If we lose, we’re done and that’s really all that was on my mind. I want to keep playing with this team. I want to keep playing with the guys in the locker room and I did all I could to help us out.”
As the Redwings look to secure a fifth regional title since 2009-10 with a victory on Friday, memories of their loss to York a year ago and their struggles shooting the basketball on Tuesday will be fresh.
Willowbrook forced Benet to shoot just 17.6 percent from the three-point line as it made only three of the 17 triples it attempted as a team.
More problematic moving forward for the Redwings could be the fact they shot 19-of-33 at the charity stripe.
But with an experienced group featuring seniors Sobolewski, Dockery and Jason Malonga, Heidkamp doesn’t seem too fazed.
“I think we were fortunate,” Heidkamp said. “We didn’t shoot the ball well from the perimeter. We didn’t shoot the ball well from the free-throw line. We missed some easy layups right around the basket, But – at the end of the day – we made enough plays to advance against a good team.
“So, overall, I feel all right about the effort and we know we’re going to have to play better. But we also give Willowbrook a lot of credit. They really made the game the way that it was.”
Ethan Schuemer paced the Warriors with 12 points.
