Benet rolls past Barrington, Naperville North beats undefeated Geneva in the Hinkle Holiday Classic semis
Benet became the favorite to win this year’s Hinkle Holiday Classic as soon as the field was announced. It’s the first year in the tournament for the Redwings and the defending Class 4A state champions brought a higher profile to the tournament, which has been hosted by Jacobs High School in Algonquin for the past 24 years.
No. 7 Benet has lived up to expectations so far and had no trouble in the semifinals, knocking off Barrington 72-43 in a running-clock victory on Tuesday.
Jayden Wright and Colin Stack each scored 12 points in limited minutes, and Aidan Renicker added 11 off the bench for the Redwings.
It’s been a busy, successful December for Benet, which won three games on a trip to Philadelphia and will play for the tournament title at Jacobs on Saturday, all before heading to the prestigious Pontiac Holiday Tournament on Dec. 29.
“We aren’t tired at all,” Redwings senior Aidan Renicker said. “Philadelphia was a great experience, seeing the city and playing some different teams there. I’ve been earning mor minutes so that feels good.”
Benet (12-1) jumped out to a quick lead against Barrington (6-5) and went to the bench often.
“When you play this many games in a short period, you have to test your depth,” Redwings coach Gene Heidkamp said. “We are going to need some of the guys later in the season and they have to play minutes that matter to get better.”
While Benet was expected to reach the championship game, its opponent, Naperville North, is a surprise. The Huskies handed Geneva its first loss of the season in a 56-45 victory on Tuesday.
The Huskies (12-2) returned all five starters from last season, are unselfish and have multiple scoring threats. But 6-3 senior Will Harvey adds another dimension to the team.
Harvey is a no frills type player. He doesn’t pose with the ball or take unnecessary dribbles in the post. He’s instantly moving the ball on to a teammate.
“[Harvey] is a tough kid,” Naperville North coach Gene Nolan said. “He loves to rebound. Even when he can’t get it himself, he gets his hands on it for tap outs to extend a possession for us. He did a great job with that in the second half.”
Harvey played much taller than his height against the Vikings and finished with four points and 10 rebounds.
“I understand my role,” Harvey said. “It’s to help the big-game potential guys do well. Carson [Loughlin], Miles [Okyne], Max [Steele], Jack [Zitko]. My job is to feed them the ball in good spots. That’s going to benefit us overall.”
Okyne led the Huskies with 18 points and seven rebounds. Zitko scored 15 and Loughlin had 12 points and 10 rebounds.
“We may have been overlooked heading into the tournament,” Okyne said. “It happens. We are happy we got the opportunity to come out here and show people what we are about. We’ve been on a run and shooting really well. That wasn’t the case at the start of the season, so things have evened out.”
Nathan Palmer led Geneva (10-1) with 16 points and freshman Cody Rader scored 12 off the bench.
Benet and Naperville North will play for the tournament championship on Saturday at 7:30.