Benet ends its regular season with a statement victory at Marist to win the ESCC
Benet senior guard Jayden Wright knows it is a waste of energy to worry about the outside noise. There isn’t any point in spending time reading and listening about how good everyone thinks the Redwings are this season.
“We are just trying to stay within ourselves and not put pressure on ourselves and have fun,” Wright said. “We are trying our best to tune it out.”
That is going to get a lot harder for Wright and his teammates over the next week. The top-ranked Redwings are playing the best basketball the area has seen since Glenbard West in 2022.
Benet knocked off No. 11 Marist 77-68 on Tuesday in Chicago to win the East Suburban Catholic Conference.
“They are better than I even thought,” RedHawks coach Brian Hynes said. “They have so many weapons. Our kids played hard. They are the best in the state and hopefully we can see them again in Champaign.”
Wright scored 17 points and 7-1 senior Colin Stack led with 23 points and seven rebounds. Ed Stasys, a 6-8 junior, added 16 points and 12 rebounds.
High school guards often have trouble feeding big men in the post. That’s not a problem for Benet.
“Every single year our chemistry has gotten better,” Wright said. “Especially now. I feel like I know right where [Stack] is going to be, and I can throw it up for him to dunk it. We have grown a really great connection over these three years.”
Stack’s dunk at the second quarter buzzer gave Benet a 35-33 lead at halftime. The Redwings (29-1, 8-0) opened the second half with a 13-1 burst to take control of the game.
Marist senior Charles Barnes Jr. scored 22 points in the second half and finished with 33. Barnes made three three-pointers in the final two minutes to keep the RedHawks (25-5, 5-2) within striking distance.
“He’s a great player,” Benet coach Gene Heidkamp said. “He is everything we thought he was. And he never quits. He keeps going. Luckily, we made enough plays on the offensive end to have a buffer.”
Wright, an Eastern Illinois recruit, has a unique combination of stability and creativity as a point guard. He’s a handful for defenses to worry about all on his own and this season he has two skilled big men to utilize and several talented guards around him, including 6-5 junior Perry Tchiegne (seven points) and 6-3 Ethan Mac Dermot (14 points).
“[Stasys] changes the game in a lot of ways people don’t realize,” Stack said. “He has such a great motor, and he defends at a high level.”
Junior Kendall Meyers finished with 17 points and seven rebounds for Marist.
“It is nice to have a kid like Barnes that can hit it from the volleyball line three times late in the game when you are down,” Hynes said. “The problem for us is our best games are more balanced scoring.”
Benet is the top seed in the Class 4A Bolingbrook Sectional and the overwhelming favorite to repeat as state champions. But Heidkamp has seen the big favorite lose many times. It happened to him before.
“We know how hard it is to win a state title,” Heidkamp said. “Last year we had five losses and we were the three seed in the sectinal and we won the state championship. You have to be ready for every game.”
This is the last year of the ESCC, which is merging with the Catholic League next season.
“It is pretty emotional,” Heidkamp said. “I coached in this league for 33 years. I played in this league. It is the only league I have ever known. I was disappointed when the decision was made [to merge].
“But I’m really proud of our kids. This was a good way to end it if it had to end. We had to beat St. Pat’s at St. Pat’s and Marist at Marist. Our kids showed a lot of heart.”