Boys Basketball: Benet pulls away from Joliet Catholic

Updated: January 13, 2012 10:56PM

Friday’s East Suburban Catholic contest in Lisle featured a team expected to win in Benet against a team building from the ground up in Joliet Catholic. Not surprisingly, the Redwings (12-4, 1-1) got the better of the matchup with a 62-35 win.

Benet senior John Enochs (game-high 20 points) led four Redwings scorers in double figures while making six three-pointers. Griffin Hanekamp and Pat McInerney each scored 11 and Joe Schuesler added 10. From that group, only McInerney — a junior who also grabbed six rebounds and made three steals — is an underclassman.

“When we’re going against the zone, it’s a lot easier to get our feet set (to shoot),” Enochs said. “If we get it inside to the guy in the middle and the guy in the short corner, it opens it up a lot for the guys on the perimeter to get their feet set and knock down shots.”

The Hillmen (4-11, 0-3) on the other hand fielded a roster comprised entirely of juniors and saw just one player hit double figures, with Ryan Peter scoring 18. He made three three-pointers and shot 5-of-6 from the free-throw line.

Keith Craig scored eight to go with a team-high four rebounds and three steals. Unfortunately for Craig, all of his points came in the first half.

Benet outrebounded Joliet Catholic by a 26-11 margin. Redwings sophomore Sean O’Mara (five assists, three steals, three points and two blocks) grabbed eight rebounds all by himself.

Benet used its pressure defense to create plenty of scoring opportunities early. The Redwings grabbed a 9-0 lead, but held a tenuous 11-9 advantage after one quarter. Behind Peter’s eight first-half points, the Hillmen cut the deficit to 13-11 to force a Benet timeout.

From there, Benet regrouped and took a 30-14 lead on a Schuesler three-pointer. By halftime, the Redwings again held a comfortable 32-21 edge.

Peter again stepped up in the second half for Joliet Catholic, getting to the line six times and hitting a two and a three. The Hillmen crept to within seven at 32-25 early in the third.

“I was feeling comfortable,” Peter said. “I got my rhythm in warmups and felt like I had a pretty good shot down. I just told my teammates after I hit a couple ones I’d just come for the ball, see what I could do, get to the basket, draw some fouls and look for my teammates when they were open.”

And again, Benet responded to the Joliet Catholic run with a spurt of its own — and a little luck. Schuesler’s second three of the night hit the front of the rim, bounced straight up and settled in the basket to make it 42-26.

Hanekamp converted a conventional three-point play to give the Redwings a 52-34 advantage and back-to-back three-pointers by Enochs made it a 58-34 game. The game was never in doubt the rest of the way.

“They have a lot of weapons,” Joliet Catholic coach Joe Gura said. “They’re not ranked in the Chicagoland area for nothing.

“We had to devise a defense that would take away the high-low, the low and the jump shot, and it’s pretty tough — and we were a little undersized. But I thought my kids did a really good job defensively and made them work. I thought the game turned when we didn’t handle the ball as well as we could have.”

Thirteen Benet steals helped create 18 Hillmen turnovers.

Gura said overall he was pleased with his team and its effort, despite the loss. Only two of his players return from last year’s squad and most played for a three-win sophomore team.

For Benet, the game helped erase memories of last Friday’s overtime loss at home to Carmel.

“I think it shows a lot of the character of the kids that are coming off a disappointing loss (and) are able to bounce back and play with a lot of intensity,” Benet coach Gene Heidkamp said. “Defensively, I thought they were very active early in the game and they stepped up and shot with confidence.”

© 2012 Sun-Times Media, LLC. All rights reserved. This material may not be copied or distributed without permission. For more information about reprints and permissions, visit www.suntimesreprints.com. To order a reprint of this article, click here.