Hinsdale South's Benson becoming a big-time player

If it seems like Barret Benson gets better as the season moves along, he is.

Hinsdale South's 6-foot-10 junior center is becoming more and more comfortable with his teammates, most of whom are new to the varsity level this season. Benson, on the other hand, is a third-year starter regarded as one of the state's top players in his class and is ranked nationally.

He recently garnered a scholarship offer from Illinois to add to a list that includes DePaul, Indiana, Kansas State, Loyola, Northwestern, Purdue and others. The way Benson's playing, it's a list that's bound to grow.

"The chemistry's been helping a lot," Benson said. "They've been making the effort to get it inside, get it inside and just play off that. It's been really fun."

After a dominant January, Benson boosted his scoring average to 19.6 points and his rebounding to 10.6 a game. He's posted 36-point games twice and scored 31 of his team's 40 points in a win over Downers Grove South. Saturday against Willowbrook he had 29 points and 18 rebounds.

Before dropping a pair of West Suburban Gold games last weekend, Benson's spirited play helped the Hornets (11-11, 4-4) win five of their previous six games.

The Hornets look to add to their win total in a third matchup against Downers South on Friday.

"He's made some plays that aren't even basketball plays, they're body plays," said Hinsdale South coach Brett Moore. "He's grown into his body, and he's knocking down that jumper he's been working on. He just keeps getting better and better. He's going over 25 points and 15 rebounds just about every night."

Rebounding:

Since winning seven straight games at the end of December, it's been an up-and-down handful of weeks for Addison Trail. The Blazers (14-5, 4-3 West Suburban Gold) have gone 4-4 in their last eight games, including a split of last weekend's games against Willowbrook and Lake View.

The Blazers lost 76-73 in overtime to Willowbrook, their second loss to their District 88 rival. True to their identity all season, though, the Blazers bounced back to pound Lake View 55-34 the next night.

"Our guys don't have a problem refocusing after a loss," said Addison Trail coach Brendan Lyons. "The Willowbrook game was a great atmosphere. Who knows? Maybe we'll get another shot at them."

Addison Trail's resiliency comes from a cohesive group headed by senior captains Taylor White and Matt Gontarek. This season's addition of Jaavion Bradley, a football standout who didn't play basketball last year, has been a tremendous boost at both ends of the court.

Toss in juniors coming up from a 17-win sophomore team, and it's not surprising Addison Trail handed Gold-leading Morton its lone conference loss a couple weeks ago. The Blazers need to beat Leyden on Friday to stay within reach of the Mustangs.

Bradley injured his ankle in the Willowbrook loss and didn't play against Lake View. Lyons hopes to have the senior guard back in the lineup on Friday.

"The wins have been great, but win or lose I can't say there's been a game this year where I haven't been proud of the kids," Lyons said. "They just work so hard."

Back in purple:

He may have signed a letter of intent on Wednesday to play football at Wisconsin, but there's still plenty of basketball left in Downers Grove North senior David Edwards.

The 6-foot-7 post player is in his third year on varsity. He missed the early part of the season with lingering football injuries, but he's been contributing since making his season debut in mid-December. Edwards is even back in the starting lineup and presents a physical inside combination with 6-6 Matt Mahlke.

"We felt like when we were healthy we could play with anyone," said Trojans coach Jim Thomas. "I think we're seeing that now."

The Trojans (12-7, 2-6 West Suburban Silver) recently won eight straight games - their longest streak since 2001 - behind leading scorers Devin Blake and Jordon Kedrowski, who have combined to average 22 points a game.

As well as they've been playing, though, the Trojans had some lingering issues pop up during last weekend's consecutive Silver road losses to Proviso West and Lyons Twp. that ended the winning streak. They endured three quarters of single-digit scoring and committed a combined 38 turnovers in the two games.

Even with last weekend's setback, Thomas believes his team's best days are still ahead.

"We were disappointed we didn't show well on the road last weekend, but overall we're pleased with where we're headed," Thomas said.

Leading by example:

Until Tuesday victories had been too few for West Chicago. Attitude and leadership, however, has remained constant.

"The spirit of this group has been good and remains good," said Wildcats coach Bill Recchia, whose team beat Glenbard North 59-52 in overtime on Tuesday to end a six-game skid.

"It's really a good group of boys," he said. "They work hard, they're learning, starting to learn the game of basketball."

Recchia said West Chicago (6-13, 3-7 Upstate Eight River) has been right there in 16 of its 19 games. There is no shame in two of those six losses in the recent span, to St. Charles East and Geneva - a combined 38-4 entering Thursday.

Typically outsized with only junior swingman Quinn Ricci and sophomore forward Devonte Pascal at 6-foot-3, the Wildcats also have switched conferences each of the last three years, from the DuPage Valley to the UEC Valley to the UEC River, among the area's toughest leagues this season.

Sole senior Alex Mitchell, a 6-2 forward, came off a solid football season to lend leadership to his younger teammates. Recchia also sees on-the-court leadership by example.

Peter Dolan, a 5-9 junior guard, leads the Wildcats in rebounds, assists, and with 42 steals has twice the number of his next-closest teammate. Tai Bibbs has more assists than turnovers, not bad for a sophomore point guard in the Upstate Eight.

"The charge that Devonte Pascal took in overtime (against Glenbard North) - you want to talk about leadership, there's a sophomore sliding over to take a charge. That's leadership. The shot (junior) Mikey Bibbs hit for the game-winner - that's leadership," Recchia said.

"I was happy to see the team that I have come to know over the course of the season was back," the coach said.