Benet advances past host Pontiac at tournament

PONTIAC - Benet boys basketball coach Gene Heidkamp employed the word "prestigious" Tuesday night.

The Redwings had returned to central Illinois to participate in the famed Pontiac Holiday Tournament, the very first of its kind in the nation.

After a decade-plus absence, Benet returned to the fold last year and made a run to the championship game of the 16-team field.

The Redwings were not very kind to the host Indians.

Only two of the eight first-round games were played on Monday after a vicious ice team essentially brought the central Illinois community to its knees.

The situation was exacerbated on Tuesday by widespread flooding in the area, a contributing factor to yet another power outage.

But when the two teams met more than 24 hours later than expected, it was all Benet as the Redwings pitched a first-quarter shutout en route to a 52-22 victory.

James Dockery and Matthew Teglia combined for the first 5 points of the second quarter to extend the Redwings' game-opening run to 18 points.

The Indians' Cam Brown finally broke the run with a baseline jumper, but the Redwings only responded with a 14-5 quarter-closing run to extend the lead to 32-7 at halftime.

It gave Heidkamp the luxury of giving non-starters some minutes.

"We have really good players who don't get a chance to play a lot," Heidkamp said.

"We just try and keep our defensive intensity as high as possible," said reserve guard Kevin Doyle.

"It's great to be with all the guys and get in there," Matt DeBroeck said.

"The way all the townspeople come out to see us play is pretty cool," Danny Sullivan said.

Benet starters Jack Nolan and Liam Lyman ended the first half in spectacular style for the Redwings, who won for the eighth time in nine games.

Nolan hit a deep baseline 3-pointer with less than a second to play to seemingly cap the first two quarters in almost flawless fashion for Benet.

But the Redwings forced an inbounds violation, and Lyman scored at the buzzer to give Benet a 32-7 lead at the break.

The Redwings will face Joliet West, also once beaten, in the fourth quarterfinal Wednesday.

For perhaps the first time in history the tournament will be four days.

Adamant to retain the old Class AA format of semifinal and championship on the same day, Pontiac officials believe the revised schedule will suggest a late afternoon championship on New Year's Eve.

Lyman and Daniel Sobelewski scored 9 points apiece to lead Benet.

Brown paced Pontiac (4-8) with a game-high 11.

"They're very disciplined," Brandon Martin said of Benet.