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Benet hangs on to beat West Aurora

The proud boys basketball programs from West Aurora and Benet Academy met Saturday for the first time since colliding in the Class 4A Bolingbrook sectional final in 2013, but the afternoon game at Batavia's Jim and Sylvia Roberts Night of Hoops took on an entirely different complexion than the last clash.

Benet came away with a 78-72 victory in a game fraught with defensive lapses, whereas West Aurora prevailed 42-38 three years ago in a game characterized by stingy defense.

The Redwings (19-3) blitzed the Blackhawks (6-14) with 43 first-half points, powered by 9-of-13 shooting from 3-point range. Senior James Dockery and juniors Jack Nolan and Liam Lyman each netted a pair from long range before intermission.

West Aurora's young lineup, less than 24 hours removed from a stirring victory over rival East Aurora, refused to give into the Daily Herald's No. 2-ranked team.

The Blackhawks used pressure defense to spark their transition game, and they benefitted from hard-earned inside buckets from sophomore Camron Donatlan and juniors Davion Cross and DaQuan Cross. West Aurora outscored the Redwings 21-12 in the third quarter to cut its halftime deficit from 18 points to 9.

The Blackhawks then opened the fourth quarter on a 10-4 run that featured a pair of Donatlan buckets, highlighted by a breakaway dunk off a steal. DaQuan Cross' shot from the lane sliced Benet's lead to 59-56 midway through the final period.

"They played really hard, they pressured the ball well and they forced us into some turnovers that they scored off," Benet coach Gene Heidkamp said. "They did a really good job of attacking us off the dribble. I think they gained more and more confidence as the half wore on and they played really, really well."

West Aurora would pull no closer, however. Nolan drilled his fourth 3-pointer to restore the Benet lead to 6 and senior Jason Malonga's conventional three-point play upped the lead to 9.

"It was a good second half," West Aurora coach Brian Johnson said. "Unfortunately, the first half was slow. We just didn't play hard enough on the defensive end of the floor. We had to pressure a little bit more and I thought once we amped up the pressure, we caused some issues for them. But we can't be a one-half team, we can't be a one-quarter team. We have to be a full four-quarter team."

The Redwings sank 12 of 16 free throws in the final three minutes to remain in the lead. Senior James Dockery made 4 of those free throws to finish with a game-high 22 points. He was more concerned afterward with how many points the Redwings allowed rather than how many they scored.

Donatlan led the Blackhawks with 22 points and 9 rebounds, junior Caleb Siler scored 16 points and Davion Cross and Daquan Cross each contributed 10 points.

Senior Dan Sobolewski finished with 16 points and 6 rebounds, Nolan added 15 points and Malonga had 8 for Benet.

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