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Benet advances past Hinsdale South

As much as Benet coach Gene Heidkamp appreciated the 15 points junior Liam Lyman scored Tuesday night, Heidkamp really admired Lyman's defense.

It was that help defense that helped the top-seeded Redwings secure a 60-43 victory over No. 4 Hinsdale South at the Class 4A East Aurora sectional semifinals.

Lyman hit two key 3-pointers in the third quarter to help Benet pull away from the Hornets, three for the game. But Heidkamp went out of his way to praise Lyman's defense on Hornets 6-foot-10 center Barret Benson, a Northwestern recruit.

"One of the most important things if not the most important was his defense on the other end," Heidkamp said.

"Defensively, coach Heidkamp gave us a great game plan and we executed perfectly," Lyman said. "They just kept trying to get it in to Benson, and that was our main priority, to not let him get the ball in good position and when he got it to get the ball out of his hands."

Dan Sobolewski, a 6-3 senior, had the primary defensive assignment on Benson in the Redwings' man-to-man defense, but the 6-4 Lyman's job was to sag off his man and onto Benson.

"We missed a couple of shots," Hornets coach Brett Moore said. "They hit some. Offensively, we are limited. We played hard. We just couldn't get some shots to fall and defensively they made a couple of big plays on us, hit a couple of outside shots. Once they get up 5 or 6 points it's tough to stay in the game with them."

Benet (28-3) got up by 6 at the end of the first quarter, but Hinsdale South (22-10) took a brief lead in the second before Sean McCormack's shot at the buzzer tied the game going into halftime.

"Defensively, we were playing awesome in the second quarter," Moore said. "And then we were up 18-7 or 17-9, something like that, in rebounds. We were forcing them into tough shots and really rotating well on defense. I was real happy with the second quarter, obviously, getting into the game."

The third quarter turned Benet's way at the start, with the Redwings scoring the first 6 points. The lead was 9 going to the fourth quarter after James Dockery fed Jack Nolan for a 3-pointer.

"We just got in the flow and we started worked really well together. We started getting to the basket more," Lyman said.

"We were more aggressive offensively," Heidkamp added. "We continued to battle on defense and we got to the basket a little bit more. We made some shots that we were struggling to make in the first half. We got to our shots in a more traditional way that we normally do. We were a little bit more unselfish a little bit more aggressive. The first half we kind of shot quickly in possessions and we didn't move the ball real well."

Despite foul trouble Dockery finished the game with a 10-point fourth quarter, putting the lead in double digits with a 3-pointer to open the period. He totaled 18 points.

"He played like a senior that wanted to advance tonight," Heidkamp said.

The Redwings connected on 10 of 12 shots at the free-throw line, all in the fourth quarter, to extend the lead down the stretch.

Jason Malonga added 14 for Benet.

Benson finished his senior season with 18 points and 11 rebounds.

Follow Orrin on Twitter @Orrin_Schwarz

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