No-name Benet squad true to its word
DEKALB - Scant hours after Benet's boys basketball team lost the 2014 state title game, Redwings coach Gene Heidkamp received a text from Dan Sobolewski, a sophomore that season and a key contributor off the bench.
"He told me that we were going to make it back down there before he graduated," Heidkamp said.
True to Sobolewski's word, Benet is bound for Peoria for the second time in three years.
The Redwings (30-3) beat Joliet West (21-10) 67-59 in Tuesday's Class 4A Northern Illinois University supersectional in DeKalb to advance to the state semifinals at Peoria's Carver Arena. Benet faces perennial power Simeon at 8:15 p.m. Friday.
What a difference two years make.
As the Redwings demonstrated again while avenging a December loss to Joliet West in the Pontiac Holiday Tournament, this is a team unlike most that make the state's Final Four. It's certainly unlike recent Benet teams.
Two years ago the Redwings leaned heavily on 6-foot-10 center Sean O'Mara, now at Xavier. O'Mara and his teammates went toe-to-toe with Whitney Young's Jahlil Okafor, now on the Philadelphia 76ers, before losing 46-44 in the 4A final.
It was a tough loss that stayed with Sobolewski - and the program - for a long time.
"Once we reached the playoffs that season, we had one of the best three big men in the state," Sobolewski said. "A lot of people expected us to get down there. It was sweet, don't get me wrong. But this feeling can't be topped.
"We have five guys who probably aren't going to play Division I basketball, who just play together and believe in each other," he said. "I couldn't be more proud to be part of this group of guys."
It's a group of guys that can't function as anything other than a group of guys.
With no superstar this team still matched the program record for wins in a season with Tuesday's victory. It's truly remarkable what the Redwings have accomplished against a top-notch schedule.
There's nothing close to the Frank Kaminsky-Dave Sobolewski combo the Redwings rode while busting out to a 29-0 record in 2011. Kaminsky wound up in the Final Four at Wisconsin and is now on the Charlotte Hornets. Sobolewski had a four-year career at Northwestern.
This year's team? You might not know any of them without a game program.
The entire starting lineup averages between 10 and 12 points a game, which proved to be the Redwings' strength against Joliet West. Sobolewski, Jason Malonga, James Dockery and Jack Nolan each scored between 13 and 16 points. Liam Lyman scored 8 on a team that went only six deep with Justin Enochs coming off the bench.
Joliet West closed to within 60-55 with 1:57 left, but Benet - like it's done all season - closed strong. And for the 30th time in 33 tries, the Redwings closed with a win.
"I thought we stayed poised, kept our composure even though they made that run," Nolan said. "I felt we really needed to close it out at the end, and we did."
It's a formula Benet's leaned on all season against any and all opponents. Next comes Simeon, a seven-time state title winner that has a good amount of history with the Redwings.
Tuesday night, however, history took a back seat. Tuesday was all about the 2015-16 Redwings.
When asked about Friday's game, Heidkamp was clear about his priorities.
"Can we enjoy tonight?" he joked.
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