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Curie thwarts Benet's state championship hopes

PEORIA - Benet's boys basketball team is coming home with another state trophy.

Again, though, it's not the one the Redwings hoped to bring back from Peoria.

Instead of Benet, Curie ended up claiming its program's first state championship with Saturday's 65-59 victory over the Redwings in the Class 4A final at Peoria's Carver Arena.

Benet (31-4), which broke the program record for wins in a season with Friday's upset win over Simeon, finishes second in the state for the second time in three years. The Redwings, who lost to Young in the 2014 final, saw their dreams dashed again by a Chicago Public League power.

"Just being around the guys, I'm going to miss it more than I can describe," said Benet's Dan Sobolewski one of three seniors in the starting lineup with James Dockery and Jason Malonga. "It's been a great four years and I'm going to miss everything about it."

There was only one lead change in the game, and it proved to be devastating for Benet.

It came in the final two minutes of the third quarter when Curie (28-5) closed the period on a 9-0 run capped by back-to-back Devin Gage 3-pointers. It started a 19-0 avalanche of points by the Condors, who led 49-34 by the time it ended.

Benet was held scoreless for six minutes in a stretch that felt like a lifetime. Curie kept its lead above double digits for most of the fourth quarter. Jack Nolan's buzzer-beating layup for Benet accounted for the final score.

"It's not how you start a game, it's how you finish," said Gage, a DePaul recruit. "I wanted that state championship."

Other than a 2-2 tie to start the game, Benet led the first 22 of the game. Dockery, Nolan, Sobolewski, Liam Lyman and Justin Enochs all knocked down 3-pointers as the Redwings hit six in the first half.

The shots, however, stopped falling in the third quarter. Curie took advantage.

"We kind of let the game get away from us," Malonga said. "We got away from what we do best, sharing the ball and taking good shots. And a lot of the good shots we were getting weren't falling down, so we had a rough go in the second half."

Benet matched its biggest lead at 25-13 on a pair of Dockery free throws midway through the second quarter, then slowly watched Curie chew into it. Gage, who scored a game-high 23 points, was the main reason, but 6-foot-7 Treavon Martin and 6-5 Landers Nolley II also started dominating the post while combining for 20 points and 20 rebounds.

The Redwings were gritty as always, but they couldn't stem the tide.

"There's not a coach around that could be any prouder of his team than I am," said Benet coach Gene Heidkamp. "It's really been a privilege to coach these guys. It's sad because we came up a little bit short, but really sad just because we're done."

As it's been all season, Benet leaned on offensive balance. Dockery led with 14 while Sobolewski had 12, Nolan 11 and Lyman 8.

Lyman, Nolan and Enochs are among the juniors coming back for Benet, which will sorely miss a memorable group of seniors.

"Being out here with my teammates, my brothers, it was just so much fun," Dockery said. "We got closer every single day. It's hard to end this way."

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