Benet duo too much for St. Charles East

Kendrick Tchoua was unstoppable.

Then again, Colin Crothers was not too shabby either for Benet Thursday night at St. Charles East in a nonconference boys basketball game.

"Not a bad game for our 4 (power forward, Tchoua) and 5 (center, Crothers) tonight," Benet coach Gene Heidkamp said after the Redwings held St. Charles East scoreless for the first six-plus minutes of the fourth quarter to secure a 77-60 victory.

Benet extended its season-opening winning streak to five games.

The second quarter was an entity of its own as neither Tchoua, who finished with a game-high 28 points, nor Carothers, who added 23 points, missed a shot as Benet scored 32 of the combined 57 points in the period to take a 42-40 lead into the intermission.

Tchoua pumped in 16 second-quarter points on an array of power moves on the inside; Crothers showed dexterity from the post as well as the perimeter to add 10 of his own in the quarter.

"I see myself as an inside-outside player," said Tchoua. "When I drive, I put my all into it. Our defense is what brought us back."

"None of those shots would have happened without our guards," said Crothers.

"We knew going in there would be mismatches at several positions," said St. Charles East guard Nathan Ortiz, who led three St. Charles East players in double digits with 18 points.

With St. Charles East trailing by 7 points as the clock wound down in the third quarter, Ortiz nailed a 30-footer as time expired to bring the Saints to within 59-55.

"We really needed that going into the fourth quarter," Ortiz said. "(But) momentum has to lead to execution."

But St. Charles East (4-2) would not score again until Luke Matheny converted a 3-point play with one minute, 41 seconds to play.

In the meantime, Benet scored the first 14 points of the fourth quarter to take command.

Will Engels' all-around play seamlessly complemented the play of the Redwings' twin post players.

The senior overcame first-half foul issues to score 9 of his 14 points in the final quarter.

Benet guard Charlie Dollard also sparked the team with 8 points off the bench.

"It's a different team than last year," Heidkamp said. "We're more offensive-minded. The two big guys were the story tonight."

"That's how we know we can be good," Crothers said of he and Tchoua scoring 10 times from the field each.

Both players also hit two 3-pointers as well as matching each other with 11 rebounds.

Matheny and Cody Mitchell had 13 points apiece for St. Charles East.

"I felt like we let our mistakes (compound)," Ortiz said.