Boys basketball: Ottawa hangs tough, but Christian Benning’s 31 leads Streator to victory

OTTAWA – Pretty much everyone in attendance at Kingman Gym on Saturday evening knew the Streator Bulldogs came in with twice as many wins as the host Ottawa Piratres.

Pretty much everyone at Kingman also knew that, when it’s Ottawa vs. Streator, things like that oftentimes don’t matter all that much.

The Route 23 Rivalry resumed with another hard-fought entry, and though the Pirates hung tough until the final seconds, the Bulldogs — led by Christian Benning’s 31 points, 22 of those coming in the second half — notched their second win over the Pirates this season, 53-45.

“We were coming off a loss [to Manteno on Friday], and we were just ready for this game,” Benning said. “Everyone knew we would be, it’s Ottawa, but definitely after a loss, we had a little more motivation.”

Streator (21-6) roared to a 12-point lead in the first quarter, only to see the Pirates (10-11) repeatedly, relentlessly chip away. After trailing 16-4 early, Ottawa climbed as close as three points on two separate occasions. The first came at 26-23 on a Cooper Knoll 3-pointer 17 seconds into the second half; the second at 46-43 on Evan Snook’s corner 3 with 1:59 remaining in the contest.

Both times, though, the Bulldogs responded with Benning-led answers.

Streator’s senior point guard’s driving old-fashioned three-point play immediately answered Snook’s late 3 and extended the visitors’ advantage back to a two-possession game. Benning’s 9-of-11 free throw shooting in the fourth, plus a pair of clutch Logan Aukland free throws late, kept the Pirates from getting that close again.

“We’ve been playing these [Streator-Ottawa] games long enough to know how it’s going to be, especially with how tough they are in this building,” Streator coach Beau Doty said. “Cooper Knoll’s just such a tough matchup and got them going, and we could just never quite get away from them. ...

“[Ottawa] got it to three late, but we did a good job getting to the line in the fourth quarter and making our free throws when it mattered. And Christian was obviously really good in the fourth quarter.”

The offensive end wasn’t the only place Benning — who also added seven rebounds, two assists and five steals — made his presence felt.

“What beat us wasn’t Christian Benning offensively,” Pirates coach Mark Cooper said. “He just gets his hands on so many things, and he’s a very alert basketball player. It seemed like every single loose ball, he gets, and he tips a lot of things. If you’re a little loose with the ball, he deflects it.

“I’m proud of our guys. I thought we had fight, especially since we got down 12 early. We got it to a point where, if a couple things go our way at the end, I think we have a chance to steal one.

“Obviously, Streator has a very good basketball team, but we’re super proud of our guys tonight.”

Quinn Baker added six points, six rebounds and two blocked shots, Matt Williamson had five points and Logan Aukland contributed four points and three assists for Streator.

Knoll’s 18 points, a total that included three clutch second-half 3-pointers that kept Ottawa within arm’s reach until the end, and seven rebounds were both team highs. Snook added a career-high 11 points, with Tristan Finley scoring nine and Keevon Peterson five points with three assists.

Per records kept by Shaw Local’s Brian Hoxsey, it’s the first time Streator has won three straight against Ottawa since a five-game run spanning 2001-03.

This season’s Pirates and Bulldogs could potentially meet a third time in the postseason. Streator hosts a Class 3A regional in the Pontiac Sectional/Ottawa Super-Sectional bracket.

Before that, though, the Pirates visit Princeton on Monday, while Streator is at Wilmington on Wednesday.