Benet holds off Oswego East for regional title

OSWEGO – Benet made only one field goal in the fourth quarter of Friday’s Class 4A Oswego East regional title game, and the host Wolves made two. Anyone who learned that but was not in attendance might have figured Oswego East was celebrating at the end.

In fact, it was the Redwings who took home the plaque and the net after a 49-40 win, giving them four straight regional championships and 11 in the past 16 years. They now advance to their own sectional and will face Waubonsie Valley in the semifinals at 7 p.m. Wednesday.

“This was a hard-earned win,” said Benet coach Gene Heidkamp. “And to come on their floor and play against a really good program, you know you’re gonna have to play well, and it’s something that our kids deserve to enjoy because the fact of the matter is they had to earn it. They had to work really hard to earn it.”

The Redwings (27-5) got their lone fourth-quarter field goal on a 3-pointer in the right corner from Daniel Pauliukonis, whom Blake Fagbemi found open. That put them in the lead for good, which was a relief after the Wolves (20-10) were up three earlier in the fourth quarter. The game had been tied at 34 entering the frame.

“It was a great shot,” said Pauliukonis. “I have confidence in my shot, so I was open. I was able to shoot it, and then, yeah, I have confidence in my shot. It was a good shot, and it went in.”

Pauliukonis scored a game-high 18 points, half of which came on three second-half 3-pointers. Fagbemi, who scored in every quarter, got half of his 14 points on seven fourth-quarter free throws, which helped clinch the championship for Benet.

Colin Stack collected seven of his nine points in the first half. Edvardas Stasys came off the bench and scored six points, all in the first quarter. Jayden Wright rounded out the scoring with two free throws in the final seconds.

Lukas Adolfs paced Oswego East with nine points, all of which came in the first half. Myles Buchanan got seven of his eight points in the first half, and Andrew Pohlman scored six.

“I knew they were gonna compete,” Wolves coach Ryan Velasquez said. “They’re a great young group of kids, and I love these nine seniors. They really showed a lot of resilience, and they battled every single game this year, and especially this game. I’m so proud.”

As the game went on, more Oswego East fans trickled into the gym to lend their support.

“We’ve got great parents in our program,” Velasquez said. “And then, just the school community coming out, it was freaking awesome. So, it says a lot about our program, where we’ve come from, and I’m proud of everybody involved.”

https://www.dailyherald.com/20250228/boys-basketball/boys-basketball-benet-earns-hard-fought-regional-title-on-oswego-easts-home-court/