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LISLE – While it wasn’t a championship game, Benet treated Friday’s home game against St. Viator as such. Both teams entered as part of a three-way tie atop the East Suburban Catholic Conference standings.
The Redwings took control early and barely gave it up in a 57-37 win over the Lions to stay tied for first in the conference with Marist, which beat Notre Dame.
Jayden Wright hit two 3-pointers in the first three minutes, giving the Redwings (21-4, 5-1) a quick 8-2 lead and forcing the Lions (17-7, 4-2) to call an early timeout. He hit one more 3 in the second quarter as part of scoring 11 of his 13 points in the first half.
“It was a point of emphasis to push the ball in transition,” Redwings coach Gene Heidkamp said. “That’s something we talk about all the time, and I think we got off to a pretty good start that way. I mean, Viator’s really tough.”
Colin Stack, Benet’s 7-foot-2, 215-pound junior, was the only player on either team to score in every quarter. He finished with 14 points, two coming on a two-handed dunk.
Blake Fagbemi scored eight of his 10 points in the second half, and Edvardas Stasys got six of his eight points off the bench on a pair of 3s.
“My team is very unselfish,” Stack said. “We all make sure that we all get the ball and make sure that we all score. We’re all very good players. It’s just we’re better playing together. It’s not a one-man show. It’s more of a team-building kind of thing.”
Despite missing Henry Marshall and Jacob Only, St. Viator appeared to find a spark in Brandyn Michaels to start the second half. He scored five of his 12 points in the first 85 seconds to cut the deficit to 30-24 and prompt Benet to take a timeout.
The Lions’ momentum proved momentary as the Redwings overcame that hiccup and restored their 11-point lead by the end of the third quarter. They dashed any remaining St. Viator hopes with six unanswered points in the first two minutes of the fourth, which ended with both teams pulling their starters.
“Benet’s legit,” said St. Viator coach Michael O’Keeffe. “They’re very tough to guard, very tough to stop. But our kids are doing a great job, and we’re looking forward to our game tomorrow (against Francis W. Parker).”
Dawson Charles led the Lions with 14 points, seven of them coming in the final quarter. That made him the visiting player least affected by a rowdy, gray-clad Benet student section.
“Our student section has really come out this year,” Heidkamp said. “In the last three weeks, they’ve been awesome. Probably as good as anybody you can find. And they make a huge difference for our team and for our school.”
https://www.dailyherald.com/20250131/boys-basketball/boys-basketball-benet-takes-early-lead-cruises-past-st-viator/