Boys basketball: St. Bede survives back-and-forth meeting with Dwight for third at Route 17 Classic

DWIGHT — The St. Bede Bruins led Dwight by as many as six points in the opening minutes, trailed by as many as nine in the middle and held an advantage as large as 14 with just over four minutes remaining before ultimately hanging on for a five-point victory, 54-49, and third place in the Route 17 Classic concluded Saturday in Dwight’s Kresl Memorial Gymnasium.

“All our three wins we’ve been down double digits. That’s kind of been our M.O.,” said St. Bede assistant coach Alec Schwab. “I think without [head coach Brian] Hanson here we had a little more to play for, him not able to make it because of a family medical problem.

“These guys showed a lot of heart and a lot of grit to not give up. ... We battled back, we hit some shots, we played some good defense, changed some things up a bit and made it fun.”

St. Bede — led on the night by a 14-point, five-steal performance by Isaiah Hart; a 12-point, 11-rebound double-double from Connor Brown; and 12 points and four steals from Brendan Pillion — completes the tournament with a 3-1 record. Dwight finishes 2-2 and in fourth place.

As good as the Bedans were in the opening minutes — building a 6-0 advantage on a Pillion 3-pointer assisted by Brown followed 37 seconds later with a 3 courtesy of Brown himself — the Trojans were even better in the second quarter.

Dwight outscored St. Bede 16-5 in the second period, with dynamic 6-7 post Wyatt Thompson scoring the Trojans’ initial 14 points and 18 total in the first half on his way to a game-leading double-double consisting of 33 points, 15 rebounds and five blocked shots. As a result, Dwight carried a 25-16 lead into the halftime break.

“He’s our go-to man,” Trojans coach Jeremy Connor said. “You’ve got a horse like that, you ride him, right? We’ve just got to get guys to play off him a little bit better.”

Counter to what the towering Thompson’s first-half domination might suggest, the Bruins started their second-half run by going to work in the paint. John Brady drew a foul inside for two made free throws, added a conventional two points in the paint, then Landon Jackson scored a bucket of his own inside to draw St. Bede to within one possession, 27-24. That work inside opened up the outside, with Callan Hueneburg and Pillion draining 3s for the Bruins’ final two buckets of the quarter and a 35-31 lead.

The other half of that comeback came on the other end, with Hart — coming off the bench as a sixth man and providing an immediate spark in both halves as the point of St. Bede’s soft defensive press — relentlessly speeding up the Trojans as they tried to get into their offense. Dwight committed nine of its 19 turnovers in the fateful third quarter, most of those the result of Hart’s pestering presence.

“Turnovers, that was the game,” Connor said.

“I just went in and did what my team wanted me to do and needed, bring energy. ...” Hart said. “I was a little bit [anxious to get into the game], and I wanted to create as many turnovers as I could. I wasn’t really thinking about scoring. I was just thinking about defense and how I could help that way.

“All glory to God.”

St. Bede waxed its advantage to as many as 14 points (at 50-36 after a Hart 3) in the fourth quarter, but had to hold on through shaky free-throw shooting in the closing minutes as Dwight cut it to a one-possession game (52-49 after a Thompson trey with 32 seconds remaining). A pair of Brown free throws with 7.7 seconds left, however, sealed the deal.

Hart, Hueneburg and Thompson were selected all-tournament.

The Bruins will host Marquette on Tuesday.

Dwight will continue its season-opening eight-game homestand Tuesday with a visit from Prairie Central.