It is difficult to rattle the Benet basketball team.

But there is little doubt that Bolingbrook accomplished that during play in the Class 4A Bolingbrook Sectional championship.

And while the Redwings were shaken at times, the poise that has carried it to great heights showed up when it needed it most as Benet ultimately collected a 51-44 victory over Bolingbrook.

The win lifts Benet (34-1) into the Northern Illinois University Supersectional where it will face Rockford Auburn, a 74-68 winner over Rockford Guilford at the Hononegah Sectional, at 7:30 p.m. Monday. Bolingbrook closes its season with a 25-8 record.

“We were,” Benet coach Gene Heidkamp said of his team being a bit rattled by Bolingbrook’s effort. “And you know why? It was because of their defense. So give credit where it is due.

“Our kids have played in every game you can play and I was happy we were able to pull it out down the stretch. I thought our kids kept their poise. It was a game of runs like we knew it would be.”

Those runs in the second half proved to be very small ones as neither team could establish much of a foothold. The two teams passed a lead back and forth for much of the third quarter and neither team had an advantage larger than two points until the final seconds of the third quarter.

Then, Colin Stack (14 points) got free for a 3-pointer that rattled in as the quarter horn sounded. It gave Benet it a 38-33 lead and really for the first time, a little room to breathe.

“I felt like that gave us a giant momentum swing,” Stack said. “And I felt like if we picked up our defense we’d be fine.”

That momentum seemed to carry over into the first few minutes of the final quarter.

After Trey Brost opened the quarter with a basket, Benet scored the game’s next six points with four points from Edvardas Stasys, who snapped into action after a less than impactful first half, and two more from Stack. That run gave Benet a 44-35 lead.

“The first half, I wasn’t playing like myself, I’m not going to lie,” Stasys said. “Then I picked it up and I’ve got my teammates to support me and I came out and did what I had to.

“It was kind of the idea that there’s no way we can lose and we we got to do what we got to do.”

But Bolingbrook wasn’t finished.

The Raiders got back-to-back 3-pointers from TJ Williams and Brost to once again whittle the lead down to a possession and it appeared the Raiders might get even closer when Brady Pettigrew (14 points) was fouled on a shot attempt that just rattled out from being a potential three-point play.

Pettigrew made just one of the two free throws though and Stasys and Perry Tchiegne (13 points) put the win on ice by putting more points on the board for Benet over the game’s next few possessions.

And it was Tchiegne who put the exclamation point on things after corralling a late loose ball and taking in the length of the court for a slam dunk.

It wasn’t the ending that Rob Brost was hoping for from his Raiders, but he had nothing but appreciation for his team’s ability to give Benet all it wanted until the end.

“They are the No. 1 team in the state for a reason and they made some plays down the stretch and we had a couple of opportunities that we missed,” Rob Brost said. “I thought we did a good job overall executing the game plan. I heard no less than 10 times coming through the handshake line that this is the best team they’ve played from them.

“I’m just proud of our team. What we were able to do when we put the schedule together we knew we were going to take some on the chin, but we fought through all of that, through injuries and you can see from tonight that we’re one of the best teams in the state.”

Elijah Anderson added 11 points for Bolingbrook.

https://www.shawlocal.com/the-herald-news/2026/03/07/benet-makes-key-plays-when-it-needs-to-in-topping-bolingbrook/