Benet stays unbeaten in ESCC
By Drake Skleba
Benet Academy held off St. Patrick 49-47 to win their ninth East Suburban Catholic Conference game without a defeat Friday in Lisle. With the win the Redwings move into a first-place tie with No. 9 St. Joseph (15-5, 9-0).
Benet (17-3, 9-0) was led by 6-foot-10 center Frank Kaminski. The junior was a beast on the boards with 11 rebounds while scoring a team-high 15 points. And Kaminski was clutch down the stretch.
"I knew I could make the free throws," he said. "I did not want to let my teammates down. We knew St. Pat's would come out and play physical and I feel I played well inside tonight and matched their physical play."
With 17.8 seconds left in the game, Kaminsky nailed two free throws to give the Redwings a 47-43 lead. The Shamrocks' Kortney Darby hit a baseline jumper cut the deficit to 47-45 with 7.4 seconds remaining.
Benet's leading scorer this season, junior guard Dave Sobolewski, was fouled before the inbounds pass. Sobolewski (seven points, five rebounds, three assists) calmly sank a pair of free throws to once again give the Redwings a four-point margin at 49-45.
"I was confident that I would make the free throws," said Sobolewski. "I want the ball in that situation. I was fortunate to come through for us. This was a gutty victory for us."
St. Patrick's Darby, who led the Shamrocks with 16 points, scored at the buzzer for the final score. Darby also hauled in seven rebounds.
Benet jumped out to a quick 14-4 lead in the first quarter. The visitors closed out the first quarter with a 10-0 run, and tied the game on a buzzer-beating, three-point shot from senior guard Julian Reed (11 points, four rebounds).
Benet led 28-22 at the half. Before halftime 6-foot-3 senior forward Dylan Flood (12 points, nine rebounds) paced the Redwings with 10 points and seven rebounds.
St. Patrick rallied again after intermission and closed to 34-33 on a three-point shot from John Paul Scala with one minute remaining in the third quarter.
With 7:42 left in the game, the Shamrocks (13-7, 7-3) took their first lead at 35-34 on a basket by 6-foot-7 Michael Johnson (four points, three rebounds).
Benet's response was junior guard Matt Parisi (12 points, four three-point shots).
"My teammates collapsed the zone and really set me up with open shots," said Parisi. "I was fortunate to hit the shots to help us win this ballgame. This was a big win for us which kept us in the ESCC race. We have four games to go, but it's great to be in first place."
With 5:55 left in the game, Flood picked up a huge offensive rebound and made a perfect pass to a wide-open Parisi, who buried the three-point shot that put the Redwings ahead.
"We played hard tonight," said Flood. "We made our shots down the stretch to get this victory.
"I was really happy with my offensive rebound and pass to Matt Parisi, who nailed the big three-point shot that gave us the lead for good."
Parisi struck again with a big three for a 42-37 lead at the 4:21 mark of the final period.
St. Pat's junior forward Jacob Williams contributed eight points for the Shamrocks.
Benet Academy and No. 9 St. Joseph are on a collision course for an ESCC championship showdown February 20 in Westchester.
