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player ready...Hinsdale South’s top boys basketball players this season began to come together as a unit when they were in eighth grade.
After years of playing for their separate junior high teams, current seniors Barret Benson, Sean McCormack and Brian Kern joined forces on the Junior Hornets feeder team.
After one season, they united again as juniors at Hinsdale South. That’s when McCormack and Kern made the varsity, where the 6-foot-10 Benson, a Northwestern recruit, has been a fixture since his freshman season.
Before then, Benson and Kern were on different AAU teams in high school. And McCormack, a 6-5 forward, focused on football in the offseason and last fall set school passing records while quarterbacking the Hornets to the Class 6A state semifinals.
But that experience of playing together as youngsters blossomed into positive results on the Hornets’ varsity years later.
“The chemistry from the Junior Hornets played a role (this season),” Benson said. “We got to know each other and formed a close bond between all three of us.”
Benson, McCormack and Kern all played for the Junior Hornets in seventh grade, but Benson was up a level with the eighth graders.
A year later, they all were on the eighth-grade team and now are the only current Hornets from that squad. Sean McCormack’s triplet brothers also were on that team, but now Matt is on the Hinsdale South swimming and water polo teams, while Connor focused on football.
Before then, the three friends played on different teams and went their individual ways in junior high. Benson played for Westview Hills Middle School in Willowbrook, Kern suited up for Cass Junior High in Darien and McCormack was on the basketball team at Our Lady of Peace in Darien.
“I don’t remember much about it,” Sean McCormack said. “It was fun and with the guys, we were able to build a friendship. We built chemistry.”
Brian S. Kern, the father of Brian P. Kern, was an assistant coach for the eighth-grade Junior Hornets.
“One of the greatest joys of my life is watching my kids compete in all sports,” Brian S. Kern said. “It was a fun time. All the players worked hard. They were easy to coach and competed as hard as they could.”
The Hornets are seeking their first conference championship since 1980, when they captured their only trophy as a member of the Des Plaines Valley. Hinsdale South (11-3, 3-1 West Suburban Gold) is set to play at Proviso East (6-5, 2-1) at 6 p.m. Friday, Jan. 15, as both teams remain in pursuit of first-place Downers Grove South (11-5, 5-0).
Hinsdale South also plays in the two-day Wheaton Warrenville South MLK tournament, opening against Plainfield South at 2 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 16.
Twitter @geomwilcox