Benet has been through enough big games in the last two years to know when it’s time to panic.
Trailing Notre Dame 8-0 five minutes into Friday’s East Suburban Catholic opener in Niles was certainly not the time. And the Redwings spent the rest of the night proving why.
Benet scored the next 18 points and put on a fourth-quarter shooting clinic in topping the host Dons 51-45.
Senior guard Jack Nolan, who finished with 15 points and three rebounds, confirmed Benet (6-0, 1-0) didn’t come close to pushing the panic button.
“If it was 15-0, maybe then it’s time to worry,” Nolan said. “That has to be a big part of this team, to maintain that composure.
“We play one of the toughest schedules in the state. Going through it and playing close games against tough teams gets us ready for games like this.”
The Redwings got balanced scoring, with four players in double figures.
“That’s a big part of what our team is about,” Benet coach Gene Heidkamp said. “We have to live through some dry spells because we have the ability to make a bunch. It seems like we made up for it in the fourth, so it evens out.
“When you’ve got good shooters, you’ve got to give them free rein to shoot. You might go 0-for-5 or 0-for-6, but then you’ll go 4-for-5 down the stretch. It all balanced out for us.”
The Redwings missed their first nine shots in digging the early hole but closed the quarter on a 9-0 run. They opened the second quarter on another 9-0 run to take a 20-8 lead with 4:40 left and held on to lead 22-12 at halftime.
The Dons (6-1, 0-1) stormed on a 9-2 spurt in the third quarter, with senior Matt Stritzel scoring six of his 20 points to pull Notre Dame within 24-21. The Dons trailed 29-26 after three quarters before Benet hit the gas pedal.
The Redwings converted their first five shots of the fourth quarter, including 3-pointers from Matthew Teglia, Justin Enochs, Liam Lyman and Nolan, to extend their lead to 43-33 with 3:28 left.
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Lyman finished with 14 points, while Teglia and Enochs had 10 points each.
In the fourth, Benet hit all five 3-pointers and shot 8-for-10 to lead by as many as 13 heading into the final minute.
Notre Dame’s press forced four successive turnovers, and the Dons scored on three to get as close as 49-42 with 30 seconds left. But Teglia took a long lead pass for a layup in the closing seconds.
Notre Dame coach Tom Les thought the Redwings taught the Dons some lessons.
“It was a game of runs,” Les said. “When it was 8-0, we knew it wasn’t over. They shoot it well, and they have a lot of guys who can shoot it well. And defensively you can’t lose a guy. They’re good, they did a good job, and I think we learned a lot.”
Phil English is a freelance reporter for the Naperville Sun.