Benet’s Jack Nolan stole the ball and went coast to coast, dribbling behind his back just before dropping in a finger roll.
It was a highlight-reel play by the senior guard.
Nolan and the host Redwings, though, only had few of them Friday. St. Viator used a big second half to upset previously unbeaten Benet 53-37 in the East Suburban Catholic.
It was an out-of-character night for Benet (7-1, 1-1), which led 17-13 at halftime but could not get back into the game after St. Viator’s 10-0 run to start the second half.
The Redwings, usually efficient and effective offensively, shot just 4-for-17 from 3-point range and committed 20 turnovers. Many of the live-ball variety, the mistakes fueled the Lions’ 40 second-half points.
Liam Lyman led Benet with nine points. Nolan, the Redwings’ leading scorer, managed just five points on 2-for-11 shooting. Colin Crothers, a 6-foot-7 freshman, added five blocked shots.
“It was a perfect storm,” Nolan said. “We got beat in all facets of the game. We just didn’t compete. We got out-toughed, outrebounded, and we got exposed defensively.”
Drew Soukup scored 13 of his 16 points in the second half, and Tom Majerus added 11 for St. Viator (3-6, 2-0), which added Benet to Marian Catholic already as conference wins.
The Redwings had topped 50 points in each of their previous five games, led by Nolan, but looked out of sorts throughout.
Benet made just two field goals in the second quarter. At one juncture, the Redwings substituted out four of their starters.
Despite all that, Justin Enochs’ 3-pointer and a hook shot by Crothers got Benet into halftime with the lead. It didn’t get better as J.R. Cison and Soukup hit 3-pointers to spark St. Viator’s game-changing 10-0 run.
“They turned us over more than any team has turned us over in a long time,” Benet coach Gene Heidkamp said. “It was very uncharacteristic of our team, and it affected our defense. Our defense was poor, and we struggled to make shots.”
Nolan’s steal, behind-the-back dribble and layup got Benet within 23-19, but the fire from it didn’t last long.
Trailing by 10 in the fourth quarter, the Redwings closed within 37-31 on Enochs’ steal and score and Ryan Liszka’s follow-up shot. But from there, the Lions put the game away with a 12-0 run.
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“We couldn’t take care of the defensive end,” Nolan said. “We’d score, but we couldn’t get stops. We couldn’t take advantage of any offensive spark.”
It doesn’t get any easier from here.
Benet hosts unbeaten Fenwick on Wednesday and after Christmas starts play in the Pontiac Holiday Tournament. That loaded field features four unbeaten teams.
“We’ll learn about ourselves in a hurry,” Heidkamp said. “We didn’t compete very well, and Viator took it right to us. It’s the first time this group has been rattled. They’ll learn from it.”
Joshua Welge is a freelance reporter for the Naperville Sun.