With Benet’s top two scorers shut down, the Redwings had to turn to others for offensive punch Friday night against Joliet Catholic.
David Buh, Matthew Teglia and Justin Enochs stepped up, with each scoring in double figures, as visiting Benet held on for a 54-48 East Suburban Catholic win.
After going 3-4 from Dec. 30 to Jan. 20, Benet won its seventh straight, with one more regular-season game remaining Wednesday against Marian Catholic.
Benet (21-6, 5-3) usually relies on Jack Nolan, who averages 18 points, and Liam Lyman, who averages 15, for its offensive firepower.
But Buh, a junior guard, led Benet with 14 points. That included four 3-pointers. The Redwings also received 11 points from Enochs and 10 from Teglia, both senior guards.
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The Hilltoppers (12-13, 2-6) came into the game allowing the third-fewest points in the conference.
“We had three guys in doubles who aren’t our two leading scorers, so that’s a good team win,” Benet coach Gene Heidkamp said. “Part of that I credit their defense, and part of it shows we have a little more balance.”
Benet’s shooting beyond the arc was key.
Enochs hit a 3-pointer near the end of the first quarter to give the Redwings a 10-6 lead. Teglia’s 3 with 1:07 left in the second quarter put Benet up 23-16 at halftime. Teglia connected on another 3 at the third-quarter buzzer to make it 34-28.
Buh converted consecutive 3-pointers to extend Benet’s lead to 40-31 at 5:31 of the fourth.
“We practice 3s a lot so we were very comfortable,” Buh said. “We were getting a lot of open shots.”
Joliet Catholic powered back behind Pete Ragen, who scored 15 of his game-high 27 points in the fourth.
Ragen’s 3-pointer while falling on his back trimmed the deficit to 49-43 with 42 seconds left. His 3 from the left wing pulled the Hilltoppers to within 51-48 with 23 seconds to play.
But Nolan hit a pair of free throws with 16 seconds on the clock, and Lyman added another from the line with four seconds remaining. Lyman finished with nine points, and Nolan had eight.
Benet shot its first free throw at the 2:35 mark in the fourth and ended up 10-for-17 from the line.
“We had a nine-point lead, and we shot very poorly from the free-throw line,” Heidkamp said. “We were very inconsistent, and that’s very uncharacteristic of our team. We usually shoot better from the line.”
Heidkamp called Buh the player of the game.
“He’s really stepped up,” Heidkamp said. “He gave us a big boost offensively and made some big plays down the stretch defensively. We needed him.”
Bob Hurst is a freelance reporter for the Naperville Sun.