Getting overlooked might seem hard to do when you’re 6 feet, 9 inches tall. But that’s what has happened to Benet’s Daniel Pauliukonis.
The junior forward is one of many high-upside young players the Redwings have deployed this season, but much of the attention has gone to the sophomore class led by guards Gabriel Sularski and Jayden Wright and center Colin Stack
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.Pauliukonis isn’t as far along in his development, but his play has been encouraging.
“I like his potential,” Benet coach Gene Heidkamp said. “He’s obviously a 6-9 player who can shoot the ball.”
Indeed, Pauliukonis scored 12 points, including two 3-pointers, on 7-for-12 shooting during Benet’s 63-54 loss to Thornton in the When Sides Collide shootout at home on Saturday.
“He’s getting better as he goes,” Heidkamp said. “I thought he stepped up and had a solid game tonight.”
Pauliukonis also helped senior forward Parker Sulaver guard Thornton star Morez Johnson, a 6-8 Illinois recruit.
“It was pretty big,” Pauliukonis said of starting in such a prestigious game. “Obviously, I missed a few shots, could have done better, could have made more, but it’s great experience.”
Johnson led the Wildcats (18-2) with 21 points, 10 rebounds and four steals. But he scored just two points in the first quarter and didn’t make his first basket until late in the second quarter as Pauliukonis tallied five points to help the Redwings (16-3) take an early 13-6 lead. Pauliukonis scored on a nice inside move in the lane late in the second.
“His outside shooting is really good,” Sularski said. “He’s been doing really well. … But he’s really effective at the rim. He probably can’t create his own shot, but once you created something and you get it to him, he’ll get the job done.”
The Redwings lost senior guard Patrick Walsh to injury in the opening minute of the game, and he was not allowed to return. Walsh’s absence exposed Benet’s lack of experience, and Thornton began to take advantage of it.
Johnson scored six straight points to begin the second half, but the Redwings hung tough for most of the third quarter. Sularski found Pauliukonis for a layup midway through the quarter, and Pauliukonis later hit a 3-pointer off a pass from junior guard Blake Fagbemi with 40 seconds left in the period, pulling Benet within 38-33.
“He’s been a little up and down this season, but I think he really showed his talent and what he has,” Sularski said about Pauliukonis. “He missed a couple of them, but I think he played really well on the defensive side, helping us with that.”
Pauliukonis said shooting and moving off the ball are the best parts of his game at this point but he’s still working on consistency.
What was the toughest thing about playing Thornton?
“Probably the ups and downs of the game,” Pauliukonis said. “They have their runs, we have our runs and we have to bounce back when they have their runs.”
Bouncing back shouldn’t be a problem for Pauliukonis.
“These are good lessons to learn,” he said. “(Adjusting to varsity basketball) has been kind of slow, but I’ve got used to it. My coach has my back all the time.”
Matt Le Cren is a freelance reporter for the Naperville Sun.
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