Benet Captures First State Championship. Beating Warren in 4A

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Last spring, Benet lost one of its most electrifying prospects in recent memory when [player_tooltip player_id='1552393' first='Gabriel' last='Sularski'] transferred to Lemont. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>But that didn't stop the Redwings from winning its first State Championship in school history tonight.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Three-balls were flying early and often. First from Warren's [player_tooltip player_id='2323571' first='Jaxson' last='Davis']. Followed by a pair of threes from [player_tooltip player_id='2105390' first='Jayden' last='Wright'] and [player_tooltip player_id='1598682' first='Daniel' last='Pauliukonis'] each. Giving Benet a 16-11 lead after 1. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2105390' first='Jayden' last='Wright'] would eventually be the first player of the game in double figures. Reaching 10 points on a midrange fadeaway during the second quarter. [player_tooltip player_id='1598658' first='Blake' last='Fagbemi'] provided tons of assists and had a pair of crafty layups midway through the game.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>But Warren didn't fold early. While they were definitely outsized in the paint, they did everything they could to keep the ball out of Stack's hands. On the other side, they found a lot of buckets with great speed in transition. Especially from [player_tooltip player_id='2291830' first='Javerion' last='Banks']. They also shot the ball really well from outside the arc.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Benet used a strong 3rd quarter led by [player_tooltip player_id='1598682' first='Daniel' last='Pauliukonis'] and [player_tooltip player_id='2105390' first='Jayden' last='Wright']. Wright nailed an extremely difficult double-clutch midrange shot to make it a 9-point lead. [player_tooltip player_id='2323571' first='Jaxson' last='Davis'] led Warren on a little run, but Benet always remained up front. It was Pauliukonis and Fagbemi who led the charge. Especially when they needed it most. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Ultimately, Warren went on a big run late. Down by as much as 11 in the second half, they fought all the way back with a chance to win it in the games final seconds. But couldn't get it done. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Benet won 55-54.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Gene Heidkamp has been Benet's coach since 2008. After three runner-up finishes, they finally take home a state championship.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->