Wheaton Academy vs. Benet Academy Saturday, February 02, 2008 at 6:00 PM ct
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Redwings Catch Wheaton Academy

Posted on 02.03.08 at 1:08 AM

It's rare to label a Saturday nonconference boys basketball game as a must win, but Benet did just that.

The Redwings played like it, too.

Rallying from a 15-point second-half deficit, Benet clawed its way to a 61-60 victory over host Wheaton Academy in West Chicago.

Joe Meyerhoff's go-ahead basket with 38 seconds left gave the Redwings the 1-point margin. A missed Benet free throw with six seconds left led to the Warriors' desperation shot at the buzzer, but it went off the mark.

The Redwings (10-9) claimed their fifth win in seven games -- a key factor heading into Wednesday's sectional seeding meeting.

"Everyone knew we needed to get this win going into the sectional meeting," said Benet senior Chris Blaney. "This was a must win for us. Now we know we can come back from a big deficit if we have to."

Wheaton Academy (14-6) led 53-38 after Paul Werkema's inside basket with 2:05 left in the third quarter. Benet began a fierce rally at that point behind a pressure defense that broke the Warriors' offensive rhythm.

A 15-0 run featured 3-pointers by Brian Gaughan and Emmett Carrier. After a pair of Meyerhoff free throws cut the gap to 53-51 early in the fourth quarter, the Redwings tied the game when Alex Gasick stole the inbounds pass and scored.

Gaughan and Blaney scored on consecutive possessions to put the Redwings ahead 57-54, but four trips to the free-throw line allowed Wheaton Academy to build a 60-57 lead with 2:36 left.

Blaney scored again, and then assisted on Meyerhoff's bucket to put Benet on top 61-60. The teams combined for six straight missed free throws to set up the Warriors' last-second miss.

Benet held Wheaton Academy without a field goal for the final 10:05 of the game.

"I'm really proud of the way the kids competed," said Warriors coach Paul Ferguson. "I give a lot of credit to Benet. They really picked up their defense."

A barrage of first-half 3-pointers -- 4 by Jason Roy and 3 by Ben Euler -- pushed the Warriors to a 16-point first-half lead. But after hitting 14 of 23 first-half shots, they made only 5 of 14 second-half attempts.

Euler scored 17 points before fouling out in the final seconds. Roy added 16 points and Quinn Gorski 11 points. Gaughan tallied a game-high 19 points while Blaney poured in 16 points.

"We're just thankful to come out of here with a win," said Redwings coach Marty Gaughan.

-- Kevin Schmit