By Mark Gregory
Sports Editor
@Hear_The_Beard
mark@buglenewspapers.com
Benet Academy coach Gene Heidkamp calls the beginning of the 2017 a “work in progress,” which may come as a surprise to those on the outside who just see the Redwings’ 7-1 record.
“We have a one-point loss to DePaul and won seven games, so it is a good start,” Heidkamp said.
Benet added Connor Reid, Ben Cooney, Bennett Hickey, Matt Boyle, Shane O’Mara and Anthony Adams back from the state final four football team.
“We just got guys back from the football team,” Heidkamp said. “It is difficult because they don’t have any preseason practices and we are still trying to figure out our rotations and who can play in what circumstances and the team is a work in progress and it is going to take a while to figure it out.
“We are hoping to get everything together by Christmas and we hope to be a better team in the second half of the season.”
Benet plays over the Christmas break at the Pontaic Holiday Tournament – the oldest and most well-known holiday tournament in Illinois.
“Pontiac is a great experience,” Heidkamp said. “That is why we go there. You get to play against great teams, but the overall experience is tough to beat and that is a great opportunity for our guys.”
Benet notched its seventh win of the season with a 50-41 home win over Niles Notre Dame.
“I thought we played pretty good defense down the stretch and we made enough shots to pull it out,” Heidkamp said. “We knew this was going to be a hard fought game. They are good and well coached and we knew we were going to have to play well and we knew it would go down to the wire and it did. It was one of those games you knew every possession was going to be difficult. We said before the game it would be a game of runs.”
Notre Dame coach Kevin Clancy said despite knowing how the Redwings play, they are still hard to defeat – especially at home.
“The credit goes to Benet. They are who they are and Gene has done a great job with them and it is a credit to him and their team that every year they play the way they do,” Clancy said. “They make the extra pass and they are unselfish. Their threes kind of open the game and it becomes a momentum thing when they hit two or three in a row.
“For us, playing in this environment Is huge. It is something that hopefully helps us as we get in those situations later on the road. There is no more difficult place to play than Benet.”