Benet dominates Glenbard East in sectional final
Add Glenbard East to the list of teams that Benet was not supposed to beat and has. The Redwings simply dominated the top-seeded Rams on Friday night while scoring an impressive 68-54 victory to claim the Class 4A Neuqua Valley Sectional championship.
The victory is the Redwings 16th straight and gives the school its first sectional title since the 1982-83 season, which also happens to be the last time Benet advanced to the Class AA state tournament where it lost to Thornton in the quarterfinals.
I think were finally starting to prove to people that we can play with the best of the best, said junior guard David Sobolewski, who finished with 32 points. Glenbard East came into this game at 27-1 and we took them out of everything they wanted to do. We won the game defensively. We just did a great job of getting low in our stances and buckling down to get the win.
The Redwings (26-3) played their usual tough man-to-man defense and it gave the Rams (27-2) fits right from the start. Glenbard East, which had won 21 straight, led twice  3-0 and 7-5  other than those two instances the Redwings pretty much dominated.
Benet led 12-7 after the first quarter and established control in the second quarter when fellow junior guard Matt Parisi and Sobolewski scored all of Benets 15 points, including a Sobolewski 3-pointer at the buzzer to give the Redwings a 27-16 lead as they raced off the floor at intermission.
Parisi was the only other Benet player in double figures with a season-high 19 points. He said Benets hot start shooting, making 10 of 14 shots in the first half, was all the Redwings needed.
It was a great start for us that we shot the ball really well, Parisi said. We were extremely confident and we carried that momentum with us the whole game.
Everyone in the gym waited for Glenbard East  a team that averaged 70 points per game during the season  to make a run, but it never materialized. Instead, the Redwings maintained a double-digit lead throughout the second half.
The closest the Rams came was 10 points.
You have to give Benet a lot of credit defensively. They did a nice job, Glenbard East coach Scott Miller said. I just felt that they controlled the glass and I think that was the difference in the game.
Benet held a 31-14 advantage in rebounding and held Glenbard East to 21 of 55 shooting (38 percent). The Redwings also checked Rams leading scorer Jon Hill by limiting him to two points. Hill entered averaging 17 points per game. Hill was stuck in foul trouble from the start, committing two fouls in the first quarter before fouling out with 6 minutes, 25 seconds remaining.
When Hill, who stands 6 feet 3 inches, was on the floor, it was the much shorter Parisi, at 5-11, who hounded Hill all over the court.
Parisi is one of the best defensive players in the Western suburbs, Benet coach Gene Heidkamp said. Parisi also defended East Auroras Ryan Boatright in the sectional semifinal.
The Redwings insisted that they didnt do anything special with their defense.
There wasnt any magic formula, Benet forward Mike Runger said. We made them play to their weaknesses instead of letting them get comfortable doing what they want to do.
Benet spent most of the second half breaking Glenbard Easts pressure or at the free-throw line. For the game, the Redwings made 25 of 34 free throws and shot 18 of 29 (62 percent) from the field, including 7 of 12 3-pointers.
Benet advances to the Hinsdale Central Super-Sectional and will play Chicago Simeon at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday.
Benet Academy Redwings logo 
Top-seeded Glenbard East High School was expected to win the Class 4A Neuqua Valley High School Sectional championship on Friday night. Yet with a lot of determination and a strong defense, the Benet Academy varsity boys basketball team defeated the Rams 68–54. 

The game marks Benet's sixteenth straight victory this season, giving the Redwings a 26–3 overall record. It is also their first sectional championship since the 1982–1983 season, which was the last time Benet advanced to the Class AA state tournament; there they lost to Thornton Township High School in the quarterfinals.

The Redwings' aggressive man-to-man defense certainly kept the Rams out of their comfort zone amidst the crowds in the sold-out Neuqua gym. As Benet forward Mike Runger said, "We made them play to their weaknesses instead of letting them get comfortable doing what they want to do.”

Benet scored 71 percent of its shots in the first half, while Glenbard East scored only 27. While the Rams led twice in the first few minutes (3–0 and 7–5), the Redwings led 12–7 after the first quarter. A three-point shot made by Dave Sobolewski two seconds before the buzzer gave Benet a 27–16 lead at the end of the first half. 

Glenbard East desperately attempted a comeback in the second half, but Benet maintained a lead ranging from 10 to 18 points. Rams guard made four three-pointers in the fourth quarter, but to no avail. As Benet coach Gene Heidkamp said, "...we knew they were going to come at us and give us a ton of pressure. We were a long, long way from being comfortable at halftime."

Benet will play Simeon Career Academy from Chicago in the supersectionals at Hinsdale Central High School on Tuesday night.