4A boys' basketball state semifinal recap: Benet 64, New Trier 49
Mar. 10—The top player was ... Benet senior , with senior teammate Brayden Fagbemi not far behind. The future Dartmouth men's basketball athlete Abusara nearly recorded a triple-double by producing 18 points, nine rebounds and eight steals. He used his 6-foot-5 wingspan to accomplish major tasks at both ends of the floor for the Redwings (35-1), who also saw Fagbemi star to the tune of 18 points, five rebounds and four assists.
The key moment was ... defined by New Trier coach Scott Fricke as a shot Fagbemi sank to close the third quarter. Fagbemi drew a foul with fewer than two seconds left on the game clock. A sideline out-of-bounds play resulted in junior Parker Sulaver passing to Fagbemi, who tossed up and knocked down a deep three-pointer as the horn sounded to end the period with Benet leading 44-33. "I thought the momentum was going our way until the end of the third quarter," Fricke said, "and that really hurt us, that play."
By the numbers ... Benet was helped along the entire game by strong offensive rebounding. The Redwings hauled in 14 such boards — led by five from senior Sam Driscoll — versus their 16 defensive rebounds. ... Driscoll thrived in taking on increased minutes after Benet senior captain Brady Kunka went down with an ankle injury during the first quarter. Driscoll swished a trio of three-pointers as part of an 11-point outing, bagging six rebounds and two assists to boot. ... Sulaver made it three Redwings in double figures scoring with 12 points. ... New Trier senior Jake Fiegen proved hard to stop, notching a game-high 26 points on 10-of-15 shooting from the field. He also snared nine rebounds. No one else tallied more than five points for the Trevians (31-5).
What Benet said ... "Our guys played really solid defense after the first quarter. The first quarter, we struggled. (New Trier) kind of got whatever they wanted. Our guys made a little bit of resolve, little commitment to try and solidify the game defensively. In the last three quarters, (we) made them earn every basket that they had, and I thought we won the game on the defensive end." — coach Gene Heidkamp
What New Trier said ... "We started the game exactly how I thought we needed to start. The ball was moving. We were getting pretty good opportunities. We were doing a good job of not letting them get to the basket, but we didn't do a good job of closing out on three-point shooters. ... These guys battled their brains out, played really hard. At the end of the third quarter was a huge momentum play." — Fricke
