CHAMPAIGN—Coaches love defense. Benet and Evanston are well-coached teams and have the defensive stuff figured out. Halfway through the third quarter of Friday’s Class 4A semifinal at State Farm Center, the teams had combined for just 44 points.
Someone had to find offense.
Benet senior Blake Fagbemi answered the call. The All-Area guard sparked the Redwings just as Evanston pulled within two points with 3:28 left in the third.
Fagbemi ripped Benet out of its offensive doldrums with back-to-back buckets, two free throws and an assist to Daniel Pauliukonis for a three-pointer. That gave the Redwings a seven-point lead and Evanston never pulled closer than five after that.
Benet’s 56-47 victory against the Wildkits secures the Redwings a spot in Saturday’s state championship game against the winner of Warren vs. Rich.
“I was just playing basketball,” Fagbemi said. “My teammates were getting me open so I just took what the defense gave me.”
Fagbemi finished with 10 points, eight assists, seven rebounds and four steals.
“He’s a pretty dynamic guard,” Benet coach Gene Heidkamp said. “You saw that offensive rebounding tip in. I don’t know how many 5-10 guards are capable of that. He can create opportunities and make his team better and he did a good job of that tonight.”
Evanston (30-6) was 1-for-19 from three-point range before conceding and bringing in the backups in the final few minutes.
“We were never able to generate momentum offensively,” Wildkits coach Mike Ellis said. “You can generate momentum defensively but you have to sustain it offensively.”
Senior Theo Rocca led Evanston with 13 points and five rebounds. George Richardson added 12 points and Dion Lane Jr. scored six off the bench.
The Wildkits improved throughout the season and advanced all the way to the state finals despite not having a DI recruit.
“We are a team full of great high school basketball players,” Ellis said. “Great, high-character players. Talented players, caring players. That’s a skill set that leads to winning on the court and off the court.”
Benet’s balanced scoring continued. SIU recruit Pauliukonis had 11 points and seven rebounds. Jayden Wright scored 10 and 7-0 junior Colin Stack had nine points and four rebounds for the Redwings (32-5).
“[The balance] helps a lot,” Wright said. “We fully trust each other. We have really good chemistry and know how to get each other the ball and get each other going.”
Evanston beat Benet 59-55 on Feb. 1.
“We watched that tape this week and we were disappointed in how we played,” Heidkamp said. “Our defense has improved so much over the past few weeks. This team has been through a lot and seen about every situation you can see. We didn’t lose our poise and eventually found a way to get the ball in the basket.”
This is Benet’s fourth trip to the state title game. Heidkamp’s teams lost the Class 4A championship game in 2023, 2016 and 2014.
“Getting to this point is a great achievement,” Heidkamp said. “But they are hungry.”