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"path": "/high-school-basketball/2026/03/13/benet-basketball-ihsa-state-finals-depaul",
"publishedAt": "2026-03-14T00:20:20.527Z",
"site": "https://chicago.suntimes.com",
"tags": [
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"textContent": "<p>CHAMPAIGN—In basketball, just as in life, the most important decisions come down to trust. Who will you trust when the game is on the line?</p><p>Benet seniors Jayden Wright and Colin Stack have spent years developing a special connection on the court. It helped the Redwings to the Class 4A state championship last year and <a class=\"Link\" href=\"https://chicago.suntimes.com/high-school-basketball/scores/2026/03/09/ihsa-boys-basketball-state-finals-scores-illinois\" >Friday</a> at State Farm Center it made all the difference in a 39-38 semifinal win against DePaul Prep.</p><p>The game was tied with 2 seconds left and Benet was inbounding the ball under the basket. Redwings coach Gene Heidkamp and DePaul Prep coach Tom Kleinschmidt called a combined five timeouts, changing plays every time.</p><p>“We changed the play 15 times,” Heidkamp said. “Their defense is so good. It is hard to get the ball near the rim with [Rashaun] Porter and [Gus] Johnson and their length.”</p><p>The final play came down to the trust that has grown between Wright and Stack. Wright threw the ball up where only a 7-1 athlete could grab it. Stack did and was fouled.</p><p>“I have a lot of trust in Colin so I just tried to put it up where he could get it, and he had a good look at it,” Wright said.</p><p>Then the hard part fell to Stack. Two chances at a game-winning free throw with 1.1 seconds left. He missed the first and made the second.</p><p>“[Teammate] Ryan Walsh said 'it is you in an empty gym,'” Stack said. “That just really went through my head. I missed the first one. Then I blocked it out and focused on the second one.”</p><p>Even the final play came down to trust. Heidkamp scrapped his plans and trusted his players.</p><p>“Ed [Stasys] came to me in the huddle and said let's run this little action,” Heidkamp said. “That is not a play we have. That was Ed and Colin making it up, and it worked about as well as it could. [Wright] made a great play, kept the ball high.”</p><div class=\"Enhancement\" data-align-center> <div class=\"Enhancement-item\" data-crop=\"\"> <figure class=\"Figure\"><a class=\"AnchorLink\" id=\"image-a30000\" name=\"image-a30000\"></a> <picture data-crop=\"medium\"> <source type=\"image/webp\" width=\"490\" height=\"275\" data-srcset=\"https://cst.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/a3a87dc/2147483647/strip/true/crop/2000x1122+0+0/resize/490x275!/format/webp/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2F8b%2F93%2Fdd758fe84df5a8e80b127b161e96%2Fob-cst-031426-8013.jpg 1x,https://cst.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/c148aa2/2147483647/strip/true/crop/2000x1122+0+0/resize/980x550!/format/webp/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2F8b%2F93%2Fdd758fe84df5a8e80b127b161e96%2Fob-cst-031426-8013.jpg 2x\" data-lazy-load=\"true\" srcset=\"data:image/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciIHZlcnNpb249IjEuMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIyNzVweCIgd2lkdGg9IjQ5MHB4Ij48L3N2Zz4=\" /> <source width=\"490\" height=\"275\" data-srcset=\"https://cst.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/20be8b1/2147483647/strip/true/crop/2000x1122+0+0/resize/490x275!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2F8b%2F93%2Fdd758fe84df5a8e80b127b161e96%2Fob-cst-031426-8013.jpg\" data-lazy-load=\"true\" srcset=\"data:image/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciIHZlcnNpb249IjEuMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIyNzVweCIgd2lkdGg9IjQ5MHB4Ij48L3N2Zz4=\" /> <img class=\"Image\" alt=\"Benet's Ed Stasys (23) shoots a three against DePaul Prep at State Farm Center.\" srcset=\"https://cst.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/20be8b1/2147483647/strip/true/crop/2000x1122+0+0/resize/490x275!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2F8b%2F93%2Fdd758fe84df5a8e80b127b161e96%2Fob-cst-031426-8013.jpg 1x,https://cst.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/aa4dd81/2147483647/strip/true/crop/2000x1122+0+0/resize/980x550!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2F8b%2F93%2Fdd758fe84df5a8e80b127b161e96%2Fob-cst-031426-8013.jpg 2x\" width=\"490\" height=\"275\" data-src=\"https://cst.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/20be8b1/2147483647/strip/true/crop/2000x1122+0+0/resize/490x275!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2F8b%2F93%2Fdd758fe84df5a8e80b127b161e96%2Fob-cst-031426-8013.jpg\" data-lazy-load=\"true\" src=\"data:image/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciIHZlcnNpb249IjEuMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIyNzVweCIgd2lkdGg9IjQ5MHB4Ij48L3N2Zz4=\" > </picture> <div class=\"Figure-content\"><figcaption class=\"Figure-caption\"><p>Benet’s Ed Stasys (23) shoots a three against DePaul Prep at State Farm Center.</p></figcaption><span class=\"line\"></span><div class=\"Figure-credit\"><p>Allen Cunningham/For the Sun-Times</p></div></div> </figure> </div> </div><p>DePaul Prep (32-4) had the best chance to win at the end. The Rams had the ball with a minute left, and the score tied at 38. They ran the clock down to ten seconds but then Benet junior Perry Tchiegne stole the ball.</p><p>“We made some mistakes and they got some baskets to tie it up,” Heidkamp said. “Then they had the ball to win it, and we had a huge defensive stop. That was the difference in the game.”Wright led Benet (36-1) with 11 points and Stasys, a 6-8 junior, finished with 10 points and 10 rebounds.</p><p>“We weren’t going to be able to score, and they weren’t going to be able to score,” Kleinschmidt said. “We knew that. Both sides have tough kids that are competitors.”</p><p>Benet won the rebounding battle 26-16. The Redwings also beat DePaul Prep in the Pontiac Holiday Tournament title game in late December.</p><p>Porter led the Rams with 14 points and Rykan Woo scored 11.</p><p>The loss ends DePaul’s run of three consecutive state titles. They won the last two Class 3A titles and the 2A title in 2023.</p><p>Benet will face conference rival Marist in the 4A title game at 6 p.m. on Saturday.</p><div class=\"Enhancement\" data-align-center><div class=\"Enhancement-item\"> <div class=\"ExternalContent-wrapper\" > <div class=\"TweetUrl\"> <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Stack fouled. Heading to the line to try and win the game. <a href=\"https://t.co/pIeGCQUWMS\">pic.twitter.com/pIeGCQUWMS</a></p>— Michael O'Brien (@michaelsobrien) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/michaelsobrien/status/2032595693668270573?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">March 13, 2026</a></blockquote> <script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script> </div> </div> </div></div><p></p>",
"title": "Colin Stack's last-second free throw sends Benet to the 4A title game",
"updatedAt": "2026-03-14T01:54:41.184Z"
}