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Chicago Tribune
06-03-2025
- Sport
- Chicago Tribune
Benet's Daniel Pauliukonis is a challenge for Waubonsie Valley. The SIU recruit's ‘playing at a high level.'
Benet senior forward Daniel Pauliukonis looked at the sellout crowd and felt inspired. The Southern Illinois recruit couldn't have asked for more for the Redwings' home game against Waubonsie Valley in the Class 4A Benet Sectional semifinals. 'It was electric,' Pauliukonis said. 'It was a great environment to play in. Thanks to the Benet community. They all came out. I'm extremely proud of them.' No doubt the Benet fans were proud of Pauliukonis, who scored a season-high 23 points to lead the third-seeded Redwings to a 63-45 victory over the second-seeded Warriors. Senior point guard Blake Fagbemi had a feeling during warmups that the 6-foot-9 Pauliukonis was going to have a great game for Benet (29-5), which advances to the sectional final to play fourth-seeded Downers Grove North (26-8) at 7 p.m. Friday. 'He was hitting a lot,' Fagbemi said. 'Before the game, I was telling him if we get it to him early, we're going to have a good game. 'He got it going early. He followed that plan, and it worked out.' That it did. Pauliukonis hit his first shot, a 3-pointer, to break a 2-2 tie and start a 10-0 run by the Redwings, who didn't trail after that. Pauliukonis made 9 of 12 shots, including 5 of 7 from beyond the arc. 'Daniel is playing at a high level right now,' Benet coach Gene Heidkamp said. 'He's really come into his own and is having an outstanding season. 'His confidence is very high, and he's playing like it. We're trying to get as much out of his senior year as possible.' It would be hard for Heidkamp to get much more out of Pauliukonis or any of the other Redwings than he did against the Warriors (31-3), who got buried by a blizzard of 3-pointers and other shots. Benet shot 69%, hitting 9 of 13 3-point attempts and 24 of 35 overall. Junior guard Jayden Wright and 7-0 junior center Colin Stack each scored 16 points on a combined 12-of-17 shooting. Fagbemi scored five points and took only one shot after halftime but had nine assists. 'I just make the right play,' Fagbemi said. 'Just stay aggressive on the drives, and we know if we play inside-out basketball, we are going to get good shots. 'Sometimes I score. Sometimes I pass it. Whatever the defense shows us. It makes my job easier.' And the job for opposing defenses much harder. 'The name of the game is to try to keep Blake out of the paint and creating for others, but it's a lot harder to do in reality than theoretically,' Waubonsie Valley coach Andrew Schweitzer said. 'We did a deep dive looking at the five losses that they had, and the one commonality is they didn't shoot the three that well. 'We knew that's one thing we had to take away, and I felt most of them were contested pretty well. But credit to Benet. They executed, and they shot the crap out of the ball.' Senior guards Joshua Tinney and Tyreek Coleman scored 14 points and 11 points, respectively, for the Warriors, who got within 14-12 on Coleman's turnaround jumper late in the first quarter. But Pauliukonis answered with a baseline drive to start a 12-4 run that senior guard Michael Doyle capped with a 3-pointer that gave Benet a 26-16 lead. Tinney scored the first five points of the second half to cut the gap to 34-29, but Benet responded with a 12-0 run, capped by a Pauliukonis dunk. 'We stayed poised as a team, moved the ball,' Pauliukonis said. 'All of us played well together.' Which was impressive, especially considering the opponent. The Warriors, who set their program record for wins this season, went 58-6 over the past two seasons while winning back-to-back DuPage Valley Conference titles for the first time. 'They're an excellent team,' Heidkamp said. 'If that was not our best game, it was one of our best games. 'We played well together offensively, and I thought we really competed at a high level defensively. That was a really solid game for us on both sides of the floor.'
Chicago Tribune
01-03-2025
- Sport
- Chicago Tribune
Despite changing roles, Kael Adkins enjoys the ride as a senior for West Aurora. ‘It's been a crazy roller coaster.'
West Aurora's Kael Adkins was well aware that all good things must come to an end. It didn't make this finish any easier to take, however. The 6-foot-5 senior guard earned an opportunity early this season that he wasn't expecting and then made the most of things despite changing roles for the Blackhawks. 'It's been a crazy roller coaster, certainly not like the year before,' Adkins said. 'My junior year, I watched the team play really good basketball but was at the back of the bench, the last to go in. 'Our season started off, and it was bad and good at the same time. I thought I'd be the sixth or seventh man, and I was one of the go-to guys with everybody out with injuries, grades and stuff.' Adkins proved he was ready again Friday night, scoring the first and last baskets for fifth-seeded West Aurora on 3-pointers and finishing with a team-high 15 points in a 52-45 loss to Downers Grove North in the Class 4A Downers Grove South Regional championship game. It was the first loss of 2025 for the Blackhawks (21-9) and snapped a 16-game winning streak that coincided with Jan. 4 return from injury by senior forward Terrence Smith, an Iowa football recruit. 'I thought Kael played well,' West Aurora coach Michael Fowler said. 'He's a good breed. He's fun to be around — fun to have in the program. He's always upbeat, and he came to play.' Fowler mixed and matched his lineup for the first two months and Adkins took advantage. 'He stuck with us and deserves it,' Fowler said. 'He shows up and comes to work. He understands what's going on. He came out ready to play. Unfortunately, we didn't have enough.' Smith scored 10 points and sophomore point guard Travis Brown added nine for West Aurora. Fourth-seeded Downers Grove North (25-8) advances to a 7 p.m. Tuesday semifinal in the Class 4A Benet Sectional against top-seeded Bolingbrook (27-4), which beat Oswego East 49-40. The Trojans gave West Aurora's offense trouble, clogging up the passing lanes with their length. Bobby Grganto, a 6-6 senior forward, was a force inside in scoring a game-high 20 points. Grgnato benefitted from the absence of senior center Gabe Gonzales, who was in foul trouble all game for West Aurora after picking up a pair in the first two minutes. Downers North pulled away in the third quarter, sparked by runs of 7-0 and 9-0. 'I just thought we had a stretch in the third quarter where it got away from us,' said Fowler, whose Blackhawks trailed 43-30 entering the fourth. 'Once that team gets ahead of you, they're gonna make you pay with their patience and make you work at the offensive end. They made us pay.' Adkins said those spurts took the Blackhawks out of their game. 'We were trying to force up threes,' he said. 'I definitely shot one I should have pump-faked on and driven. They were closing out hard on the threes. 'They went on their run and stalled the game out. We knew that's what they'd try to do and knew it was important to keep the lead. They hit a few tough shots in that third quarter.' Losing Gonzales for stretches also hurt, according to Adkins. 'They called a charge on him that I thought was a block,' Adkins said. 'We couldn't get Gabe and Terrence going in the high-low action we hoped to use.' Still, Adkins enjoyed the season and hopes to play next season somewhere in college. 'It was a great run, especially when Terrence came back,' Adkins said. 'I stopped worrying about scoring and tried to play more of the defensive, rebound, take care of the ball and pass it role. 'It was fun dousing coach with water in the locker room after several big wins. He'd have to get the mop out, but he loved it.' Originally Published: March 1, 2025 at 12:33 AM CST
