Bryant Duffy had a quiet game against Lake Catholic on Dec. 16. But with the Bengals down late, the junior had his number called and came through. Antwan Livingston inbounded to Duffy, who went up, drew contact while making the bucket and drawing the foul. He made his free throw to give Benedictine the lead for good in a 56-52 victory. “It was drawn up by Coach out of a timeout, and it was a really great play,” Duffy said. “I had to use my body, bump the defender a little bit and get an easy finish at the rim.” Benedictine improves to 4-2 on the season, and Lake Catholic falls to 2-3. The game was back and forth from the start. Benedictine took the lead on a Steph Bohanon steal and dish to Ford Schneider, who hit a hesitation layup. Lake Catholic responded with a pair of 3-pointers from Liam Coyne off the bench, the second of which was from the volleyball seven-meter line. Xander Smith responded with a deep ball of his own, and Tyler Hribar went on a baseline drive. Khaled Thompson and Carter Bogard hit 3-pointers that put Benedictine ahead late in the first, but Brody Boyd hit a bank shot to make it a 16-15 Cougars’ lead through the first. The Bengals two leading scorers had quiet nights, as Bohanon piked up two quick fouls and Duffy was unable to find the bottom of the net. But Coach Winston Grays had confidence in the younger players to step up. Schneider, a sophomore, did just that. In the second quarter, he hit a mid-range and a 3-pointer through contact to complete the four-point play. “These moments are big for them,” Grays said. “I just told them to believe in themselves. There is a lot of talent on this team, and I think we get to see it every day at practice. I see what they do and then also we got to see it on film. The game is not as fast for these young kids.” Lake Catholic had a fast start to third quarter, going on a 16-6 run. Brody Bohr started the run with a pair of triples, along with a pair of layups from Stanton Powaski and one from Colin Kleppel. Both sides struggled from beyond the arc in the second half, going a combined 2-for-13. The Cougars were able to control the paint early in the frame for the advantage. “It’s a tough play style, and we just have to get tougher,” Duffy said. “We got more physical than them later in the game. I feel like we’re a young team with a lot of potential, and it’s only up from here.” Bur Benedictine came back strong late in the frame. Bohanon had a revere layup and Bogard, a freshman, and Jonathan Spikes had layups in the final minute to toe the game at 44 going to the fourth. Bogard kept the momentum going with a pair of layups for the Bengals’ first points in the final frame. Despite the youth of the roster, Benedictine has three seniors, Grays is confident in the team’s ability to handle challenging environments like Lake Catholic. “We preach discipline every single day,” Grays said. “We have to be disciplined on both sides of the ball. And it was the same message when we got to three minutes left: Who was going to step up and get a stop or the big bucket?” The Bengals were led by Bohanon and Schneider with 11 while Livingston and Bogard had eight and Smith had seven. Lake Catholic came back with scores from Coyne and Kleppel. A stepback mid-range jumper from Bohr made it 50-49 Lake Catholic in the middle of the fourth. Benedictine took the lead back as Spikes stole the ball and found Livingston on the fast break as the clock went under two minutes. With 40 seconds left, Powaski recollected the handle of the ball in the paint and had a layup that made it 52-51 Lake Catholic. Duffy had his layup with 9.5 seconds left, and a free throw from Bohanon iced the game. Despite the loss, Coach Matt Moran has been impressed with his team’s growth through the first five games of the season. He knows it’s going to be a process and that the players have to be able to answer challenges like the tight battle with Benedictine. “I am proud of them,” Moran said. “Obviously there’s a lot of things we have to learn. We put ourselves in position to win, and we just have to get there. We left too many possessions empty in the fourth quarter. I thought after the first possession, we were going to have to completely switch defenses, but we stuck with it and I’m proud of how we defended.” The Cougars were led by Bohr with 17 points and Coyne with 10. Powaski had eight points and 10 rebounds. Lake Catholic hits the road for more NCC action against Holy Name on Dec. 19. Benedictine also hits the road for another long time rival in VASJ on the same day. THE SCORE Benedictine 56, Lake Catholic 52 ...read more read less