Benet’s Liam Lyman was ready for the challenge.
At 6-foot-4, 200 pounds, Lyman can hold his ground. And despite giving up three inches and 15 pounds to Stevenson star forward Justin Smith, Lyman was determined not to back down.
“I didn’t care how many points I scored,” Lyman said of the Indiana-bound Smith. “I knew I had to come in and do the job on Justin. He’s a really good player. I knew that he’d come out in the second half really aggressive, but I just had to try to do the best I could on him, especially with the help of my teammates.”
His solid job defensively on Smith — coupled with a game-high 24 points – was the driving force in Benet’s 69-53 victory on Tuesday.
Lyman limited Smith to just three points in the first half.
Smith eventually got going with 14 points in the second half to finish with 17 and 11 rebounds.
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But the tone was already set because of Lyman’s work on both ends of the floor for the Redwings (17-6).
“He played really well,” Benet coach Gene Heidkamp said of Lyman. “We knew he had a very difficult matchup playing against a great player like Justin Smith. We knew that he would give it everything he had. Not only did he play well defensively, I thought offensively, obviously, he played very well. Our team, collectively, played well offensively. Liam really stepped up and answered the challenge on both ends.”
Besides Lyman’s 24 points, the Redwings got 22 from Jack Nolan.
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A 3-pointer by Willie Herenton gave Stevenson (15-4) a 3-2 lead, but it was the only time Benet trailed all night.
With Lyman and Nolan combining on 13 of the Redwings’ first 20 points, they got off to the quick start they wanted in running to a 20-7 lead midway through the half.
Benet hit on four 3-pointers in a first half during which it led by as much as 14 points.
Nolan tallied 10 points in the half, including two 3-pointers, while Lyman added seven.
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“This was a huge win for our team,” Nolan said. “We really came together as a team during this game. It was really important for us to get a big win going down the stretch of the season. It kind of builds momentum. I thought we really played well.”
Blake Baumgartner is a freelance writer for the Naperville Sun.