By FRED KRONER
fred@mahometnews.com
Once the postseason arrives, any victory is significant because it means the winning school gets to play another game.
Mahomet-Seymour’s boys’ basketball team earned itself another game Tuesday night with a milestone Class 3A regional quarterfinal triumph at home.
The Bulldogs dispatched Rantoul 64-50 to reach the 20-win mark for the season and for the fourth consecutive year.
For a basketball program that traces its history back more than a century — to 1912 — it is the first time in school history for 20-win seasons four years in a row in the sport.
“We’ve had good players,” head coach Chad Benedict said. “With the guys who came before, we talked about the Bulldog way, being successful, and I believe each year the senior class has left something behind to help grow the program.
“The second part is, I’ve been blessed with coaches. Coach (Eric) Andracke and Coach (Ryan) Martin have been here with me all 12 years. Coach (Steve) Kreps has been with us 11 years.
Coach (Toby) Willard at the junior high has been there all 12 years. And we have former players coming back to help. When you have that level of consistency, you’re able to establish an identity. I’m proud of the kids. They had to buy into what we were doing.”
One aspect that the coach has emphasized is to play regular-season opponents that will better prepare the team for the postseason.
“We’ve done that (four straight 20-win seasons) playing as tough of a schedule as we can make,” Benedict said. “It’s not like we sat back and had an easy schedule.
“We challenged our kids and put them in situations where they had to grow as athletes and as a team.”
Against Rantoul — an opponent M-S did not play in the regular season — the Bulldogs relied on contributions from multiple players.
Senior Cory Noe hit a season-high 32 points — including 12 of 14 accuracy from the free throw line — and sophomore Grant Coleman added 15 points on 7 of 11 accuracy from the field and also grabbed six rebounds.
Senior Noah Benedict pulled down a game-high 14 rebounds, handed out a game-high five assists and joined Noe as the team leaders in steals with two.
“Cory played a whale of a game,” Chad Benedict said. “We ran stuff for him and our guys did a great job finding him.
“We had a hard time getting rebounds and Noah went and got a bunch. He kept us well-organized on offense against Rantoul’s pressure and was special on the defensive end.”
Senior Holt Campion scored eight points and another Bulldog senior, Brooks Coetzee, added six points.
“Rantoul played hard and we could never get away and extend the lead,” said Chad Benedict, whose team led 15-13 after one quarter and 27-21 at halftime.
M-S (20-10 overall record) will play the winner of Wednesday’s semifinal game between Mount Zion and Urbana in Friday’s 7 p.m. regional championship game.
The Bulldogs split the two-game season series with Mount Zion and posted a two-point win over Urbana in the only meeting between the schools.
“We have a unique opportunity to win a championship in our final game on our own home court,” Chad Benedict said. “Our student section was great again (Tuesday). We love the support.”
Entering this season, the M-S Class of 2018 shared the school record for most consecutive 20-win seasons in basketball with the Class of 1993, each with three in a row.
With a win on Friday, the current senior class can make its mark in another area. The current mark for the most basketball wins in any four-year span is 87, held by the Class of 1963.
The Class of 2018 has had a hand in 86 wins after Tuesday’s regional semifinal conquest.
