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WSN15: Boys Basketball Top Moments #7 -- Bennett unlikely hero as Dominican completes five peat

02/06/2018, 10:15am CST
By Mark Miller

The WSN15 series will celebrate the 15th Anniversary of WisSports.net by looking back at the top players, teams, and moments of the past 15 years (2003-2017). 

We begin our WSN15 boys' basketball series with the Top 15 Moments of the WSN Era.

Sometimes it takes an extra special performance from an individual player to win a state championship.

Though Dominican had won WIAA Division 4 state titles in 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015, it had the luxury of having Diamond Stone in the post to dominate each of those championship games for the Knights.

In 2015-16, with Stone playing at Maryland, Dominican looked vulnerable. 

In fact, heading into the 2016 D4 title game, Dominican was considered by some to be a slight underdog to unbeaten Cameron, which featured a pair of stellar seniors in Peyton Dibble (6-6) and Max Verdegan (6-5) along with a very promising sophomore in Gunner Wilder (6-1).

But Dominican got a superhero-like performance from an unlikely player and recorded a convincing 62-43 victory to become the first school in WIAA boys' basketball history to win five state titles in a row. 

Junior Jake Bennett (6-2) averaged a rather modest 6.5 ppg during the season, but he exploded for a career-high 25 points against Cameron to lead the way for the Knights. 

Bennett made 7 of his 10 attempts from three-point range to provide Dominican the room it needed to turn back Cameron, which finished the season 26-1.

Bennett, a four-year player who never averaged in double scoring figures but provided mental and physical toughness to the Knights' lineup, made 4 of 5 shots from beyond the arc in the first half to give Dominican a 35-26 lead at intermission.

Cameron, though it got 17 points apiece from Dibble and Verdegan, could get no closer than the halftime margin of nine points in the second half.    

Senior Kostas Antetokounmpo (6-11) had 10 points, 8 rebounds and 3 blocked shots to help support Bennett's moment in time. 

The victory was also sweet vindication for Dominican coach Derek Berger. Few gave Berger much credit for Dominican's previous titles, citing the presence of Stone as the major reason for the Knights' success.

But in 2015-16, Dominican went 27-1 without Stone and won a record fifth state title, including four under Berger. 

For the latest and most up to date boys' basketball news and recruiting information, follow Mark on Twitter @wisbbyearbook. Email story ideas, recruiting info, etc. to Mark at wbnews@yahoo.com.

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