Long-suffering Moline beats Benet to finally win its state title

CHAMPAIGN—Every summer, all over the state, there are major transfers that change the high school basketball hopes and expectations of schools and towns.

It happened in Joliet, when Jeremy Fears Jr. transferred back home to Joliet West. In Chicago, Kenwood and Simeon added future college basketball players.

In Moline, it was the arrival of 6-10 Iowa recruit Owen Freeman that changed everything.

Freeman left Bradley-Bourbonnais and joined fellow Iowa recruit Brock Harding, his club basketball teammate, in Moline.

From then on, the state title was the goal.

The Maroons have a tortured history at the state tournament. Moline is a proud basketball town, but it has never won a title and had not appeared in a state championship game since 1951.

Until Saturday.

The Maroons shook off the disappointment of fourth place finishes in 1934, 1935, 1945, a third place finish in 1940 and that runner-up in 1951.

Harding started hot and stayed aggressive and Moline led most of the way to a 59-42 victory against Benet in the Class 4A state championship game at State Farm Center.

“It still doesn’t feel real,” Harding said. “People told me teams not from Chicago or the ‘burbs don’t win it. We came here and shut them all up.”

Harding led the Maroons (35-3) with 28 points. Freeman had six points and nine rebounds and Jasper Ogburn added eight points.

“It’s so special to bring the championship back to a town like Moline,” Freeman said. “The community has been great. I can’t wait to celebrate.”

Benet basically played without leading scorer and rebounder Brady Kunka, who injured his ankle early in Friday’s semifinal win against New Trier. He checked in briefly late in the game with the Redwings trailing by 20.

Kirsten Stickney/For the Sun-Times

“[Harding] is an unbelievable player and he has the ability to control the game,” Benet coach Gene Heidkamp said. “They controlled it more than it got away from us. My hat is off to them, it was a well-executed gameplan.”

Brayden Fagbemi and Andy Nash each scored 12 for Benet (35-2) and Nik Abusara added 10 points and five rebounds. The Redwings shot 3 of 12 from three-point range and were 16-for-42 from the field.

Benet has never won a state title, this is its third loss in the 4A championship game in the last decade, coming after second place finishes in 2014 and 2016.

“I couldn’t be prouder of these guys,” Heidkamp said. “They gave us an unbelievable season. I couldn’t be prouder of my team and what they did for the school and the community.”