The Benedictine locker room was silent. The Cadets changed out of their jerseys and shorts and packed their bags in a solemn mood. They had just defeated St. Albans 61-
52 in the first round of the Benedictine Capital City Classic. But by the look of the team, one would never have known.

The No. 6 Cadets struggled to score in the second half, lost the lead they had held most of the game and were “out-toughed” by St. Albans, Benedictine coach Sean McAloon said.
“A win is a win,” Cadets senior Jordan Burgess said. “Ugly or not.”

Burgess scored 18 points Tuesday night and led his team with eight rebounds. Charles
George had 13 points.

Those two are the only Cadets back from last year’s squad with significant experience. The Cadets, who had future Division I players in Mike Gbinije (Duke) and Trey Davis (Richmond) on the roster, won a VIS state championship a year ago.

This year, they’re much younger. Juniors Nick Coppola and Nick Gorski have transferred from Cosby, and much of the roster has moved up from junior varsity.

That leaves the Cadets with five underclassmen on the roster and a host of inexperienced seniors. Also missing is F/C Victor Shaheen, who has a broken foot. He needed surgery and isn’t expected back until February.

While Burgess, who committed to VCU in June, wouldn’t call it a rebuilding year, he admitted things were much easier last year. But as the season progresses, he said, he expects the Cadets to be right where they need to be.

In the fourth quarter, Burgess was where he needed to be, muscling his way to the basket and toward rebounds. His effort helped fuel a fourth quarter resurgence that gave the Cadets’ their slim victory.

“Look how hard he plays. He’s a monster,” McAloon said. “He knows what it takes to get wins. We’ve got to get tough every time.”

Midway through the second quarter, the Cadets led 27-18 and seemed to have a firm hold on the game. Then a hot streak by St. Albans guard Michael Wiacek narrowed the lead to three points. Wiacek scored 12 of his team’s 14 points in the second quarter. But Wiacek couldn’t find the basket again for the rest of the night.

In the third quarter, the Cadets made mistake after mistake, and their lead dwindled. For the night, the Bulldogs outscored the Cadets in points off turnovers 16-9 and second- chance points 17-7.

St. Albans racked up 16 points in the third quarter, while Benedictine managed only eight.

“We came upstairs so flat,” McAloon said. “They came out tougher, and we backed down.”

The rebounds finally started to fall in Cadet hands in the fourth quarter. Benedictine scored 10 of its 20 points in the quarter on free throws.

With 53 seconds left in the game, Burgess dunked the ball with both hands, giving the Cadets a nine point lead and putting Benedictine convincingly ahead.

Eric Kolenich is a staff writer for the Richmond Times Dispatch.

ST. ALBANS (4-6) — Spencer 5, Mi.
Sniezek 3, Wiacek 16, Howell 10, Kiernan
4, Bader 2, Ma. Sniezek 4, Fraser 0,
Forney 8, Catalanotto 0, Miller 0. Totals
18 13-19 52.
BENEDICTINE (7-2) — Coppola 2,
George 13, Gorski 2, Burgess 18, Burnett
12, Gill 0, Wilson 5, Fleming 4, Fehl
2, Hudson 3, F. Shaheen 0. Totals 19 22-
33 61.
St. Albans 12 14 16 10 — 52
Benedictine 17 16 8 20 — 61
3-point goals – SA: Wiacek 2, Spencer;
B: Burnett.