Brayden Fagbemi’s putback rescues No. 1 Benet in a sectional final. But his drive and dish make it possible.

Benet’s season was in danger of sinking, but Brayden Fagbemi was a sea of tranquility.

The senior point guard projected an air of calm as the Redwings came out of a timeout trailing upset-minded Geneva by a point with 20 seconds left in the Class 4A Bartlett Sectional championship game on Friday night.

“When it comes down to the final minute like that, all you think about are the bad things,” senior guard Niko Abusara said. “But Brayden told me, ‘Hold your composure. We got this.’”

Fagbemi was right. The Johns Hopkins recruit scored on a putback with 1.3 seconds left to lift top-ranked Benet to a thrilling 35-34 victory.

The Redwings’ fans were over the moon, storming the court after the presentation of the championship plaque.

Benet (33-1), which has won 17 straight games and is ranked No. 1 in the 4A poll by The Associated Press, will play Rockford Auburn (23-13) in the NIU Supersectional in DeKalb at 7:30 p.m. Monday.

How did Fagbemi keep his cool?

“I think just knowing we had it in us,” Fagbemi said. “We’ve been in situations like this before throughout the season. There was definitely more at stake this game because it was playoffs.”

That’s what made the final play so impressive. Third-seeded Geneva (25-10) trailed by as many as nine points in the third quarter. But Tanner Dixon capped a 14-6 run by scoring on a layup to give the Vikings a 34-33 lead with 48.5 seconds remaining.

Benet coach Gene Heidkamp called two timeouts, initially to no avail.

“Their defense was so good, we still couldn’t get anything,” Heidkamp said. “I thought our kids showed a lot of poise at the end of the game. We didn’t panic as the clock ran down. Brayden made a big play.”

The clock was down to eight seconds when Fagbemi drove the right side of the lane and slid a short pass to Abusara, who missed the layup.

But Fagbemi, who is listed at 6 feet but may be shorter, leaped high in a crowd to grab the rebound and lay it in. Geneva’s last-ditch shot from 60 feet missed.

“I thought Niko was going to make the layup,” Fagbemi said. “He’s going to make that 99 times out of 100, so the one time he misses I’ve got to be there and clean it up.”

Fagbemi was a little fuzzy on the exact details. He didn’t notice the defenders who contested the shot.

“My mind was on the basket,” he said. “I didn’t really know if it was contested or not. I’m betting it was, but I was just focusing on the rim.”

The Dartmouth-bound Abusara, who scored a game-high 13 points but also missed several contested layups, was just focused on the result.

“I should have made the shot, but it’s all good,” he said. “Brayden got clutched up and got the offensive rebound.”

Senior forward Brady Kunka scored 10 points, including a 3-pointer that gave Benet a 33-30 lead midway through the fourth quarter. The Redwings didn’t score again until Fagbemi, who had eight points and two assists, did his thing at the end.

Heidkamp said it was actually two things.

“The tip-in is going to get the publicity, but the play was the drive to get in the lane to make the pass,” he said. “The pass led to a good shot, which caused help, and Brayden was able to clean it up.

“Brayden is an unbelievable athlete. He got up there and made the play. How many guys who are 5-9, 5-10 guys can make a play like that?”

Especially to win a game. Had Fagbemi ever hit a game-winner before?

“I don’t think so,” he said. “Definitely not of that magnitude.”

Matt Le Cren is a freelance reporter for the Naperville Sun.