“The team is pretty good. We had a few tough losses, but we are trying to look beyond that and working hard to get to sectionals,” said Daniel (Jake) Fiesler.

Fiesler is the libero, a defensive specialist, for the varsity team. When asked about his goal for the season, he said, “To play.”  Fieseler was also the starting libero last year on the sophomore team.

The captains of the varsity team are Jack McCarthy,  Richard Green, and Joe Sauer. The starting lineup includes Brian Brown and Jack Gibson as outsiders, Green as setter, Sauer and  McCarthy as middle hitters, Mitch Molloy as right side and Fieseler as the libero. They are looking forward of finishing the season with big wins.

The sophomore team has had a good season so far with a record of 11-5.

“I feel the team has very good chemistry and the performance is much better than last year,” said John Payne.

The team had a five game winning streak and are trying to push to perfection. The captains on the sophomore team are Mike Chaney, Benjamin Brondos, and Christian Samson.

“This year we are doing really well and we have a really good winning record,” Said Brondos. Brondos is the setter for the sophomore team. “I want to lead the team as best as I can,” he added. Brondos was also the only freshmen last year to be on the sophomore team.

Competing on the team has been enjoyable for the players as well.  Payne said, “The people on [the team] and [Coach Jonathan] Gorny, everyone is so funny!”

The starting lineup for the team includes Mike Chaney and Samson as outside hitters, Brondos as setter, Tomek Sitko and Pablo Garcia as middle hitters, Tony Sampson as right side, and Nick Green as libero.

The freshmen team is trying their best to improve as a team.  So far the team has a 2-13 record.

“The team needs a lot of work. We need to learn how to work together more and learn how to not get so aggravated at each other, but overall, we show a lot of potential and need to just work as one,” said Danny Corcoran.

The freshman team does not have captains and does not have a set line up.  “I’m trying to be the best player I can be, on the court and off the court,” said Corcoran.

This year’s team is diverse, ranging from rookies to veteran tennis players. The balance of the team leads to what should be an interesting season.

Assistant Coach Tom Fuller said, “The varsity team is very young. The lack of experience will become important this season. We must gain valuable experience that will help us this season and in the future.”

Just as with any sport, with seniors going off to college, there is always a void to fill, but new seniors hope to rise up to leadership positions and help the younger athletes prosper.

Other athletes express their ideas for what they hope to contribute to the season. Marcus Yarka, sophomore, is one of the boys on the tennis team. Yarka said that, “We have to make sure that we can be efficient this year, we really need to make sure we play hard at our practices.” Hopefully the team can keep up that level of efficiency and resolve. Yarka also stated that, “It’s a good thing everyone enjoys the sport so much, it’s really a great way to stay focused on the season ahead.”

With any sport, there is always room for improvement, and everyone has their weaknesses. “Inexperience and the sectional assignment which puts us with LT and Hinsdale central is one of our biggest flaws,” says Fuller. It’s obvious that any sport would really have to crunch some bones to be able to measure up to those teams. Sophomore player Alex Muntean commented that, “We really just need to work hard, no matter who we’re up against.”

With a good conference to go against and a committed team, we can hopefully see the team do their best, we know that they have the skills to take the team far.

“I’m really excited for the upcoming season, I definitely think we will be improved from last year,” said Murphy. He is adamant on the team improving as a unit and developing the skills needed to perform at a high level in practice, in the hope that they will translate to the game.

Led by senior captains Nick Lazarra and Dylan Alarcon and juniors David Kidwell and Dan Somers, the team should be able to overcome the loss of Kyle Miller, who graduated last spring. Miller was the top goal scorer from last season and prided himself on his toughness and offensive prowess. With him gone, it will be the shoulders of Lazarra and Somers to carry most of the load.

After a very successful swim season, Coach Murphy is extremely excited about a group of young freshman who show promise and should contribute to the varsity level immediately.

“We have an enthusiastic group of freshman including Quinn Risley, Kevin Garza, and Anthony Colon who have added a lot to the team already,” said Murphy.

It is expected that sophomore goaltender Simon Kritikos keeps his spot in the net after a promising freshman year on the varsity level.

Recently at a Board of Education meeting, Athletic Director put forward a proposal to the Board that included cutting a few sports for next year, water polo being one of them. Coach Murphy is trying to make the best of a tough situation.

“Though I am obviously disappointed with the proposal, I understand the reasoning made behind the decision. In the meantime, I am coaching the players every day as if there will be a season next year,” said Coach Murphy.

The Bulldogs open the season with many tough games to start the year, included matchups with New Trier and Fenwick.

Heading into mid March, it is time for the water polo season to begin. The Girls Varsity water polo team, although very young, is looking to compete and play well against some of the best competition .

The girls are led by Juniors Emma Veon and Tessa Sundstrom, along with Veon’s younger sister Sidney. These girls are expected to carry a bulk of the load this season.

Coached to Joel Wallace, the team has high expectations and is looking to improve on a day to day basis.

“We are still a fairly young team with a lot of first time players. We are looking to continue to learn from our mistakes and improve each day as individuals and as a team,” said Sundstom.

The girls have exciting early season matchups with Marian Catholic, Maine East, and Lane Tech.

Many players like juniors Stephanie Lambruschini are looking to improve on their individual skills this season.

“I would like to become more aggressive and definitely improve my egg beater,” said Lambruschini.

The Bulldogs have an exciting season ahead of them with expectations higher than ever

Crane was in control from start to finish and won the Class 3A Regional Final with a 69-57 victory. This was the second straight season the bulldogs lost at home against Crane, losing last year 80-75 despite a 42 point performance by former guard Ryan Jackson.

The Bulldogs were searching for their 17^th straight victory after beating Fenwick on Tuesday to advance to the finals. They struggled the entire game, only holding a one-point lead after a free throw by Junior Miki Ljuboja to give the bulldogs a 5-4 lead. Crane led 14-8 after the first quarter and extended the lead to 32-25 at halftime. The Dogs never went away though, they continued to fight and eventually cut the deficit down to only four points late in the fourth quarter. The Cougars went on a run of their own to put the game away, highlighted by two ferocious dunks by Junior Kendal Sydney.

Ljuboja, although he scored 16 points, never seemed to get in rhythm throughout the game. Crane used 6-8, 260 pound center Kaylen Shane on Ljuboja which seemed to pay off for head coach Chris Head.  Shane used his size and strength to block multiple shots. He fouled out midway through the fourth quarter, but his presence down low was already felt as the game was out of reach.

Damonta Henry led the Bulldogs with 18 points while Senior forward Louis Marino chipped in with 13 points.

The loss ends another solid season for the Bulldogs. They ended their season with 23-5 record overall, with a 12-0 record in conference. RB also won their 11^th straight Metro Suburban Conference title, quite the feat, along with winning the Bill Vandemerkt Thanksgiving Classic.

With the loss to Crane, the careers of five RB seniors came to a close: Louis Marino, Jordan Dahms, Andrew Hanley, Chris Duplancich, and Luke Nortier. Dahms and Hanley, along with Junior David Aldalpe shot very well during the 3 Point Competition before the game against Crane, well enough to advance to the next round at Glenbard South.

Although the Bulldogs will be losing five key contributors to this year’s squad, the future seems extremely bright for RB. The team returns the inside-outside tandem of Ljuboja and Henry along with Eric Loury and Liam Lesniak ,a junior forward who played excellent down the stretch coming off the bench for the Bulldogs. Sophomore Will Kincanon, after leading the Bulldogs to a conference title on the lower level, is expected to make the jump to the varsity squad and will be counted on to make an immediate impact.

Even though the pain from a tough loss will linger far into the spring, there is consolidation in that the Bulldogs should be even stronger next year and will look to avenge their loss to Crane.

Though the season did not end in their favor, the girls enjoyed their time and were able to improve their skills. They had a team goal of 120 points of combined scores and they were able to attain that goal. The varsity team was made up of freshmen Jackie LaBelle, senior Kristen Santoro, junior Rachel Descola, and freshmen Reilly O’Donnell. One other spot was able to be alternating between the rest of the remaining teammates.

Freshmen Jackie LaBelle said, “The season went pretty well, the team didn’t do very well score wise, but we did improve a lot.”

Santoro said, “We were more enthusiastic this year and motivated to get better throughout the whole season. I also really enjoyed our bus rides to and from gymnastics meets. We had a lot of fun and many laughs.”

Instead of having a team Christmas Party, the team brought gifts for the Ronal McDonald house and war veterans.

The team was named one of the top three most improved gymnastics teams in the state of Illinois

Griggoletti, a freshman, had three matches in the regional meet. He won his first match and then moved on to his second one where he beat the number two ranked wrestler in the 285 weight class. At sectionals, Griggoletti didn’t have as good of a day as he did the previous weekend. He had two matches on Saturday and ended up losing both.

Griggoletti said, “I hope to make it back to the sectional meet next year and hopefully put up a good fight.” When asked if his season turned out the way he expected, he said, “It definitely turned out better than I expected; it was a very enjoyable experience.”

Schraidt, a junior that is on the varsity squad, also ended his season this past weekend at the Evergreen Park sectional meet. Leading into the meet he went 4-1 at the regional meet. When Schraidt got to the sectional meet, he went 0-2 against his opponents in the 152 weight class. Schraidt said that his season turned out much better than he had expected and he plans to condition a lot more in the off-season, especially running.

Though neither of the wrestlers were able to move on to the state meet this year, both of them are hoping to make it back to sectionals next year and make it to state. Both  wrestlers had outstanding seasons.

Senior and Co-captain Rachel Konopacz said, “We’re upset but we’re still happy to make half times, we enjoy the games, and the season is not over yet.”

With a deduction added from an incorrect flip flop to the cheerleaders score, it took them out of fifth place. This deduction was a missed call by the judges during the routine, saying one of the girls touched the floor doing a flip flop. Later, when the cheerleaders reviewed the tape, it showed that the move had been done correctly. They showed it to the judges who agreed they had made a mistake, but it was too late to take it back.

Head coach Chris Borzym said, “It’s like a basketball game when a referee makes a bad call. Its human error and nobody’s perfect. We just have to move forward and know we gave it our all.”

He also is looking forward to next year were he will remain the head coach on varsity cheerleading at RB. He plans on making a few changes for next year and become a little more strict. Though he’s staying, the seniors will be leaving.

Borzym said “I can’t thank them enough. I appreciate all the hard work they have put in and I will miss them all.”

Cheerleading is more than just a sport to these senior girls. When asked they all had one thing to say in common and that’s how close they all have become and the friendships they’ve made.   

“As a whole all the seniors are really close. It has been a great experience being with them for all four years,” said senior Kelly Kramer.

The girls varsity team competed in the Riverside Brookfield Classic Winter Tournament and made it to the final against Proviso West. The girls came up short, with a score of 59 to 38 Proviso. They defeated Lane Tech 58-27, Reavis 49-29, and Argo 55-41.

The girls have two wins in their last six, defeating Fenton and Iliana Christian.

“We’re going through a rough time right now, but I am confident that the team will start playing better,” said point guard Danielle Peco.

The team has been giving up too many turnovers as well as struggling with their defense and rebounding.

 “We make one too many turnovers and I know we can improve that,” said Peco.

Coach Dallas Till hopes the team will return to its early season form.

“It’s important that we start doing better and going back to how we started off the season, to get ready the state tournament in March,” he said.

The sophomores were also in the Winter Classic tournament, and also received 2^nd place, falling short to McHenry 48 to 34. On their road to the final, they defeated Lane Tech 37-27, Reavis 49-21 and Argo 49-23.

The freshmen have won three of their last six games, defeating Chicago Christian and Fenton. They are currently 6 and 9 out of their 19 game schedule.

Led by 6-7 Junior center Miki Ljuboja and Junior guard Damonta Henry, the Bulldogs have competed against some of the top talent in the Chicagoland area. In the season opener at home, the Dogs faced off against a very talented Urban Prep squad. Although they lost a close one by a score of 75-72, the Bulldogs showed a lot of grit and toughness. Henry led RB with a game high 26 points along with 9 rebounds.
On December 4^th, RB squared off with rival LT in an exciting game featuring two of the top programs in the area. Led by the Sixth Man cheering section, who sported a blackout for the game, the Bulldogs played with passion and fire for the full 32 minutes. Senior guard Andrew Hanley and forward Nazareth transfer Louis Marino both chipped in with 15 points each. Luke Nortier, nickname “Nortis” by the Sixth Man, had a great all around game with 8points, 6 rebounds, and 10 assists.

The Bulldogs have also played very well in non-conference games with victories over Maine South, St. Laurence, and St. Francis with Ljuboja and Henry leading the way.

Henry has paced the Bulldogs with a team-high 17.7 points a game. He has, without a doubt, done a great job of replacing Ryan Jackson who led the Dogs with over 20 points a game last season. He has been very clutch this season and has performed well in the biggest games, including a 25 point performance against Timothy Christian.

The Bulldogs have a very tough schedule down the stretch, one that includes seven straight road games, six of which are against conference opponents, followed up by two home games before the start of Regional’s. It seems as if this next month will determine how far the Dogs will go this season. The Bulldogs play this Friday, the 27^th against the Rebels from Ridgewood.

Coming into the season, the Bulldogs had extremely high expectations and were expected by most to win their 11^th straight conference title. They appear to be well on their way to capturing another title and making a deep run through the IHSA playoffs. Only time will tell if these Bulldogs are as good as their predecessors.

With the season in progress, the cheerleaders are hard at work. They have taken place in a few competitions and have a first place finish at Wilmington under their belt. With their successes have also come some disappointments. They came in 8th at Sandburg and 6th at Elk Grove.

Junior Hannah Likness said, “Our season’s been a little rocky. We haven’t been consistent with our competitions but every practice we’re working hard and accomplishing the skills we need and are working towards.”

12-year varsity coach Chris Borzym has a sense of perspective on the season. “We have had our ups and downs … along with injuries but were healthy now,” he said. The team has now set its sights on State and equaling or improving on their second place finish from two years ago. Last year, the team made it to State but did not place or proceed beyond the first day of competition.

Borzym said, “This team is better than last year’s and can be as good as two years ago.”

The team will be hosting conference at RB on January 24th. After that they will move on to hosting sectionals on the 28th. The top five teams move on to state in on February 3rd and 4th.

Poms aiming to return to State for 5th straight year

Head Poms coach Mo Gorman said,” Our main goal is to qualify for state and to strive for professionalism in our routines.” Poms has qualified for State in each of the past four years, all under Gorman’s coaching.

“We are trying hard to qualify for state and have high hopes on doing so,” said senior Kara Kruse.

Pom’s is not an IHSA sport but will become one next year. As of now, they compete in Team Dance Illinois AA open pom. The Poms squad has already placed 1st, 2nd and 5th in their three competitions. They will compete at Waukegan on January 22nd, at Oswego East on February 5th, at Lincoln West on February 11th and at Andrew on February 18th.

They also host conference the same day as the Cheerleaders on January 24th. Sections will be on January 28th and State takes place on March 4th in Peoria.