Loss in Regional Final ends Bulldogs basketball season

All good things have to come to an end eventually, and that appeared to be very evident in the Regional Final. The Bulldogs battled all night against the talented team from Crane Tech, but in the end they came up short, ending their season.

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.

Led by Ljuboja and Henry, boys basketballers start 13 and 4

 Already halfway through the season, the boy’s varsity basketball team is well on their way to yet another conference title. The Bulldogs have started strong by winning 13 of their first 17 games, including a 4-0 record in conference play.

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.

PREVIEW: Boys Basketball shoots for 11th straight title

Coming off of a 23-6 campaign and their second straight regional championship, the Boy’s varsity basketball team has extremely high expectations and is the odds on favorite to win their 11^th straight Conference title.

 Tom McCloskey returns for his 16^th season as the head coach of the boys’ varsity squad, looking to continue an excellent tradition of winning at the school. As the head coach of RB, McCloskey has won 70% of his games overall, with a winning percentage of 89% in conference games. McCloskey looks to add to this mark this upcoming season.

The team will take a big hit with the losses of former center Alex Dziagwa, and guard Ryan Jackson who averaged 25.2 points a game. Both are playing college basketball this year, at Augustana and Lewis University respectively. Senior forwards Chris Duplancich and Louis Marino will be expected to make the jump into the starting lineup and contribute in a big way.

Also, a strong junior class, who won the conference title as sophomores, will be expected to emerge as key contributors on the bench. One such contributor, 5’11’’ guard Hunter Claire, will add a needed toughness and grittiness on defense. Claire will look to improve on a strong sophomore campaign and carry that success to the varsity level.

“I really want to improve my shooting, get my three to fall on a consistent basis, and be able to handle pressure when dribbling the ball,” said Claire.

The biggest question mark coming into the season is who will take on the bulk of the scoring now that Jackson has graduated. The scoring is most likely going to come from Junior Damonta Henry, a combo guard, who’s capable of doing multiple things on the court. He’s lightning quick and can get into the paint with ease, but he has the leaping ability to rebound with the best of them. It’ll be interesting to see if he can step up and lead the Bulldogs to a conference title.

The Bulldogs open their season with the annual Thanksgiving Tournament in December. The Bulldogs will also compete in the Derrick Rose Shootout against Farragut. Then, the conference schedule begins where Dogs look to take control early, and bring home yet another title.

Bulldog ballers beat Miami Heat’s Big Three

APRIL FOOL’S DISCLAIMER:
The story below is intended as humor only and is not intended to be accurate.  All RB community participants in the story provided written permission for their names to appear.

Everyone knows about the Miami’s big three of LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, and Chris Bosh. They are arguably the best players in the NBA. The Heat’s record is 48-22 and have been on a little slump lately.

Some teams they have lost to that don’t have the greatest records are: The Los Angeles Clippers, Denver Nuggets, Indiana Pacers, and the Memphis Grizzlies etc. This shows that they can lose to any team and the big three still aren’t on the same page.

The Heat’s last game was against the Riverside Brookfield Bulldogs. The match was very tough and it was a bad beat for the Heat. The Bulldogs big three consists of: Ryan “Action” Jackson, Alex “Z” Dziagwa, and Charlie “Doc” Morrissey. These three can play together that’s for sure and they all put up huge numbers, so we all knew who would win this game.

The final score was 172 to 58 for the Bulldogs, it was just practice for them. The Bulldogs big three put up 160 out of the 172 points. Ryan “Action” Jackson put up 75 big points. Alex “Z” Dziagwa scored 40 points and put up a whopping 50 blocks. Charlie “Doc” Morrissey scored 45 points, all coming from beyond the three point line, that’s fifteen threes. Also some other small contributions from the team were Nate Hanley with 5 points, Luke Nortier also with 5 points, and Mike Lebeau with 2 points and five fouls.

This game was complete destruction from the Bulldogs, it was pretty much practice to them, that is practice that was on T.V. The Heat’s big three is no match for the Bulldogs big three.

Boys’ basketball advances to sectional championship

The boys’ basketball team never backed down after trailing by twelve points with five minutes left in the first half, or even after trailing by seven with three minutes left in regulation. Senior star point guard and Lewis University commit Ryan Jackson led the Bulldogs to victory over the Orr Spartans (15-10) and University of Illinois recruit Mycheal Henry 60-54 on Wednesday night, with Illini Coach Bruce Weber in attendance.  Jackson dropped 23 big points on a night where the Bulldogs seemed to struggle from the field.

Orr seemed to slow the pace of the game when they had the ball, and kept the Bulldogs in check offensively. But the Dogs kept forcing the issue, continuing to take long range shots until they started to fall.

6’9” senior forward Alex Dziagwa had his best game of the season adding 17 points and 12 boards, capping off the win with an electrifying dunk with 27 seconds left to play that sent the crowd into a frenzy. After the monster performance “Z” was all smiles, embracing the mob of students that stormed the court to celebrate with the team.

“It was a huge win”, said Dziagwa. “First time we’ve ever won a sectional game; we’re making history.”

He also acknowledged crowd, most notably RB’s student section the “Sixth Man”, saying, “Right before the tip-off for the second overtime, I looked up into the Sixth Man and saw everyone holding up their Z’s and that’s when I knew we were going to win.”

The Dogs trailed for most of the game, missing their first nine three-point attempts, but played suffocating defense to keep Orr close. Senior forward Mike LeBeau and junior forward Luke Nortier were able to contain Henry to 14 points and held Ball State recruit and senior guard C.J. Jones to 15 points while forcing some critical turnovers in the key moments of the game.

Jackson hit a pair of free throws with 48 seconds remaining in regulation to tie the game at 40, and after an unsuccessful possession for the Spartans, Jackson missed a hit a half-court shot sending the contest into overtime. He then drained a three-pointer to start the first overtime, but Orr came charging back and eventually took a two point lead with 12 seconds to play. That’s when Jackson received the ball in the post and made a beautiful spin move lay-up to force double overtime.

In the second OT, Dziagwa took over by dominating on the boards, blocking Henry on two separate occasions, creating plays down low that forced Henry to foul out of the game, and scoring 10 of the last 12 RB points including the last 8 points of the game after going 6 of 6 from the charity stripe.

The Bulldogs will face Crane tonight at 7:30 at RB for the sectional championship.

Jackson pacing Boys’ Basketball at midseason

The Boys’ Basketball team is continuing to have a successful season thus far, charging out to a 12-4 record. Ryan Jackson has steadily paced the team all season long, dropping over 30 points several times and recently scoring 40 in a win over Illiana Christian. Jackson also recently became a member of the 1,000 point club at RB, just the 9^th player to do so.

The Dogs are still undefeated in conference play, and aim to run the table in their remaining conference games leading up to the state playoffs. Last year the Bulldogs’ season ended in heartbreaking fashion after a buzzer beater sent the game into overtime against the eventual victors Marshall Commandos.

The Bulldogs have also received solid play from seniors Charlie Morrissey, Alex Dziagwa, Nate Hanley, Jake Johnson, Watoris Slater, and Mike LeBeau. In addition, one of their biggest contributors this season is sophomore Damonta Henry, who led the sophomore team last year as a freshman. Junior Luke Nortier has also been solid off the bench thus far, and is earning more and more minutes each game.

Friday, the Bulldogs will welcome the Ridgewood Rebels and also feature the Alumni Game. The senior guard Morrissey is not taking Ridgewood lightly. However, he feels that there’s a few important ways to beat the Rebels, “The Rebels have 12 or 13 guards on their team, so I think if we can stop their three-point shooting and protect against the drive and kick-out offense we should be able to win.”

The team has lost quite a bit of depth from last season, but they feel that they still have the talent to recapture last season’s success and build on it. Coach Tom McCloskey has his kids playing at a high level, something that he feels confident in. They have nine games left on their regular season schedule and seven of them are conference games.

They will have the tough task of traveling to North Park University on Saturday to play Farragut Career Academy, ranked #3 in the state. They also host Morton on Tuesday, February 22^nd, which is Senior Night at RB. In all likelihood the Dogs will be in a good position to receive a higher seed come playoff time, most likely receiving a #5 or #6 seed in their Sectional.

Basketballer Ryan Jackson commits to Lewis

Not many student athletes in high school continue to play sports at the collegiate level. North Riverside’s very own Ryan Jackson has committed to play basketball at Lewis University located in Romeoville, Illinois. He plans to study aviation while playing at Lewis.

The 6’2” senior point guard turned downed several Division 1 offers from Chicago State, North Dakota, South Dakota State, West Point, and Utah Valley. When asked why he chose a division 2 school over the schools, Jackson said, “The location, it’s close to home. Also I really like the coaching staff and the general atmosphere of Lewis.” 

Jackson has been on the varsity basketball team since his sophomore year. He recently led the team against the Lyons Township Lions having a huge game dropping 33 points last Saturday. When asked how he felt after the game, he said “My finger tips were burning after the game. I had to put my hand in bucket of ice immediately after.”

Jackson is a court leader and a valuable asset to the Bulldog’s season this year.  His swagger and court presence are unmatched to most players. The team hopes to win the conference for the tenth year in a row with the help of Jackson.

Hoops fever is sky high

With the boy’s basketball season finally here, Riverside Brookfield High School could not be more pumped. With nine players returning for another season, the Bulldogs are back and better than ever.

The starting five players are a strong core of athletes including three all conference returners: Six foot one inch guard Senior Sean McGonagill, six foot guard Senior Billy VandeMerkt, and six foot two inch guard Junior Ryan Jackson. Added to those three are six foot five inch center Senior Terrence Reed, who will be commanding the paint this year, and six foot one inch guard/forward Junior Watoris Slater, who will be a rebounding machine. Both of these players are sure to help ensure the team victory.

The Bulldogs also have a strong core of players that will be coming off the bench. Six foot eight inch center Junior Alex Dziagwa, six foot four inch guard Senior Mike Hansa, six foot one inch guard/forward Senior Mark McDonagh, five foot eleven inch guard Senior Nick Arias, and five foot eleven inch guard Senior Matt Meindl, will all provide relief to the starting five.

The Bulldogs opened up their season this past weekend at the Bill VandeMerkt tournament hosted at RB. The team dominated the competition winning their second consecutive title by beating Payton 65-26, Hinsdale South 73-49, and rival Nazareth 69-45. 

The Bulldogs are looking to keep their undefeated season going by taking on the Tigers of Elmwood Park on Friday, December 4^th at 7 p.m. Come cheer on the Bulldogs, wear your blue and white, and be ready to scream your heart out.

The unsung heroes: The Sixth Man

Football season is now over. This means that it’s time for RB to focus on its next big sports craze, basketball! The 2009-2010 basketball season is quickly approaching and hoops fever is high.

The team this year will be led by future Brown University superstar and senior, Sean McGonagill and returning junior, Ryan Jackson, who came off a sensational sophomore year. With these two players returning this year, the team looks better than ever.

Possibly more important than these two stars, however, is the RB basketball cheering section, The Sixth Man. At home games, more than 100 spirit-filled RB students yell, scream, and cheer on the Bulldogs.

“The goal of The Sixth Man is to give the team a confidence boost during the game and also get in the heads of the other team’s players, and psyche them out,” said senior Ian Robertson, who plans to lead The Sixth Man this upcoming season.

Over the years, The Sixth Man has helped the Bulldogs prevail against many difficult opponents by making their presence known.

“The Sixth Man definitely gives us a home court advantage,” said senior Forward/Guard Mark McDonagh, “every team that comes into our house knows that The Sixth Man is going to be relentless, so they start the game off with a disadvantage.”

Another thing The Sixth Man wants to bring to the table this year is not only going to home games, but games on the road too.

“Playing on the road is one of the hardest things our team has to do. Having The Sixth Man there will definitely make us feel at home,” said senior Shooting Guard Mike Hansa.

The Sixth Man has some big plans for the upcoming season. “We are going to try a lot of new and different things this season to help get our team win a state championship,” said Robertson, “we are going to use black outs, rally towels, and different costumes. Be ready for anything!”

The RB Basketball Season tips off on November 25^th at RB. The team will be there, The Sixth Man will be there…will you?