Top 10 Winter Sports Highlights
Winter is over. Well, technically, the winter high school sports season has come to an end for this area. As far as climate is concerned, we’re not about to make any predictions. What we can tell you is who made our Top 10 sports highlights for the winter season. It wasn’t an easy task coming up with some of these highlights – there were plenty to choose from. But after painstaking research, we were able to pare down the impressive sports moments to 10. Here you go, and, as always, no brooding, grandstanding or wagering!
10) Fenwick boys basketball
Fenwick head boys basketball coach John Quinn was honored at halftime during a game against Guerin for winning his 400th game at the helm of the Friars. Quinn, who has coached at Fenwick for more than 20 years, earned the mark a week earlier. But his team went on to defeat Guerin 66-46 with several of Quinn’s former players on hand. Michael Black finished with 15 points, including a dunk.
9) RB boys basketball
The Riverside-Brookfield boys basketball team edged highly-ranked Morton 59-57 in non-conference game on its home court.
Senior forward Shane Kilcoyne scored 18 points and grabbed 12 rebounds in the upset. “They know who we are now. This was the biggest game of the year for us. We were pumped. We played hard the whole game,” said Kilcoyne.
Sean McGonagill added 17 points to go along with his five assists for the Bulldogs, who led 30-27 at halftime.
8) Fenwick girls basketball
Accurate free-throw shooting in the final seconds by the Fenwick girls basketball team led to a 57-53 victory over the Marian Catholic and helped assure the Friars their 15th-straight East Suburban Catholic Conference Championship.
After a sluggish start that had the Friars trailing 12-7 after the first period and 25-22 at halftime, Fenwick’s Katlyn Payne powered her way to 10 points in the third, nine coming during her team’s 15-5 run. The junior finished with a team-high 23 points.
Fenwick’s other star junior, forward Tricia Liston, was held to just five points in the first half, but sank four key free throws and blocked a three-point attempt in the closing seconds to seal the victory. Liston finished with 18 points.
7) RB girls basketball
Fallon Ryan scored a career-high 31 points on Senior Night as the Riverside-Brookfield girls basketball team cruised to a 90-42 win over Ridgewood.
The Bulldogs posted a season-high in points. Regan Riley (19 points), Rachel Buccieri (16 points), Kiera Mallett (7 points) also contributed in racking up the 90 points for RB.
6) LT wrestling
Lyons Township wrestler Mike Ryan finished third overall at the Class 3A State Individual Wrestling Tournament.
Ryan finished third by defeating Trevor Wenmouth of Downers Grove South 10-1 in the 152-pound weight division.
5) LT gymnastics
Lyons Township gymnast Emily Urben took first place on the balance beam at the IHSA State Gymnastics Meet. Urben earned a score of 9.575 in the event.
Other notable LT finishes included Kristi Carling on the uneven bars (sixth, 9.325) and Taylor Southworth on the balance beam (sixth, 9.2).
Lyons finished sixth overall with a final team score of 146.200.
4) RB wrestling
Five Riverside-Brookfield wrestlers advanced out of the Lemont Sectional to compete in the Class 2A State Individual Finals.
Ernie Principe and Matt Regnier grappled to titles in their respective weight divisions at Lemont. Principe defeated Bowen’s Matthew Jefferson 12-6 to win at 112 pounds. Regnier, a senior, defeated Pat Kush of Richards 6-4 in overtime to advance at 215 pounds.
Two RB wrestlers finished second in their weight divisions. Nicko Torres (130-pound weight division) and Chris Russell (140) took second, while senior Don McGregor finished fourth at 160 pounds.
3) RB swimming
Riverside-Brookfield’s Graham Risley finished third in two events at IHSA State Meet. The Penn-state bound senior finished third in the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 48.56 seconds and third in the 100-yard backstroke in 49.78 seconds.
Risley advanced to the IHSA state meet by winning two events and helping out on a relay at the Fenwick Sectional.
2) Fenwick wrestling
Fenwick wrestler Bobby Barnhisel became a Class 3A State Wrestling Champion with a 5-0 overtime victory over Kevin Bialka of Lockport at 152 pounds. The senior, who was the only wrestler from Fenwick to advance to the state finals, closed out his high school wrestling career with a record of 42-2 on the season.
And the No. 1 sports highlight of the winter season was …
The Riverside-Brookfield boys basketball team draining 19 three-pointers in a single game to defeat Fenton 89-49.
The three-point mark tied R-B for third with the most made threes in a single game in state history. Riverside-Brookfield’s Derek Tomasek made six of the treys, and finished with 18 points. Ryan Jackson nailed 4 threes and finished with 17 points.