In addition to the Riverside-Brookfield girls basketball team’s convincing wins over IMSA, 75-46, and Elmwood Park, 62-43, the Bulldogs’ weekend was “twice as nice” due to the continued development of promising sophomores Meghan Orgler and Kiley Rusen.

Orgler scored a career-high 16 points, 12 of which came in the fourth quarter. Rusen tallied a personal-best 12 points as RB coach Larry Rocco’s second-year players carried the host Bulldogs to victory against IMSA on Saturday.

“I thought Meghan and Kiley put together two really good games for us,” Rocco said. “They are both capable players and scorers. Good balanced scoring is a key to our success.”

Against IMSA, the Bulldogs raced out to a 43-15 lead as starters Anna Tess (11 points), Kelsey Egger (10 points), Shaquita Slater and Jessie Hutchens (7 points each) all played well in limited duty.

“We got our running game going and our scoring is back up a bit,” Rocco said. “Our goal is always to score at least into the 60s.”

On Friday, RB (14-3, 6-1 Metro Suburban Conference) visited Elmwood Park in a conference game. Hutchens led the Bulldogs with 17 points and six assists, and Tess added 11. Rusen chipped in eight points off the bench.

In the second quarter, Hutchens, Tess and Rusen all made three-pointers, sparking RB to a 35-23 advantage at the half. Yasmine Gonzalez scored her first four points of the season in the fourth quarter as RB cruised past the Tigers.

“We’re playing well,” Rocco said. “Everybody played in both games, and we were able to speed the games up to our tempo.”

The Bulldogs face a series of tough games this week, starting with a clash against Hersey in the Fenton Tournament on Thursday (7 p.m.). The highly-regarded Huskies are led by high-scorers Megan Rogowski, Kathyryn Korff and Maddie Swann.

This weekend, RB hosts Timothy Christian on Friday (7 p.m.) and visits Lyons Township on Saturday (3:30 p.m.) in an intriguing non-conference match-up.

“This is probably our toughest week of the season,” noted Rocco. “Hersey is a ranked team, Timothy [Christian] is an important conference game, and LT is always one of the biggest games of the season.”

Currently, RB holds a share of first place in the Metro Suburban Conference with Illiana Christian, also 6-1 in league play. A few weeks ago, Hutchens scored 25 points and dished out eight assists leading the Bulldogs to a 63-55 win at Illiana Christian.