Riverside-Brookfield guards Ryan Jackson and Luke Nortier led the Bulldogs to a 63-41 win over St. Francis in the Class 3A Nazareth Regional title game on Friday night.
Trailing the upset-minded, ball-control Spartans 20-15 with 5:05 left in the second quarter, Jackson (25 points, 9 rebounds) scored six points during an 8-2 run to give RB a 23-22 lead at halftime.
In the second half, Jackson tacked on nine more points coupled with a tremendous effort from Nortier off the bench. Nortier (15 points) scored 13 in the second half as the Bulldogs pulled way. Riverside-Brookfield 6-foot-9 center Alex Dziagwa added 12 points, four rebounds and four blocks despite foul trouble the entire night.
The Bulldogs return home for a sectional semifinal clash against Orr, which features Illinois recruit Mycheal Henry, on Wednesday (7:30 p.m.).
“It feels really good to be coming back home to RB,” Jackson said. “I promised coach [Tom McCloskey] that we were going to come back [like last year] to the sectional and we did it again.”
