Riverside Brookfield High School senior center Stefan Cicic felt frustrated during halftime of Friday’s pool championship game against Thornwood in the Bulldogs’ annual Bill VandeMerkt Thanksgiving Classic.
“I had four points. Coming down to the locker room, talking to [RBHS coach Mike Reingruber], it’s kind of in my head, ‘I’ve got to win this game. I’ve got to be better,’” Cicic said. “I was really locked in and then second half, I was catching fire.”
Riding that victory, Cicic and the Bulldogs hoped for a similar third quarter in Saturday’s overall championship game. Instead, area-rated Brother Rice pulled away for a 76-62 victory to win the eight-team tournament for the second straight year.
The 7-foot Cicic and senior guard Steven Brown were named to the all-tournament team for the Bulldogs (3-1), who won their pool by beating Thornwood 59-46, Hinsdale South 86-71 on Nov. 22, and Hancock 77-18 on Nov. 21.
Against Brother Rice, sophomore Cam Mercer (20 points with three 3s), Cicic (19 points, 7 rebounds, 3 blocks) and Brown and senior Mehki Austin (10 points each) scored in double figures.
“They were on fire pretty much the whole game. They’ve got guys who can do it all and obviously for us that was a challenge,” Cicic said. “I feel like we all could have played better, especially me. We’ve just got to learn from the mistakes and move on.”
The Bulldogs trailed Brother Rice 36-30 at halftime and closed to 36-32 on a driving basket by Mercer. But the Crusaders, led by tournament MVP Zavier Fitch (24 points, 8 rebounds, 2 blocks), scored on each of their last seven possessions of the period, including three 3s and a conventional 3-point play, to open a 61-45 lead.
RBHS scored the first five points of the fourth quarter but never closed to single digits.
“The first half was pretty much back and forth. We got [Cicic] the ball more in the second half but we just didn’t string together enough stops. That’s really what the difference in the game was,” Reingruber said.
“We were never able to get on a run. They’re a very good team. We just didn’t do a good enough job. I think this team can be a very, very good defensive group as the year goes on. We’ve just got to shore up a few things. I’m confident these guys will bounce back.”
With the Bulldogs leading Thornwood 30-29 at halftime, Cicic took over the game. Cicic scored the Bulldogs’ first eight points of the third quarter for a 38-33 lead and finished with 10 in the period, three of them dunks. Mercer ended the Bulldogs’ scoring with a basket and free throw enroute to a 48-38 advantage.
Riverside-Brookfield’s Mehki Austin (12) works the baseline against Thornwood’s Kaden Faber (24) during the Bill VandeMerkt Tournament Friday, Nov. 24, 2023 in Brookfield. | Steve Johnston 
Riverside-Brookfield’s Mantas Sleinys (33) defends Thornwood’s Arden Eaves (3) during the Bill VandeMerkt Tournament Friday, Nov. 24, 2023 in Brookfield. | Steve Johnston 
Riverside-Brookfield’s Danny Loftus (1) tries to get a shot off past Thornwood’s Keyon Jackson (15) during the Bill VandeMerkt Tournament Friday, Nov. 24, 2023 in Brookfield. | Steve Johnston
“Making shots, posting up, making dunks. That really got the crowd going and that built up our momentum,” said Cicic who finished with 22 points and eight rebounds, Brown (12 points with four 3s); starting junior Danny Loftus (8 points) and senior Sam Shelven (7 rebounds, 4 assists) also contributed.
“When we get the ball into [Cicic], good things happen,” Reingruber said.
The Bulldogs get another test Saturday at noon against St. Ignatius in the Chicago Elite Classic at the University of Illinois Chicago’s Credit Union 1 Arena.
Only Cicic and Brown saw significant varsity action with last season’s Class 4A regional finalist. For the tournament, Cicic had team highs of 89 total points and 30 rebounds. Brown had 43 points with five 3s, 12 rebounds and team bests of 21 assists, 11 steals and 12 defensive deflections.
Mercer (58 points, 7 threes, 15 rebounds, 3 charges taken), Loftus (24 points, 13 rebounds), Shelven (11 rebounds, 8 assists), Austin (37 points, 9 assists) and juniors Mantas Sleinys and Vince Dockendorf played significant minutes Saturday and Friday.
Cicic (31 points, 10 rebounds) and Mercer (20 points) and Austin (13 points) had big games against Hinsdale South. Cicic (12 points) and Mercer (11 points with three 3s) led the scoring against Hancock.
“The first few games, I’ve been kind of antsy to get out and play. It’s been good to be out there playing, accepting my role, doing what I do when I’m out there and just sharing the court with my friends,” Shelven said.
“We like our energy when we’re on the court and we start getting our runs. We really like how we’re playing together. It was exemplified in [the Brother Rice] game, but our defense, keeping our defense solid, putting a whole four quarters together is the main thing and continuing to move the ball on offense and getting good looks.”