Senior Mantas Sleinys and his Riverside Brookfield High School boys basketball teammates are reminded often to play four full quarters.
“That’s what our coach [Mike Reingruber] says before every single game. We have it on the top of our board in the locker room,” Sleinys said. “We somewhat struggle with that at times.”
In the showdown at Glenbard East, Thursday, for the Upstate Eight Conference East Division lead, the Bulldogs played one of their most inspired halves of the season but it came following a rough first half.
The Bulldogs lost 67-59 after cutting a 16-point third-quarter deficit down to three late, but they still can get at least a share of the overall title.
RBHS (16-9, 9-1 in UEC East) mostly likely needs to win its final two games over West Chicago, Wednesday on Senior Night, and at Fenton on Friday. Glenbard East (16-7, 9-1) finishes with Glenbard South and Ridgewood.
“That’s the good thing. We still control our own destiny,” Reingruber said after the game. “We’ve got to be locked in. A week from now we have the opportunity to celebrate, but we have two good opponents ahead of us.”
Sleinys (16 points with 3 three-pointers), Cameron Mercer (14 points, 5 rebounds), Danny Loftus (11 points, 12 rebounds), Vince Dockendorf (8 points with 2 threes, 5 assists) and Colin Cimino (7 points with 2 threes) led the Bulldogs, who trailed 38-22 at the half and 46-30 with 4:59 left in the third quarter.
“The main thing for sure is just to win and dominate [this week], prove something to ourselves. That [loss] really hit us hard,” Sleinys said.
“[Reingruber] was really proud of instead of falling apart and trying to be a hero, we all stuck together and all kind of worked together as a team to create a comeback.”
RBHS only trailed 52-43 entering the fourth quarter. The Bulldogs kept coming and a Sleinys three, followed by a basket from Brycen Grove with a foul closed the gap to 61-58 with 1:28 left.
Grove missed the free throw, but the Bulldogs got the rebound. Mercer and Loftus missed contested inside shots, and the Rams eventually pulled away with four unanswered free throws over their next three possessions.
“That was a great play by Brycen and both guys had looks. Sometimes the ball doesn’t go in,” Reingruber said.
“We started playing harder [in the second half]. We just stuck together. We need to put a four-quarter game together as a group. I thought our ball movement was way better in the second half. In the first half, we settled for quick shots.”
Glenbard East also came out hitting eight of its first nine shots with 3 threes in taking a 21-7 lead during the first quarter.
The Bulldogs turned the ball over eight of their first 19 possessions but had none the entire second half.
Dockendorf, Sleinys and Cimino hit threes over the Bulldogs’ first six possessions of the third quarter. Mercer and Sleinys each had six points in the fourth quarter and Mercer and Grove combined for three steals.
The Bulldogs beat Morton 71-66, Jan. 28, behind Loftus (18 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists), 4 threes each by Dockendorf (17 points) and Mercer (16 points), Cimino (7 points) and Ben Biskupic (6 points).
LTHS girls basketball
The Lions clinched the West Suburban Conference Silver Division outright title by beating Proviso West 75-24 Friday and Oak Park and River Forest 66-31, Jan. 27. They also defeated Lincoln-Way Central 64-39, Saturday.
LTHS (26-1, 10-0 in Silver) can finish a perfect 12-0 for the third time in the past four seasons by beating York (11-14, 4-6) Tuesday and second-place Glenbard West (17-11, 8-3) on Friday. Last season, the Lions tied for third in the Silver at 8-4.
Junior Division I prospect Emma O’Brien currently stands at 999 varsity career points after 19 points Saturday. Nora Ezike (24 points) and Avery Mezan (10 points) also reached double figures.
O’Brien’s double-double of 23 points with two threes and 10 rebounds paced the victory over Proviso West, followed by Ezike (15 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals), Gwen Smith (9 points, 3 assists, 3 steals), Mezan (6 points on 2 threes) and Sinclair Zieba and Char Ebeid (5 points each).
Top performers against OPRF included Ezike (24 points on 10-for-13 shooting, 4 steals), Smith (12 points, 3 steals), O’Brien (12 points with 2 threes, 4 assists), Catherine McVady (8 points with 2 threes) and Harper Carroll and Bernson (4 rebounds each).
The Lions play host to area power Fremd (21-5) Saturday afternoon.
LTHS boys basketball
The Lions enjoyed their best offensive week of the season in sweeping Proviso West 76-49 Friday, Streamwood 75-59 Saturday, and Hinsdale South 66-29, Jan. 28. LTHS (11-11, 3-4 in WSC Silver) has won four of its last five.
The Lions had 13 threes against Hinsdale South, 12 threes against Proviso West and eight Saturday.
“The guys played solid defense in all three games as well, which provided some fast-break opportunities,” LTHS coach Tom Sloan responded.
Owen Carroll (19 points, 6 rebounds), Ian Polonowski (17 points, 7 rebounds) and Bobby Vespa (17 points) all reached double figures against Proviso West. Other contributors were Marshaun Russell (9 points, 6 rebounds), Timmy Sloan (8 assists) and Josh Gutierrez (5 rebounds).
Polonowski (17 points, 8 rebounds), Andrew Carlisle (17 points), Sloan (9 points), Julian Padilla (7 points), Luca Bade (10 rebounds), Russell and Dylan Hall (5 rebounds each) and Jeremiah Gaines (5 points) starred against Streamwood.
Polonowski and Sloan each had 14 points against Hinsdale South, followed by Carroll (10 points), Vespa (8 points) and Danny Janiszewski (5 points, 4 assists).
RBHS girls basketball
Six players combined for all of the Bulldogs’ points in their 42-34 UEC East victory Friday over Glenbard East, their fourth victory in their last five outings.
Gaby Graupera (13 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists), Addie Vaia (12 points on 4 threes), Bella Perez (6 points, 6 rebounds, 3 steals), Alyssa Morris (5 points), Abby Weinert (9 rebounds, 3 assists), Tali Herrrea (4 points), Abbey Tyler (2 points) and Claire Evans (5 deflections) starred for the Bulldogs (9-20, 6-5 in UEC East).