Success, lessons for Bulldogs, Lions at Summer Shootout

Riverside Brookfield High School rising senior Ben Biskupic made a game-winning play at the 22nd annual Summer Shootout Saturday and didn’t realize it. 

His basket, following an offensive rebound on the first possession of the sudden-death second overtime, gave the Bulldogs a 72-70 victory over St. Ignatius in their fourth and final game at the three-day premier summer boys basketball event hosted by RBHS.  

“I didn’t really know it was sudden death, so I was getting ready to run back on defense,” said Biskupic, who rebounded and then converted off the inside pass from senior Liam Enright.  

“Beating St. Ignatius is big for us because it’s kind of a rivalry game. We know guys on their team. It’s my last time playing in this event so just to go out with a nice shot and help the team win games is a big deal.”   

Once again, 84 teams participated with more than 200 college coaches as observers for the live event. Both the Bulldogs and Lyons Township had 3-1 Shootout records after losing their opening games.  

RBHS lost to Thornwood 62-59 but then defeated Fenwick 50-40 later Friday and Rock Island 85-79 in Saturday’s first game. On Saturday, LTHS lost to Lincoln Park 41-36 and then edged Lake Forest 48-45 followed by Sunday victories over Rolling Meadows 49-45 and Schaumburg 69-53. 

“I love playing all different kinds of teams. That’s what the summer’s all about. And just grinding,” said RBHS coach and Shootout organizer Mike Reingruber. “You want to be in close games. That is what’s going to make you better come November through March. All four of our games were close where we had to figure out game-situation stuff and fortunately we came out on top in three of them.”  

RBHS players who saw action included rising seniors Cameron Mercer, Colin Cimino, Walker Burns, Aaron Guzman, Biskupic and Enright; juniors Evan Elzy, Jacob Gonzalez, Philip Hilgenberg and Hunter Twitty; and sophomores Noah Van Tholen and Anthony Tyler.  

Mercer, entering his third varsity season, Cimino and Biskupic all had significant varsity minutes last season. Mercer was credited with a team-high 78 cumulative Shootout points, followed by 6-foot-3 rising star Van Tholen (51 points), Cimino (38), Enright (27) and Biskupic (26).  

“It’s really my first time playing with a bunch of [non-seniors] and I love them all,” Cimino said.  

“[The Shootout helps] with experience in the younger guys. It’s really going to help us throughout the season as we do play some pretty tough games.”  

Besides their event, the Bulldogs have attended shootouts at Loyola Academy, Hillcrest, Addison Trail and Batavia’s Hoop Mountain plus a structured practice at De La Salle. The Bulldogs still have the Romeoville Live Summer Shootout and team camp at the University of Illinois Chicago. 

“What I enjoy about [our home Shootout] is not so much the scoreboard part but going against all of the other teams that we don’t play against during the season,” Mercer said. “Even if we lose close games, we know how to clean up those mistakes. If we win, we can figure out what we did good on our part, what did we do bad. It’s beneficial either way.”  

LTHS players who saw action included rising seniors Owen Carroll, Tommy Blyth, Dylan Holcer Grant Pinta and Braden Sullivan; juniors Timmy Sloan, Ty Smith, BJ Walton and Nate Woods and sophomore Grant Smith. 

“[Our focus is on] details, just getting the offensive system in our heads,” Sloan said. “Building chemistry with your teammates is the biggest thing over the summer. And skill development, too.” 

Like last year, the Lions have only a couple of players with significant varsity experience in Carroll and Sloan, the son of LTHS coach Tom Sloan. Last year’s team peaked at the end, battling Curie on its home floor until the final minutes before losing in the Class 4A regionals.  

“Summer is all about getting experience for [varsity newcomers], getting varsity-level minutes, playing varsity-level competition. It’s been a good summer so far,” Carroll said. 

“[Timmy Sloan and I] make everyone follow what coach wants. If you make a mistake, we want to build you up, make sure you’re part of the team. We want people to take open shots, feel confident. Have fun, have some camaraderie with the team.”  

Already emerging was 6-foot-5 leading cumulative scorer Grant Smith (74 points), followed by Carroll (33 points), Blyth (25) and Sloan (24). Grant Smith is the younger brother of former standout Graham Smith, now playing football at Yale. Ty Smith is not related.  

The Lions were coming off winning the three-week Downers Grove South summer league, beating the host Mustangs in the tournament final after sharing first during league play. 

“It’s a learning process, guys learning what the intensity and skill level is, the speed and all of that stuff at the varsity level,” Tom Sloan said. “The guys play well together. They play pretty hard, share the ball so it’s been a fun group. If they keep working hard between now and November, I think we’ll have some success.”  

At the Summer Shootout, 14 teams had 4-0 records — Benet, Curie, DePaul Prep, East St. Louis, Fremd, Glenbard East, Hyde Park, Kenwood, Lincoln Park, Loyola Academy, Mt. Carmel, St. Laurence, St. Patrick and Warren.