The Riverside Brookfield Junior Bulldogs fifth-grade girls basketball team established the goal of improving upon last season’s 13-12 record.
The team achieved beyond that all the way into program history.
These Junior Bulldogs became the feeder program’s first girls team qualifier – at least in recent memory — for the Illinois Middle School Basketball Championships March 20-22 in Bloomington-Normal.
“I just thought we were really motivated and kept lifting each other up,” said wing/post player Olivia Prosser, who attends Central Elementary School in Riverside.
“I just thought (state) was so great. We were all super excited. We were just happy to get the experience to be in that tournament.”
Team members are Lisette Cabanas, Lila Claps, Vivian Herrera, CJ Hodina, Claire Marx, Esme Pierik, Prosser, Hana Schiemann and Molly Wojtowicz. The head coach was Missy Wojtowicz with assistant coaches Joanne Schiemann, Salina Claps and Megan Claucherty. Gretchen Lupfer is the program coordinator.
“(State) was very exciting and I loved being out there with my team and laughing and celebrating,” said points guard Molly Wojtowicz, also a fifth grader at Central.
“We’ve grown a lot (since 2025) and are really good teammates and very focused. It was really exciting to hear (our making history) and we’re going to work hard again next year to get back to state.”
The Junior Bulldogs finished fourth in the Silver Division with a 2-3 record at state among six teams and ended the season 15-13. This season’s progress also included boosting their 8-8 record in the DuPage Youth Basketball Travel League to 11-5.
“They’re learning that all of their hard work pays off and they can achieve big goals,” Missy Wojtowicz said.
“I told the girls at the beginning of the season we wanted one more win and they surpassed that. Just the state tournament and the whole experience showed them that they belonged there.”
The Junior Bulldogs lost to champion Carol Stream 23-14 in the semifinals. In the four-team bracket for third place, they beat the Oswego East Wolfpack 20-18 and lost to Wheaton Thunder White 22-8 for third.
In pool play, the Junior Bulldogs lost to the Highland Jr. Bulldogs 35-13 and followed with an emotional 27-24 victory over the Willowbrook Junior Warriors.
The Junior Bulldogs had lost to Willowbrook in both of their regular-season games.
“We knew we had to lock in and focus and be confident and they did that,” Missy Wojtowicz said. “That was a really big win for them and a real high point during the weekend.”
Teams qualify for state with top two finishes at qualifying regular-season tournaments. The Junior Bulldogs only added to the success of the boys program, which captured a second straight title at the fifth-grade level and had a third-place eighth-grade team.
“(Willowbrook) was a huge victory for us. I thought the difference was we knew what they were doing, how they were playing and we just worked around that,” Prosser said.
“I think we learned (this season) we definitely should never quit and give up. We were just happy to get that win against Willowbrook and some other teams we thought we wouldn’t beat. We never thought we would get that far.”