Bulldogs return to finals of Vande Merkt Tournament

Riverside Brookfield High School senior boys basketball player Ben Biskupic is a battler. He felt lousy well before Saturday’s championship game of the Bulldogs’ 22nd annual Bill VandeMerkt Tournament, but the only visible difference was a little more bench time to recuperate.

“It was a little difficult. I definitely reduced my minutes a lot just being sick,” Biskupic said. “And having to tell [RBHS coach Mike Reingruber], I’ve never had to tell a coach to sub me out in four years.” 

Biskupic still played 26 minutes and the final ones come crunch time. His key late rebounds helped the Bulldogs stay in contention before losing to Thornwood 63-59. RBHS seniors Cameron Mercer and Colin Cimino were named to the all-tournament team. Over the four games, Mercer scored 90 points with four games in the 20s and 15 three-pointers. Cimino had 57 points and 30 rebounds.

Against Thornwood, Biskupic grabbed an offensive rebound and whipped the ball into the left corner to Cimino, whose three-pointer closed the gap to 61-59 with 27.3 seconds left. After two missed Thornwood free throws, sophomore Noah VanTholen found Cimino again in the corner but that three was unsuccessful. Thornwood made two free throws with 4.1 seconds. 

“We really battled back and got those good looks. It was just an unfortunate outcome,” Biskupic said. “To me, it feels like if I was 100 percent maybe it goes another way, but then again, maybe it doesn’t.” 

Mercer (20 points with 4 threes), Cimino (18 points, 10 rebounds) and senior Liam Enright (11 points, 5 assists) and VanTholen (8 points, 5 rebounds) led the Bulldogs. They made 25 of 68 shots (37 percent), 7 of 26 from three-point range, and 2 of 6 free throws with all four misses in the fourth quarter. They only had five turnovers. 

“I thought we left some points on the board with some missed layups, a couple of open looks, missed free throws,” Reingruber said. “We had opportunities and when you’re trying to win a championship and beat a really good team, you’ve got to take advantage. Unfortunately, we didn’t when we needed to at pivotal times.”  

The Bulldogs reached the final for the second time in three seasons and were intent on winning for the first time since 2018, especially after the Nov. 17 passing of VandeMerkt, the longtime RBHS coach and athletic director. In pool play, RBHS beat Fenwick 64-57, Friday, Hinsdale South 73-34, Nov. 26, and Golder Prep 87-26, Nov. 25.

“We weren’t able to win the whole thing but the next best thing is to participate in the championship,” Reingruber said. “That’s a good environment for our guys, a high-level game that’s only going to make us better in the long run.” 

Thornwood won VandeMerkt for the first time. In their pool, the Thunderbirds beat three-time defending champion Brother Rice in pool play 80-75 in overtime, Nov. 24. 

Thornwood led 33-26 at halftime, Saturday. Cimino had 16 points in the second half and 10 of the Bulldogs’ 20 in the fourth quarter along with two Mercer threes.

“I think the difference was mainly between the first half and the second half. We didn’t really shoot the ball that well. I didn’t shoot the ball that well,” Mercer said. “We knew the situation [at halftime] and realized we just had to bring up the energy more. It was just coming together as a whole and believing in ourselves that we could still win.” 

RBHS began mixing in zones with its usual man-to-man defense and closed to 35-33 in the third quarter but never took the lead. 

“We just ran a little bit of a contain zone,” Mercer said. “We just put it in. We thought it would be useful.”

The Bulldogs came through multiple times against Fenwick, which still has seven players busy as part of its Class 6A state football finalist. RBHS led 52-36 entering the fourth quarter but Fenwick came as close as 52-51 with 3:43 left and missed a one-and-one free throw. Earlier, the Bulldogs’ 36-21 halftime lead dwindled to 36-33 before ending the third quarter with a 16-3 run. 

“We would have liked to put them away, but the way we responded to their runs says a lot about our guys,” Reingruber said. “It was good to be in those situations and learn from those situations.”

Biskupic had 15 points and nine points against Fenwick and 15 points and seven rebounds against Hinsdale South. VanTholen had 18 points with 2 threes against Golder.

“[As a sophomore on varsity] Cam was on a team that has beaten Fenwick. I’ve never beaten Fenwick so I really wanted to get that one and I was working hard,” Biskupic said.

LTHS boys basketball

Lyons Township sophomore Grant Smith already was used to varsity competition as a starting tight end in football. That didn’t make his varsity boys basketball debut too much easier in the Lions’ season opener against Maine South, Nov. 24, at the Downers Grove North Tournament

“I was definitely a little nervous. I knew a couple of guys on their team because I played in the spring with them,” Smith said. “I was definitely nervous to start but once I started getting into the game and hitting a couple of threes, I was good. And I just went from there.”

Smith’s start was a classic. He scored 34 points, including 5 for 7 from three-point range, with nine rebounds as the Lions won 80-65. LTHS went 3-0 for its debut at the tournament, also beating Waubonsie Valley 73-60, Nov. 26, and Proviso East 73-36, Nov. 25. Saturday’s game with Lincoln-Way East was canceled by the area snowstorm.  Smith had 73 points for the tournament, including a team-high 28 against Proviso East, along with 20 rebounds and six blocks against the Pirates. Smith’s halves of scoring against Maine South were pretty even.

“I didn’t really notice [my points] until halftime because I had only missed like two shots,” Smith said. He’s among several lineup newcomers as starting guard Timmy Sloan and reserve guard Owen Carroll were the lone returnees with significant previous varsity experience. Nate Woods had 25 points against Waubonsie Valley and 12 against Maine South. Tommy Blyth (11) and Byron Walton (10) had double-digit games against Waubonsie and Proviso East, respectively.

“We played really well as a team,” Smith said. “We improved, just movement-wise, offensively. Defensively, rebounding, pushing the floor, I think we just improved every game we played.”

Sloan (10 points, 5 assists) gave the Lions four double-digit scorers against Waubonsie Valley. Carroll had 11 points and six steals against Proviso East. Blyth had nine points and eight rebounds against Maine South.

If the Lions can continue shooting well as a team, their high-scoring offense should continue.

“Really every time we’re trying to push it in transition. It helps that we’re shooting really well from three,” Smith said. “A bunch of the guys are playing unselfishly so we’ve been able to get the best shot for our team when we need it.”