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St. Edward can't keep up with Riverside-Brookfield

The St. Edward boys basketball team tried to keep visiting Riverside-Brookfield from running its fast break Friday, but that's like trying to keep water from running downstream.

Eventually, the Bulldogs found their flow and washed out the Green Wave 72-58 in a Metro Suburban Conference crossover in Elgin.

St. Edward (8-10) effectively limited Riverside-Brookfield (8-7) from getting into its transition game for most of the first half. Then through a crack came a trickle.

Following a 3-pointer from junior guard Devin Moody, point guard Jalen Clanton sparked the Bulldogs' running game. The 6-foot-1 senior's behind-the-back pass on a 2-on-1 break left sophomore guard Zach Vaia with an easy layup, part of a 7-2 run that staked R-B to a 31-24 halftime lead.

"Coach just told us play," said Clanton, who finished with 19 points and 5 assists. "We just told each other to play as hard as we can, get rebounds, play defense and score as many easy buckets as we can."

R-B's late first-half run was a harbinger of things to come.

St. Edward hung in there until midway though the third quarter. The Green Wave drew within 33-30 when senior guard Kelvin Cortez-Harvey scored 2 of his game-high 27 points by following his own miss.

Then the dam burst.

Riverside-Brookfield scored the next 15 points in a 3:30 span to take a 48-30 lead. Five Bulldogs scored during the run. Ryan Cicenas (11 points) and Jalen Brooks (15 points) contributed fast-break buckets and Clanton, Vaia and Alexander Meindl each sank 3-pointers.

"We were really clicking in that little stretch and that was huge," R-B coach Tom McCloskey said.

"We were just having some dry offensive runs where we weren't hitting our shots, though we got good shots," Cortez-Harvey said. "Defensively, we weren't communicating. They were getting a lot of wide open threes and that killed us."

The Bulldogs outscored St. Edward 22-12 in the third quarter to take a 53-36 lead to the final period. The Green Wave drew no closer than 12 points thereafter.

Cortez-Harvey, who scored 10 fourth-quarter points, shot 11 of 23 from the field. Senior guard Steve Poremba scored 10 points, junior forward A.J. Franklin had 9 points and junior forward Dylan Mlinarich contributed 6 points and 6 rebounds.

"We have to have some more guys step up if we're going to beat Riverside-Brookfield, Chicago Christian, Glenbard South, those types of programs," St. Edward coach P.J. White said.

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