Dziagwa stands tall for Riverside-Brookfield

Updated: March 23, 2011 9:28AM

It's hard to get overshadowed when you stand 6-9, but that's what happened to Riverside-Brookfield center Alex Dziagwa Tuesday night.

The host Bulldogs wowed fans from both teams with a tremendous display of three-point shooting, sinking nine treys in the first half – and 10 overall – en route to a 78-62 victory over Timothy Christian in Metro Suburban action in Riverside.

Lost in the shuffle was the fact that Dziagwa narrowly missed recording his first career triple-double. The senior finished with 16 points, 13 points and a career-high nine blocked shots, a stat line that neither Dziagwa nor Riverside-Brookfield coach Tom McCloskey was aware of after the game.

"That's fine," Dziagwa said of going unnoticed. "If we're hitting threes, I don't care. I'll get boards and blocks, too."

The Bulldogs (16-4, 8-0), who won their sixth straight while snapping Timothy Christian's winning streak at six, were 9-of-15 from three-point range in the first half. Nate Henley connected on his first four trey attempts and 5-of-8 overall, while Ryan Jackson and Charlie Morrissey both had two threes and reserve Jake Johnson one with :01 left in the half to give R-B a 45-29 halftime lead.

Dziagwa had five blocks in the opening half but did damage at both ends in the third quarter, scoring nine points to go with three rebounds and three blocks to keep his team comfortably ahead. That including a power move to the hoop that resulted in a three-point play just 14 seconds after the Trojans (13-8, 4-4) had cut the gap to 54-43.

"He's consistently been a tremendous shot blocker all year long," McCloskey said of Dziagwa, a first-year starter who averages 3.5 blocks. "That's what he does. He's been important to our team because he usually almost every game leads us in rebounding and usually has an unusual amount of blocks."

The Bulldogs had struggled a bit with their shooting in beating Timothy 62-59 back on Dec. 17, but it seemed like they couldn't miss this time. They consistently used crisp passes to unselfishly find the open man.

Jackson, who led all scorers with 21 points, and Morrissey both had four assists, while Henley, Mike LeBeau and Watoris Slater all handed out two. With Dziagwa playing like a human windshield wiper on defense, it was hard for the Trojans to catch up.

"It's fun," Dziagwa said. "I like that you've got someone always to pass to if they're doubling down. It was a big game for us."

Timothy fell behind 11-2 but twice pulled within a point. The Trojans had a chance to tie the game at 24 with 5:19 left in the second quarter but Matt Morrison missed a free throw after scoring on a drive.

Dziagwa answered with an inside bucket and the Bulldogs closed the half on 21-6 run.

"It was a good ballgame," Timothy coach Jack LeGrand said. "They're a very good team. They've got a lot of good pieces.

"Our kids battled. We just couldn't quite get it. Every time we got close they had an answer."

Morrissey wound up with nine points, six boards and three steals for R-B, while Slater had six points and five rebounds and Luke Nortier scored six points, making both of his field goal tries and both of his free-throw attempts.

Mark Penczak led Timothy with 17 points on 7-for-11 shooting. Mike Pizzello, Danny Leach and Troy Ellens all added eight points.

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