Girls Basketball: Meghan Orgler leads Riverside-Brookfield past Nazareth

Updated: November 26, 2011 5:21PM

Meghan Orgler’s steals and layups in the third quarter set up the senior forward with one last bit of heroics in the fourth quarter.

Orgler sparked Riverside-Brookfield to a 45-41 victory Saturday over Nazareth in the championship game of R-B’s ninth annual VandeMerkt Thanksgiving Classic. Orgler scored a game-high 18 points and had five rebounds, but it was her four steals in the third quarter that did the most damage.

R-B (4-0) helped end Nazareth’s three-game win streak by forcing nine turnovers in the third quarter as the Bulldogs turned a 22-21 deficit at halftime into a 35-30 lead entering the fourth quarter. Orgler ended an 8-2 run to open the quarter when she stepped in front of a pass, stole the ball and sprinted full court for a layup to give R-B a 29-24 lead with 4:09 remaining. Orgler did it again nearly one minute later to give the Bulldogs a 31-27 lead.

But Orgler’s final steal and layup in the game was the clincher. With R-B leading 43-39 in the fourth quarter, Orgler pulled off another pick and scored with 15 seconds remaining in the game.

“I didn’t want to jump too many passes,” Orgler said. “I tried to be patient.”

Elena Duve added 15 points and five rebounds for the Bulldogs, who remained undefeated under first-year coach Dallas Till. R-B won its tournament for the second time in three years.

“It’s a great feeling. We’re all together and playing really well as a team,” Orgler said. “The team is not one person. We have to keep focusing on that.”

Turnovers doomed Nazareth (3-2) in the second half. The Roadrunners led 15-4 in second-half turnovers and lost for the first time since their season opener, a 49-39 defeat, against West Chicago Nov. 15.

“We had too many turnovers and couldn’t dig ourselves out of a hole,” Nazareth coach Charlie Rohlf said. “We have a good group. They give effort and get after it. We’ll defend against some teams.”

Molly Alberts scored 14 of her 16 points in the first half to lead Nazareth, but she experienced foul trouble in the second half and was limited to only a layup with 5:27 remaining in the fourth quarter. Katelyn Cahill added nine points on 3-of-9 shooting, including two three-pointers, for the Roadrunners.

Alberts and reserve Kayla Freeman finished the game with four fouls each.

“Alberts is coming off cross country season so she’s still getting into basketball form,” Rohlf said. “She’s a good defender. She works really hard.”

Nazareth led 19-14 early in the second quarter, but R-B climbed back when Duve scored five consecutive points for the Bulldogs on free throws. The teams combined to shoot 2-for-9 in the second quarter with each team making one basket. Orgler scored her team’s only basket on an 18-foot jumper to end the second quarter while Alberts scored on a driving layup midway through the period.

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