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Victory leaves Gibler, ICCP dancing

IC Catholic junior Claire Gibler was moving to the beat of the song, "Whomp, there it is," while it was played during halftime of Monday night's girls basketball game against Timothy Christian.

The host Knights could have made that their theme song, seeing as how the bench erupted every time Gibler sank a 3-pointer, which was often.

Gibler drained six 3-pointers and finished with a game-high 24 points to lead IC to a 49-38 victory in the Metro Suburban Conference crossover.

While Gibler deemed that her best shooting performance, it is nothing the Knights (10-7) haven't seen before. She averages 16 points and her personal high is 28.

"She always does that," IC senior guard Tess Reardon said. "Claire is always our consistent scorer.

"We know that if we're in trouble we can always look to her to knock down a big shot. We can always count on her."

The Knights had to in this one. Reardon had 9 points and 4 steals in the first half to give IC a 31-21 lead, but she didn't take a shot in the second half, sitting out the final 7:51 after getting her fourth foul.

But every time Timothy Christian (8-9) threatened to get close, Gibler had an answer. The Trojans pulled within 6 to 8 points four times in the third and fourth quarters and each time Gibler buried a 3.

The last came from the left corner with 4:12 remaining to bump the lead to 46-36.

"She's known for that," IC coach Kelsey James said. "They go on a run and she hits that 3 to kind of weather the storm a little bit. We always want to get the ball in Claire's hands."

The 5-foot-10 Gibler wants the ball in her hands, and she's effective in the paint or on the perimeter, though she prefers the latter.

"I just wanted to keep the tempo up because I knew they were getting close," Gibler said. "Coach hates when we have close games, so I really wanted to make sure that we were keeping a good distance between them and us."

Gibler also contributed 6 rebounds, 3 steals and 2 blocks. Those stats might have been reduced somewhat had the Trojans not been without 6-2 center Ava Venema and fellow senior Olivia Hoekstra, who were on mission trips.

But Timothy Christian still had a size advantage with 6-0 sophomore Heidi Westra, 6-2 Emily DeBoer and 6-0 Olivia Schuringa in the starting lineup. The Trojans could not capitalize, in part because of 28 turnovers.

"We get a couple quick baskets and then we have a few turnovers," Timothy Christian coach Michele Strube said. "It's not for a lack of trying.

"We just don't have a (Gibler). We have a good team that everyone can contribute (to), but we don't have a main player."

Jordyn Strube led the Trojans with 12 points and 6 rebounds, while DeBoer added 7 points and Schuringa and Westra 6 each.

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