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Timothy Christian refocuses, holds off Fenton

Jamie Minard and the Fenton girls basketball team didn't let their emotions get to them when they were down by 19 points in the first half.

"I never believe that we're too far down to make it back up," Minard said.

But when they rallied and took the lead in the fourth quarter, their emotions caught up to them.

After taking its first lead of the game with seven minutes to play, Fenton allowed Timothy Christian to score the next 12 points en route to a 64-55 win in a Metro Suburban Conference crossover.

"We might've gotten a little nervous, trying to finish the game," the senior said. "I think that got into our heads."

Timothy Christian (17-9) was also a little rattled when Amari Benbow fed Minard for a 3-pointer that gave Fenton a 45-44 lead.

"When they took (the lead), of course you're nervous," Timothy Christian freshman Sureya Alex said.

So Timothy Christian coach Michele Strube took a timeout to refocus the Trojans.

"Patience," Strube said. "Just do what you guys do. (Alex) was looking at me and I said, 'Just go play ball. Play the game you love.' They did it."

Those final seven minutes we're more to the Trojans' liking.

"After we got the lead again, that was our team," Alex said. "That was our team pushing through it, playing together."

Some defensive adjustments by the Trojans helped stymie the Bison (8-14) in the fourth quarter.

"We started in a 3-2 (in the third quarter)," Trojans senior Emily DeBoer said. "We decided to go man to put more pressure on their guards for shooting because they can all shoot."

In the first half Fenton was struggling to hit shots. Benbow scored 15 of Fenton's 23 points, as they struggled to find a rhythm. Benbow finished with a team-high 20 points. Coach Dave Mello decided to keep the Bison on the court to start halftime, having them shoot the ball before going into the locker room.

"First we needed to shoot, so we could see the ball go in," Mello said.

Timothy Christian took advantage of Fenton's shooting woes early. After a pair of free throws by Benbow, the Trojans rattled off a 9-0 run to take a 19-6 lead in the first quarter.

Timothy Christian rattled off an 11-2 run to open the second quarter that gave them their largest lead of the game at 32-13.

"I think that our guards were definitely getting the ball to the post well," DeBoer, who finished with 20 points and 10 rebounds, said. "We had really good defense. We weren't letting them shoot the 3s, or if they did, they didn't go in."

Fenton chipped away at the deficit and tied the game with 12 seconds left in the third quarter on an Alyssa Hoffing 3-pointer.

"Everyone on the team was doing exactly what they needed to do and was exactly where they needed to be," said Minard, who finished with 17 points.

But Timothy Christian kept its focus in order to hang on.

"We were kind of like, 'They're not giving up, so why on earth would we,'" Alex said. "They're not going to give up, we can't give up either.

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