Timothy Christian takes care of business in playoff opener
The Timothy Christian girls basketball team had not played in a week going into Wednesday's Class 2A semifinal of its own regional against Chicago's Collins Academy.
And coach Michele Strube believed the Trojans played like it in the 49-30 victory over the Warriors in Elmhurst. But she and the Trojans were pleased to have accomplished the main goal of the postseason, to play another day.
It was another win in a very successful season that Timothy Christian is savoring after facing some big challenges early in the schedule.
"I wanted them to come out with confidence and quickly get the score up and relax. We had the height and the shooters and didn't use them to our advantage," Strube said.
Timothy Christian, seeded first in subsectional A of the Chicago Christian sectional, takes on fourth-seeded Lisle at 7 p.m. Friday in the regional final. The Lions beat fifth-seeded Westmont 45-35 in Wednesday's second semifinal contest.
The Trojans beat Lisle 35-25 on Jan. 13, but more importantly Timothy Christian wants another shot at the Lions after Lisle beat it in a regional final last season.
"We'll go strong in practice tomorrow and come out ready to play Friday," Strube said.
The Trojans started out slowly in the first quarter. However, two Collins' turnovers were converted into baskets and Timothy Christian led 12-2 after the game's first eight minutes.
Olivia Schuringa, who finished with 11 points, sank a basket with just 34 seconds left until halftime to give the Trojans a 20-6 advantage at halftime.
Timothy Christian faced its biggest challenge from the seventh-seeded Warriors in the third quarter. Sophomore Jade Hughes hit 3 of 4 from 3-point range during the third as the Warriors shot 4 of 11 from the field overall. Hughes finished with a game-high 20 points.
Collins cut the Trojans' lead to 13 during the third but never got closer than that. Timothy Christian led 38-18 at the end of 24 minutes.
Junior Jordyn Strube led the Trojans with 16 points. Hannah Schuringa contributed 8.
It's been an eventful journey for Timothy Christian to the regional final that started with some tough times at the start of the season.
"At one point we were down to six players because of injuries," said Michele Strube. "Jordyn had a wrist injury, Emily (DeBoer) had a leg injury, Abby (Carstensen) hurt her back and Celeste (Vandermeer) was ill. But we worked through it and we got stronger because of it."
Jordyn Strube said the Trojans are a different team from the start of the season, a better one.
"It was bad with all the injuries, but it was good because the freshmen got playing time. And then when we came back, we got together and grew as a team," she said.