Timothy Christian continues to roll, beats Wheaton Academy

Timothy Christian is a hard girls basketball team to stop.

The Trojans won their sixth consecutive game Thursday, defeating Wheaton Academy 43-28 in a Metro Suburban Conference Red Division game in Elmhurst.

"Honestly, I think we are playing amazing," Trojans senior guard Jordyn Strube said. "We are playing as such a team. ... Everything is going well. It's very exciting, because we have a lot of young players on the team this year, and to win so many so early right now is so exciting. I'm excited for the future, to keep going almost."

Playing without talented 5-foot-11 sophomore Hannah Schuringa, the Trojans (9-2, 5-1) still got off to a great start. Timothy Christian scored the game's first 10 points and never let the Warriors (4-6, 3-3) regain their footing.

"We had great energy. It was just energy in the beginning, and we've been really pushing that," said Timothy Christian interim coach Mark Baumbach, who took over for Michele Strube at the beginning of December. "It almost surprised me, to be honest with you. I didn't think our warmup was that great. But they just came out fired up. It was huge. It was huge for us."

Strube led the Trojans with 14 points. Sophomore guard Sureya Alex added 13 points, 7 steals and 5 assists. Sarah Carstensen, a 6-foot guard, added 9 points, 14 rebounds, 3 steals, 3 assists and 2 blocks for the Trojans.

"This is a great (Timothy Christian) team," said Warriors coach Erin Carwell, a Timothy Christian graduate. "They're sharp. They look to penetrate inside. They've got some great height and we're excited to play against them in the future."

Junior Imani Hillmer led the Warriors with 12 points, and sophomore Jerilyn Blackmon scored 8 despite missing part of the game after getting banged up in the second quarter.

"We have set some goals for our team this season, and rebounding was something we've been talking about," Carwell said. "And I'm proud of our girls. They rebounded well and they were aggressive on defense. And we keep focusing on the positives as we continue to focus on the season."