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Jones has breakout game for Timothy Christian against Wheaton Academy

Timothy Christian coach Scott Plaisier knew Danardo Jones had a breakout game coming.

Turns out, the 6-foot-7 senior picked the perfect time for it.

Dominating the action on both ends of the court, Jones finished with 24 points, 13 rebounds, 2 steals and 4 blocks in leading the Trojans to a 59-42 win over Wheaton Academy on Friday in Elmhurst.

With the Metro Suburban Conference Red Division victory Timothy Christian moved to a game over .500 at 6-5 (2-3 in the league) while handing the Warriors (7-3, 3-1) their first league loss.

"When Danardo plays like that, we will be tough to beat," said Plaisier, whose team has four losses by three points. "His athleticism is unbelievable. And when he brings that kind of focus, he can be pretty powerful. He was able to get some chances to put the ball down."

Indeed Jones threw down a trio of dunks, including a breakaway jam during a 23-8 third-quarter run that decided the outcome. Before that spurt Wheaton Academy had taken a 26-25 lead on a 3-pointer by Jack Dykema shortly after halftime.

"I feel like we executed better today," said Jones, who had 6 offensive rebounds and even knocked down a 3-pointer, "and we played with more confidence.

"I feel like the blocks and rebounds come naturally to me. Though Coach has talked to me about trying to get into my man and to try to get offensive rebounds and keep my man from getting offensive rebounds. Getting those rebounds tonight helped me get some putback baskets and getting some more touches helped me with my confidence in my shot."

Another big storyline was the Trojans defense, especially on Warriors standout Marcus Bult, who came in averaging more than 17 points a game. Using primarily a box-and-1 defense, Timothy held the junior to 7 shots and 3 points. Bult did grab a team-high 7 rebounds.

"We play our best when we have a lot of energy," said A.J. Vos, who scored 11 points and also took a turn guarding Bult. "This was a statement game, Wheaton Academy is a very talented team. We just wanted to show that we are still in it."

After the teams played to an 11-11 tie following the opening eight minutes, the visitors scored the first 9 points of the second quarter to take their biggest lead. But Wheaton Academy was held to a Gerald Blackmon 3-pointer the rest of the way and the Trojans came back to lead 25-23 at half.

Blackmon topped the Warriors with 12 points.

"They did box-and-1 us and we hadn't seen that," Wheaton Academy coach Steve Thonn said. "But we did have a 20-11 lead and were attacking it well (early on). We had a bad shooting night and they did a good job taking Marcus out of the game. Plus we definitely gave up too many transition layups.

"We've been playing well. It was just a great job by them. And the third quarter really hurt us."

Josh Harris also tallied 9 points and 6 rebounds for Timothy.

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