Sophomore swishes 3-pointer for Timothy Christian win
Let the chants begin. He's a sophomore.
With Wheaton Academy's Tobi Sonuga flying at him to nearly meet his release, 6-foot-5 Timothy Christian sophomore Ben VanderWal's 3-point swish from the left wing as time expired gave the visiting Trojans a 43-40 victory over the defending Metro Suburban Red champions on Saturday in West Chicago.
"Coach (Scott Plaisier) drew up a play and we were looking for a back door and that kind of went haywire. We just kind of scrambled and Jack (Baldridge) gave me a really nice pass and I got a nice look and I was fortunate to knock it in," VanderWal said.
He finished with 17 points, 17 rebounds, 3 blocked shots and a charge taken. The game-winner was his fourth 3-point basket of the game.
"It wasn't just me," VanderWal said. "We played a nice game as a whole team. We really came together well at the end, persevered through the runs that they went on. It was just really fun to see everyone together in a hostile environment, playing basketball and having a good time."
He's right, it wasn't just him. With dynamite Timothy Christian point guard Matt Owens and three-year starter Josh Harris contained by foul trouble and stiff Warriors defense, others had to perform.
Timothy Christian (7-1, 2-0) rallied from a 15-9 first quarter deficit to take a 22-20 halftime lead after Baldridge scored 7 points in the last 1:17 of the second quarter.
Marquis Johnson's bank shot in the lane, his only basket, gave the Trojans a 32-26 lead after three quarters.
A.J. Vos scored 6 fourth-quarter points and gave Timothy a 38-33 lead with 4:21 left to play.
But Wheaton Academy (5-3, 2-1) wasn't done.
"When you're in a game like that obviously things aren't going your way the whole time," said Warriors coach Steve Thonn. "So you just want to fight back and at least have a chance to win at the end, and they did. So that was good."
A Max Scharnowski lay-in and a Sonuga 3 drew the Warriors within 40-38 with 3:11 left. Vos scored on a lob pass by Owens, his fourth assist, but with 1:13 remaining Wheaton Academy's Marcus Bult tied the score at 40-40.
Plaisier took time out at 1:05, didn't like what he saw and called time at 28.8 seconds to try it again.
"You try to draw things up, you try to practice scenarios in practice, but at the end of the day they have to make the plays. Ben made a big shot tonight," Plaisier said.
Baldridge scored 9 points and Harris 7 for Timothy Christian. Sonuga led Wheaton Academy with 12 points, followed by Bryson Mitchell with 9 points and Christian Pares with 8. The Warriors made only 4 of 18 free-throw attempts.
"I think a big area that we need to improve on is free throws for close games like that, obviously," Sonuga said. "I think we did a really good job on defense."