Aurora Christian peaking at right time

Aurora Christian senior Taaj Davis was the most skilled player on the floor Wednesday.

The 6-foot-1 guard scored 18 of his game-high 24 points in the first half to lead the top seed to a 73-50 Class 1A regional semifinal victory over No. 13 Tilden at Don Davidson Gymnasium in Aurora.

The running-clock win was no one-man show, however. It was a true team effort, just like when Aurora Christian (21-6) won the small-school title at the State Farm Holiday Classic in Bloomington in December.

Or when the Eagles forged a three-way tie for the Metro Suburban Blue title with Class 3A Riverside-Brookfield and Class 2A Chicago Christian.

Balanced team play was on full display in the postseason opener:

• Sophomore Jabari Sisco scored 14 points and used his 6-foot-1 frame to box out for 7 rebounds.

• Sophomore Drew Meyers sank a pair of 3-pointers from the corner en route to a career-high 16 points.

• Sophomore Daniel Walker (6-1) scored 9 points and grabbed 7 rebounds.

• Junior guard Michael Woodfork handled the ball well all night and scored on a sharp cut through the lane.

Davis bound his teammates' efforts together. He had 4 assists, 6 rebounds and he sank three 3-pointers. His back-to-back threes ignited a 20-0 second-quarter run after the Blue Devils had trimmed a 16-point deficit in half. The spree staked the Eagles to a 45-17 halftime cushion.

"It's just a game of runs," Davis said. "We knew adversity was going to hit at some point. You just have to bounce back and move on. I feel like we did that. We just have to get ready for Friday now. We're playing at a high level. We just have to keep playing at that level."

Seven players scored to advance the Eagles to Friday's regional title game against No. 4 Mooseheart (19-8), a 49-48 winner over No. 7 Collins (8-18) in the second semifinal.

"We're the one seed. Everyone is going to try to knock us off," Meyers said. "We just have to be prepared to play the way we can play. That will hopefully do the job."

The win was Aurora Christian's third straight and sixth in seven games. The program seeks its fifth straight regional title.

"I think we're playing at a high level and you want to be at this time of year," fourth-year coach Dan Beebe said. "We've had a good few weeks where we've been playing good basketball."

Senior Davon Stanley scored 15 points to lead Tilden.