Timothy Christian advances to regional final

Like a Hollywood producer, the Timothy Christian girls basketball team wants a successful sequel.

Thanks to Tuesday night's 68-12 win over Richards Career Academy of Chicago, the Trojans get a rematch with Lisle at 7 p.m. Friday in the Class 2A Lisle regional final.

Timothy Christian and Lisle met at Lisle in regular-season play on Jan. 14 with the Trojans edging the Lions 48-45.

Lisle went on a 15-1 run with just over five minutes to play to send the game down to the wire.

"We made passing errors that helped (Lisle's) comeback and we have to avoid that," said Trojans coach Michele Strube.

As for the victory Tuesday, Strube, whose team improved to 13-14 overall, was generally pleased.

"They listened to what we talked about last week and executed very well," she said.

The Warriors (13-8) made two unanswered baskets to close out the first quarter and stay in range of the Trojans, trailing 15-8.

Timothy Christian hit the gas in the following quarter, outscoring Richards 18-3. The Trojans were just 3 of 8 from the field but were 12 of 16 from the free-throw line. Sophomore Jordyn Strube hit 9 of 10 free-throw attempts in the quarter en route to a personal-high 13 of 14 free-throw result for the game. She finished with a game-high 15 points.

The third quarter saw Timothy Christian put Richards in its rearview mirror with a 20-1 scoring advantage on scorching 8-of-12 shooting from the field and led 53-12 at the end of 24 minutes.

Michele Strube said she was glad to get some of the younger players, who were called up to the varsity for the postseason, some playing time and stressed to her team to continue to play well despite the outcome of the contest decided early.

"I told them not to stop playing, be patient and work the ball around," she said.

Heidi Westra followed on the Timothy Christian scoresheet with 12 points. Olivia Hoekstra had 8 and Olivia Schuringa and Lauren Gehrke each had 7. Jordyn Strube pulled down a game-high 9 rebounds.

The Trojans are confident about their rematch with Lisle.

"We're nervous, but we know we can do it. We just need to fix a few things. We can beat them," Michele Strube said.