Fry, Aurora Christian shoot past Timothy

Aurora Christian senior guard Alex Fry is known for her passing, evidenced by her single-season record of 140 assists accomplished during the Eagles' 20-win campaign a year ago.

She can also shoot the basketball.

Fry poured in a game-high 16 points with four 3-pointers and junior teammate Lauren Richert added 13 points during the Eagles' 46-36 victory over Timothy Christian (0-2) Thursday night in the second round of the IMSA/Aurora Christian Tournament in Aurora.

"Alex has improved so much," said Eagles coach Burney Wilkie. "She worked so hard in the offseason - as hard as anybody we've had in the program."

With her team trailing 9-7 after one quarter, Fry ignited a 15-4 second-quarter surge by draining three 3-point attempts.

Fry's 3-pointer from the corner with 16 seconds left in the second quarter extended the Eagles' halftime lead to 22-13.

"Her jump shot looks so good," said Wilkie. "She played great."

The 5-foot-6 Fry added 3 assists, 2 rebounds, 2 steals and a pair of blocked shots.

"She's a great floor general for us," said the coach.

Led by freshmen Hannah Schuringa (8 points, 13 rebounds) and Sureya Alex (9 points, 6 rebounds), the Trojans pulled within 4 at 28-24 midway through the third quarter as Alex canned three 3-pointers and Schuringa added an offensive rebound putback.

"They're great players - they just haven't played with us obviously," Trojans coach Michele Strube said of Schuringa and Alex. "They know they have my support."

Fry's fourth 3-point basket of the game ignited a 14-0 run during a 4-minute stretch toward the end of the third quarter and beginning of the final period that helped extend the Eagles' lead to 46-26.

"We played really great defense and we started boxing out," said Fry. "It got our fastbreak going and that led to a lot of open looks."

Despite a tough shooting night, back-to-back baskets by junior guard Tori Henning (8 points, 3 assists) kicked off the fourth quarter for the Eagles.

Henning, however, injured her right elbow on a driving layup with 6:41 remaining and didn't return.

Megan Hart (6 points, 11 rebounds) and Dannielle Lopez (3 points, 7 rebounds, 2 blocked shots) also contributed for Aurora Christian (2-0).

"I think this is the most balanced we've been in my four years," said Wilkie. "I feel like we defended well tonight. Had we done a better job keeping them off the glass, the score would have been a little bit more lopsided than it was.

"It's early on and we're young but we'll be fine."

Timothy Christian, playing with just 6 players in uniform due to injuries, scored 10 unanswered points over the final 5:55.

"That was a good way to end it," said Strube. "Two players could possibly be back tomorrow."

Junior Lauren Gehrke chipped in with 8 points and 7 rebounds for the Trojans.