Wrap: Aurora Christian falls in OT; Batavia girls win

The Aurora Christian and Timothy Christian boys basketball teams had similar records overall and in the Private School League coming into their matchup.

The two teams also play the same type of up-tempo game, so it figured to be a close one. It was exactly that, as the teams were rarely separated by more than four points throughout the game that went into overtime.

The Trojans got exactly what they needed to win such a tight contest, as they beat the Eagles, 56-53, in Aurora.

Trojan senior Andrew Logan, who had just four points in the game, stepped up to the free-throw line for a one and the bonus with 6 seconds left and his team trailing by 2 in regulation. After the Eagles iced him with a timeout, Logan hit both free throws and sent the game into overtime.

In overtime, Andrew Temple nailed a jumper to give Timothy Christian a 53-51 lead. Marcus Barnes, who had a game-high 13 points, answered with a pull-up jumper for the Eagles.

Trojan junior forward Peter Tameling hit what would prove to be the game-winner with 44 seconds left in overtime when he knocked down a baseline jumper.

Tameling, who finished with 6 points, had not scored since the opening seconds of the second half but his shot held up as the Trojans came away with the win.

"We hit a couple shots," said Timothy Christian coach Jeff Powers. "Temple hit a big shot, Logan hitting the two free throws was clutch."

"I thought we played well defensively, they hit a couple big shots," Aurora Christian coach Don Davidson added.

Aurora Christian (8-7, 1-3) appeared to have control of the game a couple of times but could never put the Trojans away. The Eagles ended the first half with a 9-3 spurt capped off by a 3-pointer from Barnes at the buzzer to extend the lead to 29-22 at the half -- the largest lead either team would have throughout the game.

Timothy Christian (9-11, 3-2) quickly erased that lead with a 10-2 run of its own to start the second half behind Jaaron Holmes, who scored 8 of his 12 points in the third quarter.

But again Barnes stepped up at the end of the quarter scoring four points in the last minute to reclaim the 44-41 lead for the Eagles entering the fourth quarter.

Both teams slowed it down in the fourth quarter. The Eagles had a 4-point lead with under a minute and a half to play, but a few missed opportunities at the free throw stripe and some poor decisions with the ball late in the game gave the Trojans a chance. They stepped up and made plays.

"I thought we should have exhibited more composure in regulation," said Davidson. "We had a couple times where we had poor selection on our shots down toward the end of the game and we missed a couple of free throws. That was the only thing I felt we didn't do. We played really hard, both teams really played hard for the whole game."

DeKalb 47, Kaneland 24: Kaneland's offense never got going, as the Knights registered just 7 points in the first half. Dave Dudzinski scored 6 for the Knights, who dropped to 6-12 overall ands 2-7 in the Western Sun Conference.

Girls basketball

Batavia 56, Rochelle 37: Kara Lydon dropped 17 points and Melissa Norville added 12 as the Bulldogs (16-3, 11-0) picked up their seventh win in their last eight games.

DeKalb 37, Kaneland 33: The Barbs' late free-throw shooting preserved a home win, dropping the Knights to 6-15 overall and 1-9 in the WSC. Brittney Hankes scored 11 points and had 4 steals for Kaneland.