Halftime talk gives Timothy Christian some pep
Timothy Christian fell just short of a league championship, finishing one game behind Wheaton Academy in the Metro Suburban Red.
But after a 56-45 victory over Walther Christian Tuesday at the Class 2A regional they are hosting, the Trojans still have the opportunity to reach two other goals on Friday - a regional title and a 20-win campaign.
Courtesy of a strong second half effort, Timothy Christian (19-10) will either play IC Catholic Prep, which has knocked the Trojans out of the playoffs the past two years, or St. Edward at 7 p.m. in Elmhurst.
"Last year we lost our regional to IC," said junior guard Matt Owens, who topped the home team with 16 points and 3 steals. "So I think we are real hungry for that (a regional title). It's a great opportunity to have, especially being at home."
To reach Friday, the Trojans had to overcome a slow start that left them trailing 26-24 at half to the Broncos (16-16). But they quickly turned things around in the third quarter, forcing eight turnovers while holding the visitors to a single basket. The result was a 20-4 spurt and a double-digit advantage.
"The speech at halftime, honestly," said Owens, when asked what changed for the Trojans after halftime. "Coach told us to take some pride in ourselves and that wasn't the team he had seen all year. So we got ourselves together and played stronger in the second half.
"We made the adjustments the coaches gave us and played with energy and emotion."
Providing the spark was senior center Danardo Jones, who scored 8 points in the third. He added a pair of free throws as part of an 8-0 run to start the final period and finished with 10 points, a game-high 12 rebounds - 7 on the offensive end - and 6 blocked shots.
"Coming into halftime, being down two," Jones said, "a lot of people realized, especially me being a senior, that if we lose, that's it. And I was scared of that, I've been doing this for too long. We came out with focused energy, played great defense and got some transition offense."
On offense Timothy Christian was extremely balanced, with A.J. Vos also reaching double figures with 10. Jack Baldridge knocked down two 3-pointers and scored 8 points, Josh Harris had 7 and Zach Orange chipped in with 6.
"Defensively in the third quarter we were tremendous," Timothy Christian coach Scott Plaisier said, "and that generated all of our offense. That is something we always talk about, if we can consistently get stops, it allows us to play with pace. And when D.J. (Jones) is that active under the basket, it gives us another dimension."
After a 6-6 start Timothy Christian has won 13 of its last 17 games.
"(Winning 20 games) is kind of a monumental mark for a team to get," the coach said, "and it's a goal we set at the beginning of the season. If we can achieve that on our home court on Friday, that would be a big thrill for the boys. And that is something that would be rewarding for them for how far they have come all year. We would have lost this game in November. They have come a long ways."