Timothy Christian notches sectional championship
Timothy Christian knew nothing was going to be comfortable against Rockford Lutheran. Not at the breakneck pace both teams like.
"Our legs are going to be tired, it's going to be a track race, but it's all about a mind game, a mental thing, how our mind is going to tell our legs not to quit and not to give up. That's exactly what we did," said Trojans guard A.J. Vos.
Denying several comeback attempts from the dogged Crusaders, Timothy Christian won the Class 2A Genoa-Kingston sectional final 89-78, its first sectional title in boys basketball since 2010.
Next Tuesday Timothy Christian (27-5) will play Fieldcrest, a 65-62 winner over Newman Central Catholic, at the Northern Illinois University supersectional.
"That adrenalin, we don't want to go home, we're not ready to go home. We have goals here," said Trojans point guard Matt Owens, who scored 23 points with 10 assists. Josh Harris led all scorers with 25 points, Vos scored 17 and sophomore Ben VanderWal scored 14 with 11 rebounds.
Rockford Lutheran (26-9) rallied from a 66-51 deficit early in the fourth quarter to get within 70-69 with 4:11 left. The Crusaders' man-to-man press and guard Zach Derus' determination - 12 of his 19 points and 4 of his 6 steals came in the fourth quarter - led the rally.
"I think that fourth quarter summed up that basketball team of ours," said Rockford Christian coach Tom Guse. "A lot of teams would have definitely quit, but they not only didn't quit they fought as hard as they possibly could, cut it to 1. Then (Timothy) made some good plays."
Like Owens, who answered with a layup, switched hands from right left while airborne on a dish to VanderWal, then quickly scored twice. Harris' court-length drive bumped Timothy back up 80-71 with 2:11 to play.
"We've shown unbelievable perseverance and resilience all year long, and a word that we like to use is fortitude - showing strength in the face of adversity. And these boys, they show fortitude like nobody else," said Trojans coach Scott Plaisier.
The Crusaders, led by center Tyler Penny's 20 points, pushed back to within 4- and 5-point margins, but Timothy Christian finally sealed it in the last minute on consecutive baskets by Vos, Owens and Harris, on a nifty spin move.
The first half was as Vos said, a track meet.
"This is my environment, for sure," said Owens, matched by a Rockford Lutheran team that wasted no time getting the ball into the paint to Penny or Logan Villafuerte.
Timothy led 20-17 after one quarter, and 44-41 at halftime. The Crusaders clicked early in the third, going up 49-48 before Timothy Christian finished the quarter on a 17-2 run. Harris stole the ball twice and hit three 3-point daggers.
"Coach said we always win the third quarter and we weren't just going to stop right here, now, to not win this third quarter and just let them come out and kill us like that. So we came out with the same energy," Harris said.
"We knew they were going to hit shots. But I knew if I come down and hit a shot that's going to take the momentum all away. And I know big-time players make big-time plays."