A grand opening for Timothy Christian
If every game is like Friday's girls basketball game, Timothy Christian is going to love playing in its new Ward Athletic Center.
The Trojans celebrated the WAC's grand opening with a 56-24 blowout of visiting Chicago Christian.
"I think it worked out just fine," Trojans coach Michele Strube said of the new building. "We love it."
It showed, though it took Timothy Christian (3-3, 1-1 Metro Suburban Conference Red Division) two or three minutes to get comfortable in its new digs.
The grand opening included a doubleheader with the boys game, with a performance by the Jesse White Tumblers in between.
"I think it was the excitement but also the nerves, because we're not used to this many people here at a game," Trojans junior guard Jordyn Strube said. "I mean, I'm not going to complain. It's great. But I think it was just the nerves, the first home game. There was a lot that was expected."
Once the Trojans got comfortable, however, they took off. They went on an 8-0 run to take an 8-2 lead, then followed it with a second 8-0 run, a Jordyn Strube basket making the score 16-4. Timothy Christian led 21-7 at the end of the first quarter, 39-13 at halftime.
"With all of our injuries we've been slowing it down, slowing it down because we didn't have enough bodies," coach Strube said. "This game, go, go, go. Finally it clicked in. OK, we can go. And they did it."
Jordyn Strube was one of the Trojans who returned from injury. She got the cast off her left, non-shooting wrist Wednesday after missing four games. The layoff didn't seem to affect her much at first. She scored 10 of her game-high 12 points in the first quarter.
"I've been practicing, because it was my left wrist, so I've been practicing and everything," Jordyn Strube said. "I mean, my shot, I wasn't able to shoot with two hands, but I was still in shape. I was all good with that. I was just more excited to be back than anything. I just wanted to play."
When the rust showed in the second, third and fourth quarters, she compensated elsewhere, finishing with 7 blocked shots, 7 assists and 2 rebounds.
"She's just a big key on the court," her mother the coach said. "She's confident. She likes to shoot, she likes to drive. She's a threat (from outside) where it helps for our big girls inside (6-foot senior Olivia Schuringa and 6-2 senior Emily DeBoer) because everyone knows our two big girls. You can see it. But when you have guards that are a threat, it helps. And the same with Sureya (Alex), our new point guard, the freshman. She'll shoot."
Nine Trojans played, and all of them scored. Schuringa added 10 points, and DeBoer had 9.
"Timothy came out and played very well," Chicago Christian coach Ken Kreykes said. "I think we should've played a little better. I think we're a better team than we played tonight. But we've been having a tough time getting the ball in the basket."
Chicago Christian fell to 1-5, 0-1 with the loss.