Alex, Timothy Christian get off to good start
Sureya Alex had to go against her own instincts and learn how to be more selfish with the ball.
"At the middle of the season, I sat down with my parents and they said I was passing too much and I needed to score more," Alex said. "The team needed me to score. Other people started telling me the same thing."
The sophomore point guard demonstrated her superb all-around by game by scoring a team-high 12 points and adding 5 assists and 3 steals to lead Timothy Christian to a 63-49 victory over Disney in a Class 2A DePaul Prep regional semifinal Wednesday in Chicago.
Timothy (22-5) will play Regina Dominican at 7 p.m. Friday. Regina beat host DePaul Prep 43-40 in overtime in the second regional semifinal.
Alex pushed all the right buttons against the Titans.
"She is the engine that has powered our team the whole year," Timothy interim coach Mark Baumbach said. "She is just great in the open floor and she really knows how to distribute the ball. She was fantastic tonight."
The final score is not indicative of how dominant the Trojans were. Timothy led by as many as 27 points at the end of the third quarter. Disney (8-6) outscored the Trojans' second- and third-team players 20-7 in the final quarter to make the score respectable.
Timothy jumped out to an electric start by hitting its first four shots from the field. Senior guard Jordyn Strube scored on a breakaway and drilled a 3-pointer. She scored all 11 of her points in the first half.
Timothy jumped out to leads of 21-8 after the first quarter and 37-19 at halftime.
The strong start proved crucial for Timothy, the No. 2 subsectional seed. A first game in the state tournament is always marked by uncertainty. Nerves almost play a factor. Timothy looked fluid and aggressive at the start.
"We wanted to hit our shots and come out and play hard right away," Strube said. "We want to win this regional. Our mentality is to get back to our own home floor, where we are hosting the sectional next week."
A second-year starting point guard, Alex orchestrated the attack as Timothy took advantage of its size advantage. Her pinpoint passing led to multiple backdrop layups and breakaways.
"We really pounded home in practice yesterday that we needed to get off to a fast start," Baumbach said. "We wanted to get them down early and take away their spirit. Sureya did a great job of getting the ball to open players. Nothing is better than getting open layups."
Nine players scored for Timothy. Sophomore forward Hannah Schuringa added 10 points and 7 rebounds. Senior guard Lauren Gehrke scored 8 points. Sophomore Greta Hoogstra added 8 points and senior Maggie Troxel contributed 7 off the bench.
Senior Valencia Hearon scored a game-high 19 points to lead the Titans.
Alex opened a second-quarter push with consecutive drives as Timothy built a commanding lead.
"I have always been more of a driver, but now I have learned how to create and look for my own shot as well as distributing the ball to others," Alex said.