Timothy Christian finds its zone vs. IC Catholic
In a zone, then zoned in.
Feeding off backcourt mate Chauncey Lee, IC Catholic guard Zach Jordan was on pace for megapoints at Timothy Christian.
The Trojans regrouped to win the Metro Suburban Conference basketball crossover 62-43 over their Elmhurst cross-town foe.
"I think I wrote 'shooter' about five times on the scouting report that this kid can shoot it, and we gave him three looks right away, he's got a quick trigger," said Timothy Christian coach Scott Plaisier.
"Once we started doing a better job of identifying him and controlling Lee a little bit, that helped us just get into a little bit better rhythm."
A 5-foot-8 senior guard, Jordan made his first 4 shots including three 3-pointers. When Lee converted Dom Gaudio's high-low pass midway through the first quarter IC Catholic (13-8) led the Trojans 15-4.
Then a few things occurred.
Off the bench came Trojans sophomore Ben VanderWal to mix it up inside, helping Timothy Christian (14-3) get within 19-11 after one quarter.
Timothy shifted to a 1-3-1 zone defense fronted by lanky, 6-foot-4 Josh Harris.
Lee drew his second foul at 7:01 of the second quarter, out for the rest of the first half.
The Trojans rode these events to a 16-2 second-quarter edge over IC Catholic. Timothy forced 7 turnovers and Harris scored 9 points to pace the host's 27-21 halftime lead.
"We usually use it if we need a momentum shift or something like that," Harris said of the 1-3-1, out of which guard Matt Owens nabbed 2 of his 4 steals with Zach Orange stealing 2 more. "We'll switch into it, and then we'll pick up our defense, which ignites our offense."
"We just weren't ready for it," said Jordan, whose 14 points led IC Catholic ahead of Lee, Michael Hilgart and Antonio Richardson each with 6 points.
"They've got big, athletic guys who can read passes, read plays, know what you want to do, where you want to go. It just messed with our heads because anything we tried to do they countered it," Jordan said.
Owens' 3-pointer nine seconds into the second half kick-started Timothy Christian's 22-point third quarter for a 49-34 lead entering the fourth.
Then, Ben Jones' 3 right off the bat signified there would be no Knights comeback.
VanderWal scored 14 points with 11 rebounds. Owens and Harris scored 11 apiece and Orange added 8 points.
IC Catholic is 2-5 in the new year, but against tough competition that should pay off.
"Adversity is good," said Knights coach T.J. Tyrrell, "and that's what I tell the guys, is these are challenges that we want. Embrace them and come closer together as a team. We'll be all right."