The Timothy Christian men began state tournament play on Monday at Chicago Marshall. The Trojans were moved up to 3A this year by the IHSA and played their first game vs Chicago Wells. The first half saw a slow start for the Trojans as they struggled a bit to get things going. Leading 18-10 at the quarter, they began to slowly get a little rhythm and led 31-17 at the break. The 3rd quarter saw the Trojans outscore Chicago Wells 21-12 for a lead of 52-29 after 3. The Trojans would hold on the rest of the way to make a little history with the first state tournament win in 3A by a score of 60-36.
Danny Leach led the way in with 17 pts, 9 rebounds, 4 steals, 2 blocks, and 1 assist. George Thompson (11 pts, 7 rebs, 2 assists), Connor Vanderbrug (10 pts, 7 rebs, 1 assist, 2 blks, 2 stls), Luke Davidson (8 pts, 3 rebs, 2 assists), Justin Funchess (7 pts, 3 rebs, 1 assist), Jimmy Larkin (7 pts, 3 rebs, 1 stl), Wes Ditchfield (5 assists, 2 rebs, 1 block), Justin Rhiner (1 reb), Matt Huizinga (1 reb), Logan Byrne (1 reb), Phil Stanton and Rich Medina all contributed in the victory.
After a snowstorm came through the area, the Trojans traveled to Marshall on Wednesday to play the host school. This night saw the host commandos come out shooting hot and building a lead of 21-14 after the 1st quarter. They would extend this lead but then the Trojans would answer and trailed by 10 at the break 31-21. At halftime, the Trojans talked about trying to get the deficit down going into the 4th quarter but Marshall had other plans as they built their lead to 22 pts near the end of the 3rd. The Trojans would not go down without a fight and staged a strong comeback bid in the 4th quarter. The deficit would get down to 9 pts with about 5 minutes to play and the Trojans could only keep it that close but not get any closer as they would fall on this night 73-52.
The Trojans would be led on this night by the 3 captains. Junior Connor VanderBrug (27 pts, 7 rebs, 2 assists, 2 blocks), Senior Danny Leach (19 pts, 3 rebs, 1 assist, 1 stl), and Senior Luke Davidson (6 pts, 4 rebs, 1 assist) would score all the Trojans pts on the evening. Justin Rhiner (1 assist), Justin Funchess (2 rebs, 1 stl), Wes Ditchfield (5 rebs, 1 assist), George Thompson (1 reb), and Matt Huizinga (1 reb) would crack the score sheet on the evening.
It is difficult to end the season but I was very proud of how hard our guys worked this season and also how they continued to improve and become a much bettter team as the season unfolded after a slow start. The Trojans were 4-10 at Christmas and 1-5 during the first half of conference play. The Trojans ended the season going 9-5 and 4-2 in conference play the 2nd time through. The Trojans finished the season at 13-15 and 5-7 in the Metro Suburban Confernece. Thanks to all the Seniors who will be missed and also a big THANK YOU to all the fans who support Timothy Christian Basketball.
