Trojans were a perfect 5-0 in conference heading into holidays.
By Mike Miazga
Correspondent
The Timothy Christian boys basketball team’s hot start shows no signs of slowing down.
Heading into the holidays, the Trojans were 8-1 overall and were a perfect 5-0 in Metro Suburban Conference Red Division play.
In recent action, the Trojans were 56-49 MSC Red winners against Elgin St. Edward. Timothy led 18-16 after the first quarter and 28-27 heading into halftime. St. Edward took a 36-34 lead into the fourth quarter before Timothy went on a 22-13 run in the final quarter.
Sophomore Matt Owens led the Trojans with 221 points. Brandon Orange added 14 points, while Michael Thomas had 10 points and Ty Merrick had six points. Timothy shot 48 percent from the field. Owens had two 3-pointers.
The Trojans also excelled from the foul line where they shot 84 percent, making 16 of 19 attempts. Owens was a perfect 7-for-7, while Merrick was 4-for-6.
Orange pulled in a team-high 11 rebounds, while Merrick had five. Owens also led the team in assists with five, while Thomas had four. Merrick and Owens each had two steals.
In earlier action, Timothy defeated Ridgewood by a 59-52 count in MSC Red play.
Ridgewood led 13-9 after the first quarter, but Timothy came back and took a 23-21 lead into halftime. The Trojans opened things up in the third quarter going on a 21-13 run and then withstood a Ridgewood fourth-quarter comeback.
Thomas led the Trojans in scoring with 18 points. Orange added 12 points and Mike Martens had 10 points. Justin Baez had seven points and Owens had six points to round out a balanced scoring attack. The Trojans again shot well from the field, hitting at a 47 percent clip.
Timothy also shot 55 percent from the 3-point line (6-for-11). Martens made 3 of 4 three-pointers, while Baez hit on 2 of 4 attempts. Owens also made a three.
Orange led the team with 10 rebounds, while Merrick had six rebounds and Thomas had five. Merrick was tops on the team in assists with five. Thomas had four assists. Timothy also had 12 steals in the game with Thomas and Merrick each recording three in that category.
Timothy is in the midst of playing in the York Jack Tosh Holiday Classic. Quarterfinal action in the tournament is today. The semifinals are scheduled for Friday and the consolation, third-place and championship contests will be played Saturday with the final scheduled for 6 p.m. Saturday night.
