By Mike Miazga
Three more games and three more wins for the Timothy Christian boys basketball team.
The Trojans recorded recent wins against Peoria Christian (62-30), Walther Christian (64-54) and Westmont (57-43).
In a 57-43 win against Westmont, which had beaten Timothy in the first game of the season, the Trojans trailed 11-8 after the first quarter and 23-21 at halftime. But the Trojans outscored Westmont 17-12 in the third quarter and 19-8 in the fourth.
Brandon Orange led the Trojans with 23 points to go with nine rebounds. Nick Huisman added 10 points and seven rebounds. Ty Merrick had nine points and seven assists, while Justin Baez had six points and five rebounds. Michael Thomas had six points and six assists. Michael Martens had two steals. The Trojans shot 42 percent from the field.
“Defensively in the second half against Westmont we were really good,” said Timothy coach Scott Plasier. “We went on a 19-0 run against them with Brandon Orange catching a little bit of fire. He scored on the block a bunch and went on an 11- or 13-0 run all by himself midway through the third. He got it rolling. I think he had 22 second-half points. Us getting him the ball in key situations was big during that run. We played defense pretty well and 18 of our 21 field goals had assists with them so we shared the ball pretty well. We also had 17 deflections so defensively we were getting our hands moving pretty good. We were getting in passing lanes and putting pressure on the ball. We were able to get a little bit of redemption after they beat us earlier in the year.”
Timothy then headed to Melrose Park to face Walther Christian. The Trojans led 14-13 after the first quarter and used a 20-9 run in the second quarter to go up 34-22.
Orange again led the Trojans with 19 points and 15 rebounds. Thomas had 11 points and three steals. Sophomore Matt Owens had nine points and five rebounds. Merrick had seven points to go with nine assists. Huisman had six points on two 3-pointers to go with five rebounds. Timothy shot 50 percent from the field and 70 percent from the free-throw line.
“Walther was a good team. They are a scrappy bunch and tough,” said Plasier. “They play very hard and the game was in their gym, which is a tough place to play for sure. We didn’t do a ton well against them. We scored 64 points and made some shots and free throws down the stretch that helped us. They did a good job keeping us off balance. They attacked us hard off the dribble. It was one of those games. They had the gym full and it was a rowdy crowd. They played off their fans. It was a good environment to play in. Walther played really hard and we responded enough down the stretch to hold on and get the win.”
Plasier cited strong play from Husiman, who has returned from injury in recent weeks. “Nick is back from his injury and has played really well defensively and has done well rebounding,” he said. “He made a couple 3s against Walther.”
Merrick also was lauded for his continued strong play. “Ty Merrick is playing super-consistent basketball,” the coach said. “And Michael Thomas had a nice little scoring night for us against Walther Christian.”
The wins put the Trojans at 18-4 overall and they sit atop the Metro Suburban Conference Red Division with an 8-0 record. Timothy faces Elmwood Park and Ridgewood this week in conference play before closing out the regular season with league games against Guerin Prep and Elgin St. Edward.
