Boys Basketball: Aurora Christian tops Timothy Christian

Updated: January 24, 2012 10:28PM

If Aurora Christian could find a way to bottle the starts it had in both halves against visiting Timothy Christian, Eagle coach Steve Hanson might have to clear a spot in the school’s trophy case.

The Eagles came out hot from the opening tipoff and basically settled the outcome of the non-conference clash in the first two minutes, routing Timothy Christian 63-42.

Aurora Christian improved to 14-5 on the season, bouncing back from a loss to conference leader Wheaton Academy on Friday.

It would be difficult for Eagle coach Steve Hanson to imagine getting off to a better start. Senior 6-foot-6 center CJ Schutt set the tone with a three-pointer just ten seconds into the game.

Following a Trojan trey by Tyler VanderBrug, junior Ryan McQuade swished a pair of three-pointers. When Schutt scored on a feed from McQuade to make the lead 11-3, Timothy Christian coach Jack LeGrand called a timeout to discuss with his team the benefits of closing out on the Eagle shooters.

But the Eagles weren’t through. Jake Hanson hit another three-pointer just five seconds after the timeout. Johnathan Harrell followed the only miss of Aurora Christian’s first seven possessions with a putback, and Schutt got down the floor quickly for a layup which widened the lead to 18-5 and forced another timeout, only 2:13 into the game.

“We came out swinging in both halves,” said Hanson. “We talk about doing that but sometimes it doesn’t work out that way. We just got off to a great start shooting the ball, and that makes everything easier.”

Inevitably the Eagles cooled off as Timothy Christian went to a zone defense and turned up the pressure. But Aurora Christian still led 35-23 at the intermission, having gone 8 of 14 from behind the arc. Cory Windle (13 points off the bench) joined McQuade with a trio of three-pointers in the first half.

“I feel we can shoot the ball as well as anybody, but we also feel like we have a good inside game with CJ and Harrell,” noted Hanson. “I’d like to think we’re well-rounded, but tonight the threes were there early.”

If the Trojans had any thoughts about getting back into the game, those thoughts were quickly dashed. McQuade (game-high 17 points) hit two more three-pointers that barely touched the net, and Schutt hit two free throws before Timothy Christian got on the scoreboard. Combining the first two minutes of the first half and the first three minutes of the second half, Aurora Christian outscored Timothy Christian 26-5, the same margin as the final score.

The Eagles led by as much as 56-30 early in the fourth quarter.

On the defensive end, Aurora Christian limited the Trojans to mostly outside shots by switching defenses, especially in the first half.

Schutt had 15 points on 5-of-8 shooting from the field for the Eagles. Guard Ryan Suttle had only three points, but at 5-11 he went to work on the boards for 10 rebounds.

Danny Leach led the Trojans (10-9) with 10 points, while Chris Ridolphi added nine points.

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