Chris Thompson said he and his Walther Lutheran teammates were determined to deliver a major message Friday night.
A week after falling in the Private School League title game to Timothy Christian, Thompson and the Broncos got payback and more with their 66-55 Class 2A regional title victory over the host Trojans in Elmhurst.
“We finally got them, and it feels good,” said Thompson, who missed last week’s PSL championship game due to illness but scored 17 points Friday. “We were really looking forward to this game. We finally made our statement to everyone in the PSL and our region.
“Now we’re going to try to make it to state.”
Timothy (17-13) had beaten Walther twice this season and entered with an eight-game winning streak.
But the Trojans managed only one lead the entire game and couldn’t take advantage of erratic field-goal shooting that plagued Walther (19-9) through much of the night.
Timothy Christian’s lone lead, at 27-26 with 6 minutes 8 seconds left in the third quarter, quickly evaporated as Walther guard Cedric Collins launched an 11-3 run with the first of a pair of three-pointers over a three-minute span.
The Broncos held a 48-35 lead entering the final period, and their advantage never again dropped below seven points.
Collins’ 21 points paced the Broncos, who next face North Lawndale on Tuesday at the Luther North sectional. Junior guard Brandon Smith added 10 points.
For Timothy, senior guard Andrew Temple scored 15 points. Junior forward Peter Tameling and senior forward Vince Williams each had 10.
