Jackson Izzard of Jonathan Alder (left) drives into the lane on Tuesday. The Pioneers rolled past Benjamin Logan, 64-34. (Journal-Tribune photo by Tim Miller)
Winning streak reaches 11 games
A month-long winning streak continued for Jonathan Alder’s boys hoop squad on Tuesday.
The Pioneers ran their overall record to 15-2 by clubbing Benjamin Logan, 64-34, during a Central Buckeye Conference crossover game.
The Pioneers last suffered a setback during a 46-42 verdict against Huntington Prep a couple of days after Christmas.
Tuesday’s victory extended their winning streak to 11 games.
The reason for Alder’s success?
Togetherness, according to head coach Zach Ross.
“That’s our No. 1 value,” he said. “You need it on both offense and defense in order to be successful.”
The Pioneers exhibited that attribute on both ends of the court against the Raiders.
Alder applied a suffocating man-to-man defense that slammed the door shut on any driving or passing lanes for the Raiders.
Pioneer cagers were especially adept at switching and sliding over to help cover any Benjamin Logan player who on rare occasion was able to shake their defensive counterpart.
Ross knows where the heart of Alder’s defense rests.
“It all starts with Henry (JA’s 6-7 post player),” he said. “He takes up a lot of room on defense and has just been unbelievable in covering a lot of space.
“Henry often will go out and play defense on the wing because he’s usually guarding the other team’s best player.”
The Pioneers (who will host Springfield Shawnee on Friday) also aren’t afraid to share the wealth on offense.
Logan Stevens, Jackie Santa-Emma, Walker and Jackson Izzard each made contact with the basket as Alder jumped out to a 12-0 lead in the opening quarter.
Santa-Emma and Izzard both knocked down trifectas during that stretch.
The initial period was nearly five minutes old before Trey Allen’s trifecta gave the Raiders their first points.
JA’s lead continued to climb when Drew Begin and Izzard each came up with the ball and went coast-to-coast for layups.
Izzard’s bucket sent Alder into the second quarter with a 19-6 lead.
It took Benjamin Logan more than four minutes to tally its next points on a pair of free throws by Ethan Ricketts.
Walker scored twice during that stretch on assists from Izzard and Santa-Emma.
Those buckets in the low block stretched Alder’s advantage to 27-8.
Izzard later assisted on a basket by Santa-Emma to send the Pioneers into the halftime break with a 34-12 margin.
Benjamin Logan failed to make much of a dent in its deficit during the third quarter.
Izzard knocked down a pair of three-balls.
Stevens followed suit when his trifecta stretched the Pioneers’ lead to 51-19.
JA took a 52-22 margin into the final quarter and coasted to victory.
Jonathan Alder
Izzard 6-4-19, Walker 7-2-16, Santa-Emma 5-0-12, Welsch 3-0-6, Stevens 2-0-5, T. Begin 2-0-4, D. Begin 1-0-2, Gower 0-0-0, Heisler 0-0-0, Heimlich 0-0-0. Totals 26-6-64.
Three-point goals: Izzard 3, Santa-Emma 2, Stevens 1.
Benjamin Logan
Allen 4-0-11, Stahler 1-5-7, Fuhle 2-2-6, Hunt 1-2-4, Ricketts 0-4-4, Williamson 1-0-2, Rodenberger 0-0-0, Munz 0-0-0, Burrey 0-0-0, McGowan 0-0-0, Vance 0-0-0. Totals 9-11-34.
Three-point goals: Allen 3.