Members of Jonathan Alder’s varsity boys basketball team are from left, front row, Phil Scott, Grant Welsch and Parker Taylor; second row, Taber Headings, Carter Harrington, Reed VanKirk and Joey Walker; third row, Will Jackson, Drew Mark, manager Koen Murdock, Peyton Heiss and Tyler Begin. (Photo submitted)
The Jonathan Alder boys basketball team has five returning lettermen back from a squad that posted a 20-1 record during the 2020-21 campaign.
The Pioneers did not lose until they fell to Columbus St. Francis DeSales during the Division II district championship game.
Veterans on coach Zach Ross’ roster include seniors Grant Welsch, Joey Walker, Taber Headings and Tyler Begin.
The other letterman is sophomore Peyton Heiss.
Welsch, a 6-0 guard, averaged nearly five points per game.
Walker, a 6-6 forward, scored at a per-game clip of 7.5. He missed a couple of games early this season due to illness.
Headings, a 6-5 forward, averaged 5.4 per contest and Begin, a 6-2 forward, averaged 3.3.
Heiss is a 6-2 guard who scored 5.6 points per game.
Ross said the experience brought by the lettermen should be a strength of the ball club.
The veterans are joined by 6-4 senior Reed VanKirk and juniors Carter Harrington (6-4) and Drew Mark (6-1).
VanKirk is back with the program after a year off.
The Pioneers went through the Central Buckeye Conference Kenton Trail Division with a 9-0 mark.
“The CBC will be tough again this year,” said Ross. “We look forward to having a chance at the end of the year to compete for the championship.”
Alder may find the offensive sledding a little difficult, at least to start the year.
JA lost Jackson Izzard and his 19 point-per-game scoring average to graduation.
Ross, however, feels the team’s defense will help in the early going of the campaign.
The Pioneer coach has a fairly simple philosophy toward the season.
“We want to honor our culture and our four core values of together, passion, grit and humility,” he said. “We believe if we can do that we will have a chance in every game.”