Jackson Izzard (5) of Jonathan Alder splits between a pair of Kenton Ridge defenders on his way to the basket Friday. Izzard tallied 31 points during the Pioneers’ 50-32 win. The victory secured the Central Buckeye Conference Kenton Trail Division title for JA. (Journal-Tribune photo by Sam Dillon)
The Jonathan Alder boys basketball team saw its perfect season slipping through its fingers in the first half of Friday’s Central Buckeye Conference contest against Kenton Ridge.
However, a three-quarter court shot by the Pioneers is all they needed to pull themselves out of an early hole and on their way to a key victory over the Cougars. The win not only kept JA’s untarnished season intact, but also gave the Pioneers the rights to the CBC Kenton Trail Division title for the second year in a row after the 50-32 victory.
Alder head coach Zach Ross wasn’t surprised by the Cougars’ tough play in the opening the quarter.
“With us being at the top of the league, we keep preaching that everybody is going to be coming for us,” he said. “We won the league last year and it is hard to bring it every single game.”
Bringing it to Friday’s game was something the Pioneers lacked in the opening eight minutes.
Both teams took a slow approach on the offensive attack, leading to a 4-4 stalemate through the opening four minutes.
It was the Cougars who found more offense, thanks to Chase Younts in the post. He tallied six points, helping Kenton Ridge take a 12-11 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Ross said Kenton Ridge came ready with a plan that his team just wasn’t prepared for.
“They had a good game plan,” he said. “They hit some shots. They contested our shots and we let that affect the way we played on both ends.”
Kenton Ridge continued its offensive push at the start of the second quarter, working out to a 16-13 lead.
JA’s Jackson Izzard starting to claw away at the Cougars’ lead.
He laid in a layup that pulled both teams even with less than 30 seconds left in the half.
The Cougars answered with a trey from the corner by Noah Moore, leaving 3.8 seconds on the clock.
JA inbounded the ball to Izzard, who tossed up a Hail Mary at the buzzer to tie the game 21-21 at the half.
Ross said it was the shot his team needed to find themselves.
“We knew we weren’t doing what we were supposed to be doing,” he said. “We were in ‘la-la land’ and I think that basket kind of sparked us to get to who we are.
“Jackson has been our leader and we lean on him a lot,” said Ross. “That just kind of got us going. He went into the locker room and led his team.”
In the third quarter, the Pioneers came out with defense on their minds.
JA applied pressure to the Kenton Ridge shooters, while double-teaming in the low post.
Kenton Ridge tried to swing the ball around the perimeter, but Alder was able to force turnovers to create offense.
Izzard dished a low pass to Joey Walker, who dunked the ball to give JA a 25-23 lead. Peyton Heiss added a trey to stretch the Pioneers’ lead to 32-28 by the end of the third quarter.
Ross said his team really came together in the second half to slowly pull away from the Cougars.
“Ultimately, we just had to be us,” he said. “We weren’t us the first half and the second we were.
“We’ve got to get stops and we have to grind,” said the coach. “We’ve got to play together.”
The final stanza was all Izzard.
The senior guard worked his way over, around and through the Cougar’s defense on his way to 12 points.
Kenton Ridge struggled to find an answer to the breakout, only tallying two buckets.
With only two games standing between JA and a perfect season, Ross said he and his squad are going to take it one game at a time.
“As we learned (Friday)we’ve got to follow the process,” he said. “We can’t look too far ahead. We have been good at taking in one game at a time. We need to have a good practice (today) and get ready for Monday.”
Jonathan Alder is now 18-0 and is scheduled to return to action Monday against Bellefontaine.
Jonathan Alder
Izzard 12-5-31, Walker 2-4-8, Heiss 2-2-8, Headings 0-2-2, Heimlich 0-1-1. Totals: 16-14-50.
Three-point goals: Izzard 2, Heiss 2
Kenton Ridge
Younts 5-0-10, Rogan 4-0-9, Moore 2-2-7, White 2-0-4, Houseman 1-0-2. Totals: 14-2-32.
Three-point goals: Rogan 1, Moore 1