Jonathan Alder’s Joey Walker goes up for a basket Wednesday evening against Bloom Carroll. Walker scored eight points during the Pioneers’ victory during the Division II district semifinal game. (Journal-Tribune photo by Sam Dillon)
Jonathan Alder’s boys basketball team rediscovered itself Wednesday evening.
“We went back to being ‘us,’” said Pioneer head coach Zach Ross.
He was referring to the fact top-seeded Alder played more like it is accustomed to during a 45-27 victory over No. 6 Bloom Carroll.
The Division II district semifinal triumph advanced the Pioneers into Saturday’s (1 p.m.) home game against No. 2 Columbus St. Francis DeSales for the district championship.
Nearly a week ago, JA played as merely a shadow of itself during a tourney-opening win (32-20) over Hamilton Township.
During that contest, Alder committed numerous ball-handling miscues and shot an icy 22% from the floor.
Fast forward the calendar five days and the stat line looked better for the local squad.
The Pioneers cut their turnovers down to 11 (none of which really caused problems) and more than doubled (48%) their performance from the field.
Alder didn’t have many offensive problems during the opening quarter.
Peyton Heiss swished a pair of trifectas and Tyler Begin added another as the Pioneers (20-0) quickly got their offense untracked.
Heiss’ second three-ball pushed JA out to its first double-digit lead at 14-4 with 1:20 left on the first quarter clock.
The Bulldogs could not get much offense going as the Pioneers’ lockdown defense slammed the door shut on driving and passing lanes.
“The coaching staff laughs because I’ll always talk about putting in different defensive packages,” said Ross. “However, when it comes down to it, we just stick with our strong man-to-man.”
Bloom Carroll tallied all of its first stanza points within the first five minutes.
The Bulldogs didn’t return to the scoreboard until nearly two minutes had elapsed in the second set.
Da’shan Clark converted an Alder turnover into a basket for the Dogs.
Another Alder mistake led to Jared Rose’s basket that closed the gap to 18-8.
Heiss was spot-on with another three-ball that pushed JA out to a 21-8 lead with approximately five minutes remaining until the halftime break.
Taber Headings followed suit from beyond the arc as the Pioneers elevated their lead to 24-8.
Both teams came up with several empty possessions during the waning minutes of the quarter.
A basket by Joe Luckhaupt and a free throw from Ryan Williams pulled the Bulldogs to within 27-15 at the turn.
Gavin Heimlich stretched his 6-9 frame for a stickback early in the third quarter.
In doing so, he gave Alder a 29-15 lead.
The Pioneers had some trouble over the next several minutes with Bloom Carroll’s press.
The Dogs’ strategy forced JA into a pair of 10-second violations.
Alder didn’t score again until Jackson Izzard’s trifecta stretched the lead to 32-15.
Grant Welsch expanded the Pioneers’ margin to 34-19 with a layup.
The combatants then spent several minutes without a score.
The dry spell was broken when Izzard rifled a pass through the lane to Heimlich.
The JA senior was left all alone on the backside of the Dogs’ man-to-man defense.
Heimlich threw down a dunk that gave Alder a 36-19 spread.
Ayden Anderson’s lone basket of the night was a three-ball that narrowed Bloom Carroll’s deficit to 36-22.
The Pioneers milked the clock for all it was worth as the seconds rapidly ticked.
Welsch eyed the bucket from beyond the arc.
His trifecta sent JA into the fourth quarter with a 39-22 advantage.
Joey Walker pushed Alder out to a 43-22 spread with a pair of early fourth-quarter buckets.
The timer read 4:30 when Chase Alwood hit a three-pointer for the Bulldogs.
Walker put an exclamation point on Jonathan Alder’s victory with 2:30 remaining in the contest.
Izzard worked the ball from the wing to Headings in the high post.
Bloom Carroll’s defense was once again caught napping.
Headings zipped the ball to Walker, on the low block.
He dunked in the Pioneers’ final points of the night.
Ross said the key to victory was pretty simple.
“We just got back to doing what we do best,” he said. “We knew we couldn’t allow either Evan Dozer or Jared Rose to beat us.
“We held them both to four points,” said Ross. “Our size made it difficult for them to score and our defense does a good job of contesting opposing offenses.”
Jonathan Alder
Heiss 3-2-11, Izzard 3-1-8, Walker 4-0-8, Hemlich 2-3-7, Welsch 2-0-5, Begin 1-0-3, Headings 1-0-3, Brandel 0-0-0, Riedel 0-0-0, Keith 0-0-0, Harrington 0-0-0. Totals 16-6-45.
Three-point goals: Heiss 3, Izzard 1, Welsch 1, Begin 1.
Bloom Carroll
Luckhaupt 3-1-7, Alwood 2-0-5, Dozer 2-0-4, Rose 2-0-4, Clark 1-1-3, Anderson 1-0-3, Williams 0-1-1. Totals 11-3-27.
Three-point goals: Alwood 1, Anderson 1.