Jonathan Alder Pioneers top London in overtime

Area high school basketball fans got their money’s worth on Friday.

The rematch between Jonathan Alder and London had all the makings of a hotly-contested matchup.

As the gym overflowed, the Pioneers were able to battle for a 61-59 overtime victory.

JA previously lost to their rivals before Christmas, 59-45, at home.

The lingering feelings from that contest couldn’t be ignored leading up to Friday’s game.

“If you ask any of the players, they know, it’s been sitting in my head since the day we lost,” JA coach Derek Dicke said.

“My poor wife, we have three kids at home, I have not slept all week,” he said. “They are all big ones, but this one, for the league and being a rival and coming to our place and handling us the way they did… I wanted to make sure we gave them the same feeling I had.”

“It is probably the most energized environment we’ve been a part of,” Danny Bentley said. “It was a great team win.”

Bentley came off the bench and scored 20 points.

He made two clutch free throws down the stretch in OT and was complimented by Chase Muetzel’s free throws that sealed the deal.

“The team gave me opportunities and gave me the ball as a freshman and let me go to work,”  Bentley said.

The London gymnasium was filled with only standing room at one point. That wasn’t a shock to JA.

Jonathan Alder’s Chase Muetzel drives for a layup during the first half of action against London. The junior notched eight points in the team’s road win.

(Journal-Tribune photo by Aleksei Pavloff)

“It is up there for sure,” Dicke said. “I don’t like playing here, but it was an unbelievable environment… I told our guys all week that you can’t get caught up in anything.”

“I can’t even explain how bad we wanted to beat them,” Bentley said. “We prepared so hard… I haven’t beaten them in three years.”

The first two minutes went scoreless as both teams aggressively tried to get one leg above the over.

Around 2:30 into the first period, Sam Cramer hit a trey for the Pioneers giving them their first points.

London’s Luke Johnson struck back on the next possession with a three-pointer of his own to tie the score.

JA’s only offensive rebound of the first half came around the 4:30 mark.

Cramer gave JA a 5-3 lead with the stickback.

The lead started to separate in favor of JA when Hess hit a short-range jumper with a little more than three minutes left until the second period.

Led by Cramer’s five points, the Pioneers tallied 11 in the opening period compared to London’s seven.

Bentley delivered the team’s second three-pointer, bumping the lead to 14-7 at the start of the second set.

London’s Braeden Fox secured a traditional three-point play moments later after getting fouled by Trey Bentley. The free throw cut the deficit to 14-10.

London’s June Turner lessened the Pioneer lead a minute later with a basket to make it a 14-12 margin.

Trey Bentley scored for a 16-12 lead.

Minutes went by before Danny Bentley found the rim again, scoring with around four minutes left until halftime.

Turner made sure the scoreboard remained close with a shot that narrowed London’s gap to 18-15.

The Red Raiders pulled within 23-21 at halftime.

“I told them we had to sit down and guard the ball,” Dicke said. “They were squaring us up… the big thing was we had to get stops.”

Hess got JA back on track with another jumper from close range, boosting the lead to 25-21.

Hess later hit another field goal as JA led 33-28.

The Red Raiders eventually took a 37-35 lead when Cuyler Greenhill made two free throws with eight seconds left in the period.

The Pioneers remained steadfast and did not back down from the noise.

JA outscored London 17-15 in the fourth quarter.

Danny Bentley tallied nine points during that time.

The Red Raiders and Pioneers knotted the scoreboard at 52-all and forced a four-minute overtime period.

“I just wanted to give them belief that I knew they were going to be fine, and they needed to believe in each other,” Dicke said. “They knew we were going to be ready.”

After winning the tipoff, Cramer got the Pioneers ahead with a basket to start OT.

However, London’s Baylor Kennell delivered a gut-punching three-pointer for a 55-54 edge.

Cramer hit another field goal around a minute later to put the Pioneers up 56-55.

Danny Bentley was fouled in the act of shooting. He made one of two free throws and the Red Raiders called a timeout with 55 seconds left.

Coming out of the short break, London’s Turner tied the game at 57-57.

With time ticking away, London again put Danny Bentley at the charity stripe.

His free throws gave JA a 59-57 lead.

London’s Johnson tried to deliver a dagger from long range, but came up short.

Muetzel rebounded the loose ball and was fouled.

He made both attempts for a 61-57 lead.

Dicke pointed to the team’s togetherness, which gave them the confidence to fight back.

“In every huddle, when we were down or up, I kept telling the guys to take a deep breath and we will be fine,” he said. “We know we can rely on each other.”

London called a timeout with seven seconds remaining.

JA cleared the lanes for London’s Greenhill to score. However, there was too little time remaining on the clock for the Red Raiders to work any magic.

“Let them score and we will take our two-point victory,” Dicke said.

Hess followed Danny Bentley with an 18-point game.

Scoring two points, Ryan Mark led the squad with seven rebounds, all of which came on the defensive end.

The conference win puts JA at 15-3 overall and 7-1 in the CBC. Alder leads the Kenton Trail Division, with London behind them at 5-2.

The Pioneers have four games left in the regular season, two of which are conference games against Bellefontaine and Tecumseh.

“We have to win out… that is all there is to it,” Dicke said.

Alder will host to Columbus Bishop Hartley (13-3) on Tuesday.

“We need to be ready to make another great team win,” D. Bentley said.

Jonathan Alder

Mark 0-2-2, T. Bentley 1-0-2, D. Bentely 4-10-20, Hess 7-4-18, Bauer 1-0-2, Muetzel 3-2-8, Cramer 4-0-9. Three-point goals: Bentley 2, Cramer.

London

Calloway 0-5-5, Johnson 4-0-10, Turner 5-2-13, Greenhill 6-2-16, Kennell 1-0-3, Nickell 1-0-2, Fox 2-4-9. Three-point goals: Johnson 2, Turner, Greenhill 2, Kennell, Fox.