#6 Jonathan Alder 54, #5 Bishop Watterson 44 - Game Recap
ALDER CAPTURES FIRST DISTRICT TITLE SINCE 1979
COLUMBUS, Ohio - - Head coach Derek Dicke arrived in 2022 and has delivered this program their first district championship since 1979, and it happened behind a 31-point, eight rebound performance from their star senior Peyton Heiss. The 54-44 victory for Jonathan Alder (15-9) over the Bishop Watterson (14-11) avenges the loss a couple of weeks ago and sends Alder to the regional semi-finals at Vandalia Butler High School on March 14th.
“Words can’t describe what Peyton Heiss means to me or this program, he’s just unbelivable, the bigger the game the bigger he plays,” Dicke said about his senior stud after the game. “As the last five games has come, there’s been no better player in Central Ohio, I don’t think, than Peyton Heiss.”
Heiss lived up to the high praise from his coach as the first half was the start of the Peyton Heiss show, as the senior scored 17 in the opening 16 minutes of play and outscored the entire Watterson team as his team went into the locker room with a 26-16 advantage.
Heiss shot the Eagles out of the zone they started the game with quickly, within three minutes of game action he had drained two three’s from the left wing. Watterson switched defenses and began to hit the glass a bit more, and getting in the lane for two layups before the end of the quarter. The Pioneers ended the quarter ahead 13-4 and Peyton had eight of those points for his team.
Alder was locked in on both sides of the court from the opening tip-off.
“I just told the guys, mentally and physically you got to be tougher and be fearless, there’s no tomorrow,” was the message coach Dicke had for his team before the game, “what are you willing to give for something you’ve never had?”
His team heeded that message as the lefty’s roll didn’t stop in the second quarter, it just looked a little different, getting to the free throw line twice and sinking all four from the stripe and getting to the basket whenever he wanted to.
After the half, the pace slowed on both ends, and Watterson slowly climbed back into the ballgame with a 10-5 third quarter that included a 6-1 run within the frame. Watterson’s Noah Holsinger score half the Eagle’s point to help them get back into it, getting the game to 31-26 at the end of the third quarter.
Second team all district performer Dominic Theado scored four straight points to start the fourth to get the lead to 31-30, the closest the Eagles had been since the opening tip-off, with just under seven mintues remaining in the conest. Theado would end the game with 12 total points on the afternoon.
Alder’s Ryan Mark made an impression on this ball game, scoring nine of his 14 points in crunch time of the final quarter, inclduing a dagger triple from a Peyton Heiss assist to swell the lead back to eight when the Pioneers responded to Watterson cutting the lead and had a huge block towards the end of the game.
“There’s no experience like experience,” Dicke said after the game speaking to Mark being ready for the moment in the final quarter. “Now that they have it, they just follow Peyton’s lead and they’re ready for the moment.”
This win for Jonathan Alder will go down as one of the biggest in the history of the school, these young men have forever changed the outlook on Alder basketball, Peyton Heiss is forever a legend in Pioneer lore.