Botkins’ Eli Pitts led all scorers with 19 points in Tuesday’s 45-22 win over Jackson Center. (Press Pros Feature Photos by Logan Howard)
Botkins suffocated Jackson Center to reclaim the SCAL crown. The Trojans flexed their defensive muscles with nearly as many takeaways (20) as points allowed (22).
“Faster, Higher, Stronger – Together,” the Olympic motto says. On the eve of the Winter Olympics, Botkins embodied all of the above in a 45-22 clobbering of Jackson Center.
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The Trojans clinched the outright SCAL championship with the win, climbing back to the top of the seven-rung ladder for the first time since back-to-back titles in 2021 and 2022.
“It was pretty cool because it’s always been one of our goals to win the SCAL,” junior guard Eli Pitts said. “So it felt good to finally accomplish that.”
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At 10-0 in the league, they won’t need results from their games against Russia and Houston to hoist the trophy.
Jackson Center (8-9, 6-3 SCAL) has now lost six of its last seven. This one slides JC into a three-way tie for second in the SCAL with Anna and Russia.
Botkins (13-3) abused Jackson Center’s offense for 32 minutes. Unofficially, the Tigers coughed up the basketball 20 times, which can almost all be credited to the Trojans’ antagonistic defense.
“All it really came down to was our effort on the defensive end,” Pitts said. “What we praise is playing defense and rebounding. And if we do that, the other stuff will fall right into place.”
They came out in a frenzy, in the grill of every Tiger at all times with active feet and hands. Five of Jackson Center’s first eight possessions ended in turnovers.
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That vigor didn’t surprise the home crowd that witnessed a devastating loss to Preble Shawnee on Saturday night. But unlike the weekend showdown, there was no tale of two halves.
“As you can imagine, at practice on Monday the message was that we, together, collectively, have to finish games out,” head coach Phil Groves said. “We need to maintain 32 minutes of intensity, and I thought our guys did that.”
Botkins’ defense forced 20 turnovers by Jackson Center…and only allowed 22 points.
After surging to a 13-4 lead in the first quarter, the Trojans gave up only five points in the second quarter and two in the fourth quarter.
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Jackson Center’s offense never found a rhythm that resolved the turnover issue. The tenacity and aggression of defenders like Pitts, Will Monnin and Tucker Huelskamp overpowered them in every phase. Botkins’ on-ball defense was as frantic and feverish as it was controlled and deliberate.
“We pride ourselves on playing defense like that,” Pitts said. “We did a great job of it tonight, and that’s what makes us so good, our defensive pressure.”
“Botkins is extremely solid defensively,” Jackson Center coach Aaron Klopfenstein said. “They force you to make decisions … If you have 20 turnovers in a game, you’re not gonna win many of those.”
The advantage of the “faster” portion of the Olympic motto became evident late in the first quarter. With five takeaways already, Botkins dug deeper into fertile soil by springing traps on Jackson Center’s point guard, Preston Serr, at half court. Jackson Center couldn’t react as quickly as Botkins attacked. That trap showed up a few more times, and usually bore fruit.
As for “higher,” that was decided before tipoff. The Trojan forwards don’t quite stand at seven feet and 7-foot-6 as announced during starting lineups. But at 6-foot-6 and 6-foot-4, Owen Zimpfer and James Steinke kept rebounds firmly off the Tigers’ menu.
Will Monnin elevates for a jumper to extend the second-half lead. Botkins claimed the SCL title with a 45-22 win over Jackson Center.
“Stronger” was equally undeniable. Huelskamp bullied his way into multiple steals, and stout defenders, even on the perimeter, had JC’s guards retreating from the contact.
“Together” was arguably the most important of all. Offensively, Botkins nailed a synchronized swimming routine while Jackson Center tried to tread water well enough to gasp for air.
The Trojan starting five moves the ball as well as any team in the area. They find a weakness in the defense and turn a crack into a chasm.
On the other end, they help when they need to, no more and no less, and attack with supreme coordination. Jackson Center’s offense played the foil to Botkins’ dance by throwing the ball away a few times as a result of the frenzied Botkins defense making them uncomfortable.
Brendan Serr led the Tigers with six points, and Preston Serr followed with five.
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Pitts led all scorers with 19, Monnin added six, and Huelskamp and Brayden Welsh had five each.
Trailing 13-4 after one period, the Tiger defense stepped up as the offense continued its over-generosity with the basketball. The Trojans took a 21-9 lead into the locker room, with plenty of momentum, if you believe in such things, but still the lingering thought of Saturday night’s second-half collapse.
And relatively speaking, the third quarter was Botkins’ worst, but they still won it 13-11 thanks to SCAL player of the year candidate Pitts. He scored five of his game-leading 19 points in the third quarter. But more than that, he quarterbacked the offense to get good looks for everyone and stayed active on defense.
Pitts and Monnin alike love to cut and spin through the lane with the intention of finding a great pass or scoring themselves if the opportunity is too ripe to deny.
A few more of Jackson Center’s shots hit the nylon in the third, but it wasn’t enough to erase a fresh crop of five turnovers.
Botkins led 34-20 after three quarters. Comfortable, but not over. Not until 30 seconds into the final quarter, when Pitts snatched a steal, took it to the cup, and converted the old-fashioned three-point play. Even with over seven minutes to play, and two more league games on the schedule, the writing on the wall was written. Botkins had just clinched a league championship.
But that’s already in Groves’ rear-view mirror.
“It’s nice to be able to clinch that tonight, but we still have two more [league] games, and that’s where our focus is right now,” Groves said.
The Trojans have just one tough test left before the tournament draw, a trip to Russia on Friday. They beat the Raiders 48-38 back in early December, which marked their narrowest conference win margin this season.
Jackson Center can still bolster its resume before the February 15th draw. The Tigers play Fort Loramie and New Bremen this weekend, and will scratch and claw for something positive before the tournament seeding cements.
“Every game is an opportunity to learn something,” Klopfenstein said. “A wise person told me that it’s easier to learn from losses than from wins, unfortunately. So we gotta keep using these as stepping stones to get better.”
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