Basketball Recap: Taegan Whitaker's Big Game Can't Quite Lead Jonathan Alder over Dublin Jerome

Jonathan Alder played a tough match on Saturday in which they were outscored in every quarter. They came up short against the Dublin Jerome Celtics, falling 43-21. While losing is never fun, the Pioneers can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Ohio basketball rankings (they are ranked 538th, while the Celtics are ranked 39th).

Taegan Whitaker

Steals (Career)

02/08/25 vs Dublin Jerome	7
01/08/25 @ Northwestern	4
02/06/25 vs Bellefontaine	3
12/02/24 vs River Valley	3
02/01/25 vs Kenton Ridge	2

Jonathan Alder's loss came despite a true team effort with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Taegan Whitaker, who posted two points and seven steals. Those seven steals gave Whitaker a new career-high. Izzy Griffin also deserves some recognition as she scored her first points of the season.

Dublin Jerome had a senior duo take command as Angel Ezirim dropped a double-double with 13 points and ten rebounds and Ashley Meadors went 5-for-7 to rack up 13 points. Meadors also set a new season-high mark in shooting accuracy with 71%. Another player making a difference was Emma Weatherwax, who scored two points.

Jonathan Alder has been struggling recently as they've lost six of their last eight contests. That's put a noticeable dent in their 6-16 record this season. The win made it two in a row for Dublin Jerome and bumps their season record up to 16-4.

Jonathan Alder wasted no time getting back out on the court and has already played their next game, a 44-42 victory against River Valley on the 12th. As for Dublin Jerome, they also didn't take long to hit the court again: they've already played their next match, a 60-30 win against Groveport-Madison on the 11th.