Basketball Game Preview: Urbana Hillclimbers vs. Jonathan Alder Pioneers

The Urbana Hillclimbers will face off against the Jonathan Alder Pioneers at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. Both are sauntering into the matchup backed by comfortable wins in their prior games.

Urbana is headed into the match after thoroughly thrashing Shawnee: they outscored them in every quarter. Given that consistent dominance, it should come as no surprise that Urbana blew Shawnee out of the water with a 57-29 final score. That 28 point margin sets a new team best for the Hillclimbers this season.

Meanwhile, Jonathan Alder's and Graham Local's game on Tuesday was close at halftime, but Jonathan Alder turned on the heat in the second half with 34 points. Jonathan Alder was the clear victor by a 53-28 margin over Graham Local. Given the Pioneers' advantage in MaxPreps' Ohio basketball rankings (they are ranked 100th, while the Falcons are ranked 732nd), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Urbana pushed their record up to 6-4 with the victory, which was their third straight on the road. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 62.3 points per game. As for Jonathan Alder, they have been performing well recently as they've won five of their last six contests, which provided a nice bump to their 9-3 record this season.

Urbana suffered a grim 55-31 defeat to Jonathan Alder when the teams last played back in December of 2024. Will Urbana have more luck at home instead of on the road? Check MaxPreps after the action for a full breakdown of the game and more basketball content.