By PAUL GOTHAM
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Christian Jones finished the night with 12 points, 12 assists, eight rebounds and five steals.
If that’s not enough, the Greece Athena senior also took one charge.
Jones, who announced his arrival with a 39-point performance earlier this season, was one of four Trojans in double figures Monday night, and Athena head coach Mike Setzer likes the equal distribution his team showed on the offensive end of the floor.
“When we play unselfish basketball, we’re very tough to beat,” Setzer said after Athena’s 70-48 victory over the Hilton Cadets. “We’re fast. We can penetrate. We can make the defense collapse. When we kick it out, every guy on the floor can score.”
Athena’s scoring balance was undeniable.
Ryan Kubanka connected for 12 of his 13 points in the first half. Teammate Nigel Scantlebury served as a bookend to that performance netting 13 of his game-high 15 points in the second half. Melvin Council, Jr. found himself on the receiving end of a few transition opportunities and finished with 11. Patrick Meisenzahl connected three times behind the arc for nine points, and Brandon Smith hit a pair of 3-pointers late in the game.
At the center of most, but not all, of the Trojans’ motion was Jones.
“Everybody was open,” Jones said. “My teammates were making the shots, so it was easy from my standpoint. They just made it easier for me.”
Christian Jones finds Patrick Meisenzahl with ☝️ of his 12 assists on the night. pic.twitter.com/XIhCzb5APb
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) January 23, 2018
Two months ago, the pass-first performance from Jones might not have seemed possible.
“In the beginning of the season especially after he dropped 39, we had to talk about shot selection. What’s a good shot. What’s a bad shot,” Setzer recalled. “He’s the type of guy who can bring more than one defender. You have to help out on him. When that happens, he’s been so smart about kicking it to other guys. Double-digit assists today. I think that’s the first time we had somebody with double-digit assists this year.”
Limiting the assessment of Jones to the offensive end, though, more than misses the point. Yes, he had the five swipes and took a charge, but it’s what didn’t show up in the scorebook that mattered.
Jones led a three-headed monster responsible for containing Hilton sophomore Tah-jae Hill.
“He’s a tough cover,” Setzer said of the Hilton guard averaging 21.6 points per game. “The advantage that we have over other teams is we have a few guys we can throw at him. We started with Christian on him, who did a great job. If Christian gets screened or something like that, we can switch. Nigel can cover him. Melvin is also capable.”
Hill finished with 14 on the night. The 6-foot-1 sophomore amassed 102 points over three games recently and looked ready to have a similar performance when he totaled eight points in the first five possessions of the second half. But the Athena defense, and in particular Jones, tightened its grip.
“I heard about Tahj scoring 40 and 30,” Jones said. “I just got a winner’s mentality. I’m so competitive. I wasn’t going to let that happen.”
Hill’s corner three cut a 10-point Athena halftime advantage to six at 34-28. Joey Lipani followed with two of his 10 points.
But Meisenzahl responded with a catch-and-shoot trey. Jones led Council for a floater in the lane, and Scantlebury started heating up from there.
Athena led 48-34 heading into the fourth. Hilton did not cut the margin to single digits for the remainder of the contest.
“Coach really challenged me and Christian to lock down their guards,” Scantlebury said. “Coming into the game that was our main focus. Normally our focus is to score and get our teammates involved, but we really focused in on defense this time. Christian did a great job defending Tahj. He locked him down today, and that’s why we got the win.”
The road doesn’t get any easier for Athena (12-1/3-1). The Trojans host Pittsford Sutherland (10-1/3-1) on Friday before taking on Pittsford Mendon (11-1/4-0) and Irondequoit (10-2/4-0) next week.
Sutherland, coming off its first setback of the season, handed Athena its only loss when the teams met on December 15th.
“We’re just taking it one day at a time, practice after practice, game after game,” Scantlebury said. “We don’t look past anybody. When we scout, we really focus on that team. We just go from there.”
Christian Jones goes off the window for @GAHSBoysHoops pic.twitter.com/Mxk0eAt0JB
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) January 23, 2018
Hilton (7-7/3-2) dropped its second in a row. They had won four straight prior to that. The Cadets came into the game averaging 62.5 points per game.
“It all started on the defensive end, and we took care of business on the offensive end,” Kubanka said.
Other scorers: Athena – Kelvin Reaves, Jr. (2) and Johnny Salone (2). Hilton – Noah Malta (5), Najier Daniels (2), Mitch Carr (7), Morgan Kunigan (8) and Jackson DiPalma (2).
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