“It was huge,” Long said. “The kids were pumped up. We go one game at a time and Kenton Ridge is just as important as our other games, but it being that inter-district rivalry, it was huge for them. It was a lot of relief on their part because they haven’t been too successful against them in recent years.”
Long, who previously coached at Mechanicsburg and London, took over last spring for Lloyd Alexander, who resigned after two seasons as head coach. The Jets have already matched their win total from last season, but that’s not something they talk about, Long said.
“We don’t talk about wins, we just talk about the things that we can do well and we’ll be successful,” he said. “We’ve got to worry about ourselves. From Day 1, when I met the kids, (last season) was in the past.”
They’ve won four of their last five games, including Ohio Heritage Conference victories over Triad and Mechanicsburg.
The key to their success has been defense, especially against the Cougars, Long said.
“We’ve picked (our defense) since game two,” Long said. “We stayed with it. They cut the lead in the first half and I thought, ‘Here we go.’ Basketball is a game of runs. All of sudden, we wouldn’t bend. We kept making up what we had lost. As the game went, the momentum went with us and our confidence increased.”
That’s been a constant as the season has progressed and the players are starting to buy in to his program, Long said.
“We’ve been stressing having confidence and believing in yourself,” he said. “A lot of it is instilling that confidence in them that they’re better than what they believed about themselves at the beginning and it’s getting there. We’re working hard every day in practice on what we know we need to work on.”
The Jets are led by junior forward Dale Bush (10.9 points per game) and sophomore guard Cole Allen (10.0) and senior Noah Fenton (8.7 ppg), who was the Jets only returning all-conference player from last season.
Bush averaged four points per game last season, but has recently found other ways to score rather than relying on his outside shot, Long said.
“We’ve been stressing that from Day 1,” he said. “If your outside shot is down, you’ve got to find ways to get your confidence up — that’s offensive boards, driving to the bucket or little short jumpers.”
Allen began playing two quarters of junior varsity at the beginning of the season, but has worked his way into a starting varsity role, Long said. He scored 20 points in the victory over Kenton Ridge.
“He’s picked it up,” Long said. “He’s hitting shots.”
The Jets boys basketball program last won the OHC title in the 2005-06 season. Long hopes his team can make a run this season. They’re 2-2 in the North Division this winter.
“We go one game at a time,” Long said. “We got beat by Fairbanks and West Liberty-Salem. I’m sure we’re going to give them a better game the next time we play them than we did the first game.
“It’s a fun group to go to work with every day and get better,” Long added. “Four wins is great, but we’re not done.”
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