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Delone's top scorer Alexander finds joy in defense


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Scoring an average of more than 20 points per game, Delone Catholic's Logan Alexander ranks among the top scorers in the YAIAA.

The glitz of the Squire senior's offensive skills might outshine his true forte: Playing lock-down defense.

"I pride myself in stopping my man from scoring," Alexander said. "Defense is more fun for me than offense is. It's more competitive and more of a challenge to be good at."

Alexander was good at both on Friday night. He scored a game-high 26 points to lead his team to a 75-54 win against visiting Hanover in YAIAA Division III action at Sonny Shephard Gym in McSherrystown. The effort bumped Alexander's season average to 20.2 points per game.

Alexander is also tasked with guarding the top player on the opposing team.

Friday night, that was Hanover's Hunter Martz, who entered the game averaging 19 points per game. But matched up against Alexander, Martz shot 0-for-7 from the field and scored a season-low two points.

"Logan has asked to guard the best player since he was a sophomore and we've finally given him the full-time assignment to do it this season. He's taken it as a challenge," Williams said. "He is just an outstanding basketball player. He scores, rebounds, passes and defends. He does anything that the coaching staff asks him to do."

Alexander's scoring has put him within range of scoring 1,000 career points. He's just 186 points away, but the milestone is of no concern to him.

"It's never been a goal of mine," Alexander said. "My goal is to win games. If it comes as part of us winning, that's great. But our goal is to win enough games to get back to districts."

Delone (8-5, 7-1) has reached the district playoffs each of the past two seasons, winning a game each year.

The Squires are on track to win more games this season than they have in either of the past two, but their path to a district berth has become harder. In the past, they had to finish among the top 10 teams to earn a district berth in Class 2A.

But realignment moved the team to Class 3A, where only six teams make it to the postseason.

The Squires have nine games remaining, including road games with New Oxford, Greencastle-Antrim, York Catholic and Spring Grove — all teams that are positioned to make the postseason in their respective classes. Also on the slate is a home game against Biglerville and a road game at Littlestown, two Class 4A teams that are contending for districts.

"It's going to be tough to get in," Williams said. "With only six teams making it, the margin for error is very small and we have tough games remaining on our schedule."