Kettering, Ohio — After suffering a tough first loss earlier in the week, Alter bounced back nicely with a blowout 61-44 victory over their conference rivals Chaminade Julienne. Anthony Ruffolo and Jacob Conner each exploded for 21 points as the Knights roll to 5-1 on the year.

The Alter Knights were on top of the world following their 3-0 start with huge wins over Homestead who featured Purdue commit Fletcher Loyer. Moeller who had a Penn State commit in Evan Mahaffey and then Oakwood who should be a top contender in DII this year led by Will Maxwell.

Alter senior Jacob Conner

But a tough loss in the Battle of Kettering to Fairmont brought Alter back to the ground as they suffered their first loss of the season. Before that matchup on Tuesday night, the last time the Knights lost was to their rivals in Chaminade Julienne.

That loss occurred in the very same gym on Shroyer Road that their matchup today would take place. Alter looked to secure a revenge win, but the Eagles of Chaminade Julienne stood in their way.

Marshall commit Jacob Conner has become of the more talked about players in the Dayton area, but after a breakout postseason to finish off his freshman campaign and a solid summer, CJ’s Jonathan Powell has also emerged as a D1 prospect. His play garnered the attention of the University of Dayton coaching staff as he picked up an offer from them in November.

Chaminade Julienne sophomore Jonathan Powell

Anthony Ruffolo got Alter started on the scoring side with a corner trey. Then Jacob Conner showed off his versatility as he split through the CJ defenders for the layup and then blocked Kylan Tucker twice on the very next possession. A finger roll at the buzzer put Alter out in front 16-5 at the end of the first.

Jacob Conner took over in the second quarter as he led the Knights to a 30-18 halftime lead. The Marshall commit was scoring from everywhere as he pulled up from three in a defenders face and drove to the basket with ease. Jonathan Powell and Evan Dickey kept the Eagles relatively close as they each hit three pointers but CJ still face a 12 point halftime deficit.

Alter senior Jacob Conner

Conner extended the second half lead to 20 points on a two handed dunk after Ruffolo and A.J. Leen both hit wide-open corner threes. Anthony Ruffolo capped off the third quarter with a loud and-one. Justin Morah’s three before the buzzer cut the Eagles’ deficit to just under 20 points as Alter led 52-34 heading into the fourth.

CJ showed signs of a comeback late but a backdoor cut and score from Ruffolo and then a three from Ruffolo off of a Jacob Conner screen put the dagger in the Eagles. Alter ended up running away late and winning 61-44 to improve to 4-1 on the season.

Alter junior Anthony Ruffolo

Jacob Conner and Anthony Ruffolo each had 21 points on the night to lead Alter. A.J. Leen had 9 points as well and Gavin Geisel had 6 points. Ryan Chew only finished with 4 points but made his presence known as he finished with 5 assists and set his teammates up all night long.

Evan Dickey had a strong first half and ended with 13 points while Justin Morah contributed the most in the second half and had 12 points in the loss.

Alter will have the next week off before heading down to South Carolina for a three game stretch with some pretty tough competition. CJ will face Newark at Mount Vernon Nazarene before heading down south to San Antonio for a three game stretch as well to cap before heading home to start the new year.