Helias looks to slow Glendale's Johal, Walton

Trevor Koelling of Helias works between a pair of Salem defenders during district tournament action earlier this month at Rackers Fieldhouse.
Trevor Koelling of Helias works between a pair of Salem defenders during district tournament action earlier this month at Rackers Fieldhouse.

At this point in the basketball season, it's not uncommon for teams to have a player who has scored 1,000 points in his career.

It's a little less common to have two 1,000-point scorers, and then they're usually seniors.

But when the Helias Crusaders take on the Glendale Falcons in today's Class 4 quarterfinals, they'll be facing a pair of sophomores who are hovering around that coveted plateau.

"Everything for Glendale goes through Johal and Walton," Helias coach Josh Buffington said.

That would be 6-foot-3 shooting guard Monty Johal and 5-11 point guard Jordan Walton. Johal has already racked up 1,062 points in less than two full seasons, while Walton has racked up 838.

This season, Walton is averaging an impressive 15.7 points per game, but it pales in comparison to Johal's output of 25 points per contest.

"Johal is a very dynamic player, especially for a sophomore," Buffington said. "We knew he was a high-level athlete when we played against him as a freshman (a 61-59 Helias win) and he's only gotten better."

When the Crusaders (19-9) and Falcons (19-9) face off at 2:45 p.m. today at Southwest Baptist University in Bolivar, Helias will have to be prepared for a unique challenge in Johal, who hasn't scored fewer than 15 points in any game this season.

"First of all, he's a left-handed, slasher guard, which we don't see much during the season," Buffington said. "He's got every aspect of the game - he can shoot the 3, he can get to the rim, he has a mid-range game.

"More than anything, he hits so many tough shots that are contested. They may look unorthodox, but that's his game. So defensively, we can't get down on our gameplan if he does make some tough ones. We need him to take contested, tough shots."

But the Falcons don't have just two players, as 6-1 senior guard Tristan Baker is also averaging double figures at 10.5 points per game. Glendale also has several other players who have scored in double figures at various times this season.

"You're not in the quarterfinals if you only have one or two players," Buffington said.

So the Crusaders can't focus on simply shutting down one guy, but that's not how they would approach it anyway.

"We've never really focused our defense to shut down one kid," Buffington said. "When we're successful defensively, it's a team effort.

"The main thing with (Johal and Walton) is we have to pay close attention to both of them and do our best to not let them catch it where they're comfortable getting it and not getting it in rhythm. Then we have to be ready to guard at every other spot."

The high-scoring Falcons are averaging 72.3 points per game, having hit 80 or better eight times this season.

"They want to go," Buffington said. "They want to play fast, they want it to be a shootout.

"We're not opposed to getting up the floor, but winning in the postseason is about defending and rebounding. When they have the ball, they need to be working for shots, we can't let them get out in transition.

"... Their strengths against us are in the open court and our strengths against them are in the halfcourt. We need to win the battle in the trenches, in the paint, on both ends of floor."

Helias and Glendale have played nine common opponents this season, with both beating Logan-Rogersville, Branson, Camdenton, Springfield Central, Parkview and Hillcrest (Glendale doing it twice).

Both teams lost to Kickapoo; Glendale lost to Rolla while Helias split with the Bulldogs; and Glendale beat Waynesville while Helias lost to the Tigers.

The winner of today's game will play either Raytown South (17-11) or St. Joseph Lafayette (26-3) in the semifinals at 7:45 p.m. Friday at Mizzou Arena.