Connor Worley is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Northwest Christian for AZPreps365.com

Five minutes into the first quarter, the Northwest Christian boys basketball team appeared headed for another rough performance.

Old struggles resurfaced as the Crusaders threw errant passes and missed open shots, while barely holding a slim 4-3 lead over Chino Valley.

That is, until junior guard Logan Moser jumped a passing lane on defense and took the ball all the way to the other end to spark a 20-5 run through the remainder of the first half. 

“Logan Moser is a great player,” senior center Elijah Hamstra said. “He jumps every ball he can.”

Northwest Christian’s (2-4) aggressive defense continued throughout the entire game, forcing 12 first-half turnovers in a 44-24 win over Chino Valley (1-8) on Tuesday.

Crusaders coach Jason Cook praised his team’s defensive effort, noting he hadn’t seen a performance like that in some time. 

“We are pretty athletic and quick in the passing lanes,” Cook said.

Moser’s steal was a product of the intense zone defenses that Northwest Christian employed throughout the night. Every zone set from 2-3 to 1-2-2 proved effective, leading to multiple points off turnovers.

“It’s kind of chaotic, the 2-3 and the 1-2-2,” Cook said. “We try to keep our big guys as close to the hoop to protect the rim. Our guards, we try to let them create chaos so if they do get beat we have our big guys protecting the rim.”

Hamstra, who tied for a team-high seven points in his first game back from a fractured ankle, pointed to the team’s ability to read the entire floor in zone defense as the reason for its success.

“We can jump the ball more and see where they’re passing, so it helps a little,” he said. “We were aggressive and jumped everything.”

When the Crusaders weren’t forcing turnovers, they made it nearly impossible for Chino Valley to score. The Cougars made just a single field goal in each quarter, including a lone 3-pointer in the first and second quarters. They did, however, manage to shoot an efficient 79 percent, 11-of-14, from the free throw line.

Before the game and at halftime, Cook emphasized the importance of forcing Chino Valley to its left and taking away any weakside opportunities. 

“We sat on their left hand and it helped us generate turnovers,” said guard Bryce Trimble, who finished with seven points on 3-of-9 shooting. “If you can only go one way then that’s not good.” 

The strategy worked. The Crusaders held the Cougars to multiple scoreless stretches of four-plus minutes throughout the game.

Northwest Christian wasn’t without its own turnover issues, however. The Crusaders are averaging 20 turnovers on the season and continued the trend by tacking on another 21 against the Cougars.

Both Cook and Trimble said the turnovers have negatively impacted their offensive performance.

 “If you can’t score and you turn the ball over, it just limits your attempts to score,” Cook said.

“Those are free points [we’re missing],” Trimble added.

Northwest Christian’s scoring struggles persisted as they shot sub-45 percent from the field and never worked into a rhythm despite regularly breaking Chino Valley’s 2-3 zone defense.

“We’ve held teams decently on defense, but we’ve got to find a way to score more. That’s our biggest issue,” Cook said.

The Crusaders are back in action Wednesday as they travel to Tonopah Valley (3-3). Chino Valley (1-7) will host Sedona (2-2) on Wednesday.