With the football team gearing up for the postseason, Jesuit basketball prepares to begin its season in the opening game on Tuesday.
After countless hours of practicing and lifting, Jesuit basketball finally gets the opportunity to begin its season. In the off season, the Rangers practiced on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays and they lifted Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. As the season grew nearer, they increased the frequencies of these workouts to practice every morning, while continuing their lifting routine.
Last week, the basketball team put its finishing touches on the 2012 off season with scrimmages on Monday the 5th and Saturday the 10th. During Monday’s scrimmage at Plano East High School, Jesuit faced off for three quarters against two different teams- Plano East and Lovejoy.
The Rangers lost to Plano East but beat Lovejoy, in an outing that point guard, Christian Koeijmans ’14, characterized as “a decent showing of our talent,” but one that he felt the Rangers “could have done better in.”
In their next scrimmage at Skyline High School on Saturday, Jesuit played 3 teams in 20 minute games, finishing out with a win, a loss, and a tie. These scrimmages have no bearing on the team’s regular season record, but instead serve as a learning tool for those younger players who are new to the Varsity program, as well as a way to showcase the team’s talent before the season.
Matthew Bender ’14 described his experience, “It was a lot faster than a JV game… I’m glad I got to experience a couple game-like situations before starting the season.”
This scrimmage was, as Head Coach Chris Hill put it, “much better than the scrimmage on Monday.” He added, “We are moving in the right direction as we head into the season… I am very excited about this group.”
Now that all the scrimmages are over, Jesuit looks forward to the regular season, which is chock-full of exciting games that will inevitably draw enormous crowds, including the famous “gold-out” game. The year’s first game will be on Tuesday against Mesquite, taking place at 7:30 on Jesuit’s home court, and then one week later they will take on Highland Park in a much anticipated rivalry game.
“We’re going to take the season one game at a time,” remarked Bryan Stankey ’13 “I think we’re going to do great things this year.” Jesuit basketball has a rich tradition of winning, and this year looks to be no exception.
Come out and join the Jesuit community in cheering the Rangers on to victory this Tuesday as they take on the Mesquite Skeeters.
