The 2012-2013 Jesuit Rangers basketball regular season was a rollercoaster affair, containing hard fought wins and disappointing losses. The season began with 10 straight victories, including a 4 OT thriller versus state ranked North Crowley Panthers.
However after Christmas break, the Rangers hit a snag dropping both games versus Richardson and a tough loss against Lake Highlands. Yet, the Jesuit basketball team played well enough to earn a playoff spot and a first round matchup with Allen. The Rangers took care of business and beat a strong Allen team with a score of 53 – 40. Jesuit, then armed with the perfect amount of experience and talent, set its sights on knocking off traditional basketball power house, Lakeview Centennial. Jesuit had beaten Lakeview Centennial previously this year, but that was earlier in the season and since then Lakeview had improved to 20th in the state and 100th in the nation (rankings by Max Prep).
Jesuit’s star point guard Brocke Stepteau ’14, accepted this challenge with a sense of ferocity, commenting that, “We had already beaten them once, but they were highly ranked [this time], so we felt we had something to prove.” With teammates such as the southpaw sniper Bryan Stankey ‘13, floor general Stephen Spieth ‘13, and guardian of the paint JD Waggoner ’13, the young point guard had reason to be confident.
Lakeview had a few stars of their own, most notably, center Elbert Robison, who comes in at 6’ 10”, weighing 280 pounds. When asked about guarding the big man, forward Matthew Bender ‘14 described it as, “a hassle … the main priority is keeping him out of the paint as much as possible.”
When the game finally started, it was a heavy weight fight to the end, with each team answering the other with a punch. But in the end it was Brocke Stepteau who threw the knockout punch. With only seconds left in regulation and Jesuit down by two points 60-58 , Jesuit had the ball coming out of a timeout with 13 seconds showing on the clock. When asked about what was said in the huddle, Mathew Bender recounted that, “Coach drew up a play and expected us to execute,” plain and simple.
While it sounds easy, it was still up to the players to “execute.” To end the timeout, Spieth passed it in to Stepteau, who dribbled it to the top of the three point line with time to shoot a quick three, but passed it up, hopping for a better shot. He passed the ball to Michael Bejarano’ 14, who looked for the quick shot with two seconds remaining, only to be denied.
The intelligent and fast reacting Bejarano quickly hurled the ball to Brocke Stepteau; with fractions of a second left in the game the skilled point guard threw up the most composed desperation three point shot ever witnessed. With the buzzer reverberating through the gym, the ball still sailed through the air, eventually swishing threw the net, to clench the victory for Jesuit.
The already buzzing crowed leaped from their seats, grabbed each other in awe, and rushed to the court to mob the young hero. When asked about his fairytale-like ending, Stepteau stated that it felt, “like a dream … like a dream, it is something you imagine doing when you are a kid.” He continued to say that the shot, “felt good leaving my hands, next thing I knew I was in the middle of a dog pile, getting mauled by my teammates.” It was one for the ages.
The combination of power house teams, big time recruits, and the last second game winner makes this game worthy of any history book. It was a game to be remembered forever by anyone who was there that memorable night in the Richardson High School Gym on February, 22 2013. One could hope the next game in the UIL State Playoffs vs district 9-5A winner Richardson Berkner would be just as memorable.
With all this hype the Jesuit Basketball team entered the Berkner game with high hopes, coming off the last minute win against Lakeview. Bryan Stankey said that the team was “just trying to forget about the Lakeview game and focus on trying to get the win against Berkner.” Despite the team’s best efforts, by the end of the first quarter Berkner and their star player, Soma Edo, had pulled away with 21 – 7 lead. Jesuit was able to recover in the second quarter, cutting the lead to 12, making the score 36 -24, mainly due to the precision shooting by one Bryan Stankey ‘13, who finished as the game’s leading scorer.
Then came the third quarter. Jesuit understood that if it was going to have a shot at winning, it was going to have to make a move right then and there; and they responded in the best way one could hope for. Coming out strong and never letting up, the Rangers controlled the third quarter, with Nathan Krog ’13 and Mike McReynolds ‘15 both coming up big. Jesuit would go on to outscore Berkner 24 – 17 in the third quarter, making the score 54 – 48, Berkner.
Throughout the fourth quarter, great basketball was being played by both sides, each team matching other shot for shot, steal for steal, assist for assist. Going into the last minute, Jesuit only trailed Berkner by three points after a long fought battle. But Jesuit had spent its energy; there would be no last second three point shot in this game. Jesuit would eventually be outscored in the fourth quarter with a score of 12 – 9, making the final score 66 – 57, Berkner coming out on top. “I was pretty stunned after the game,” commented Stankey, who would finish with 16 points. “We fought all the way back to get within three and came up just a bit short. It was really emotional with it being my last ever game and all.”
Even with the loss, Jesuit should be extremely proud of itself. From the players to the coaches to the fans, every single member, who has played a part in this season, should feel a sense of pride. The team fought valiantly while exhibiting some of the highest character that can be seen in sports, showing everyone what Jesuit is all about. Go Rangers!
