Over Thanksgiving Break, in addition to eating turkey and sitting on the couch, the Jesuit Varsity Basketball team played a home game against powerhouse Lakeview Centennial, the team they beat in the playoffs last year with a spectacular buzzer beater. Jesuit also played Madison, the 3A State Champions on Tuesday December 3 at the Walsh Gym. Though the team played well, they came up just short in both games, losing to Lakeview 71-67 and to Madison 79-75.
In the first match-up, Jesuit started the game flat, missing most of their jump shots, a contrast to how the Patriots played, hitting their first 9 shots. The game was looking bleak for Jesuit, down 24-6 at one point in the game, but then the team began to find its rhythm.
During the second half, Jesuit mounted big comeback, at one point being tied with their opponent. Unfortunately, the gap was too much to overcome and they lost by 4. According to Coach Hill, one thing that attributed to the loss was “starting out flat and we not getting into our rhythm yet. It was a good learning experience for our guys because it showed that we need to be ready to play every single game.”
Another factor accredited to the loss was center Elbert Robinson, the 54th best player in the nation according to ESPN. He’s listed at 6 foot 11 inches and 270 lbs.; by far the biggest player the Rangers will face this year. Lakeview’s three point shooting from the Patriot backcourt also proved to be fatal to the Jesuit defense. Coach Hill said that “we expected the center to score, but for the guards we were surprised” that they hit three threes in a row at the start of the game, as well as many threes late to put Lakeview on top.
Matthew Bender ’14, Michael McReynolds ’15 and Hank Shotland ’15 played very well against Lakeview, proving crucial to the run made to get back into the game. Brock Stepteau ’14 and Michael Bejarano ’14 were consistent in the game as well.
In the second game against Madison, Jesuit learned from the last game and started out solid, hanging with the 3A champs. After a pretty even half, Madison started the 3rd quarter hot and went on a 13 point run. Later however, Jesuit made a little bit of a run, but not enough to win the game.
Coach Hill said that they could have won if they “hit more free throws and had a couple of balls that would go in and out” that would normally go in. As for the stand out players, Coach Hill commented that “Michael McReynolds and Brock Stepteau played really well and Peter Lynch player really, really good defense.”
The basketball team, with a starting record of 1-4, needs to improve on a myriad of things. The coaches say that they have progress to make. For example, in the first couple of games, the team has struggled with help side defense. In these last games they have improved on defense, but are lacking the ability to take the charge or make the play to finish out the possession.
Looking forward, the 51st Anniversary of the Knights of Columbus Tournament was slated to begin on Thursday, but the winter snow storm, informally referred to as “Iceageddon” forced the tournament to be called off. Even though the tournament was cancelled due to the weather, it still benefited a toy drive, which was assisted by Jesuit students and the Knights of Columbus. The toy drive featured a “teddy bear toss,” where Jesuit fans threw teddy bears onto the court after the Ranger’s first bucket.
Jesuit at 1-4 needed a confidence boost and this is the way to get it. Winning this tournament, in the words of Coach Hill, “would give us some confidence” as well as “getting us prepared for the district games coming up” on December 20th.
Since this tournament did not really occur, they will now be looking forward to an additional tournament in Sacramento on December 12th, 13th, and 14th. This tournament would be a big win for the Ranger team, as they have been struggling out of the gate.
Go Rangers!
