On January 9th, Jesuit’s JV Blue basketball team started out the 2015 season with a loss to McMillen. Down by 9 with 3 minutes to go, the team fought back and took the lead without a lot of time left on the clock. Sadly, they couldn’t hold defensively and lost 56-55 on a buzzer beater made by McMillen’s star player. Despite the loss, sophomore Andrew Olinger ’17 had an incredible 22 point performance.
The next day, the team quickly forgot about the heartbreaking defeat, beating Flowermound Marcus at Jesuit, 69-40. 18 of the 69 points belonged to Sophomore John Nuchereno ’17. The Rangers started out strong and did not let up until the end.
“Great team win, and one of the best I have seen them play this season,” said JV Blue Head Coach Todd Gruninger.
After starting out the 2015 year 1-1, the Rangers beat Highland Park, at Jesuit, 66-48. The team led by just two points at half, but came out strong in the second half. A key player in the second half was Sophomore CJ Johnson ’17 who had 5 three pointers and led the team with 19 points.
CJ explained that he “loves playing games like this. I had a good feeling coming out onto the court in the second half and shots just started falling.”
The Rangers finished the 3 game home stand 3-0 with a win against McKinney. The team won 82-70 despite missing two starters. A big performance on the glass came from David Cantu ’17, who brought a lot of energy to the court and grabbed rebound after rebound. Another big performance came from sophomore Andrew Gesalmen ’17 who scored 15 points. However, McKinney especially struggled with guarding Sophomore Bobby Turner ’17 who led the team with 24 points.
Turner noted that “I love games like this, where a couple of guys have big impacts on the game, not just one person. It shows that we are working well as a team.”
The Rangers are on a 4 game win streak after a win at Rockwall Heath. Rockwall was physically outmatched with the size and defensive discipline displayed by the Rangers, who won 52-23. Sophomore Evan Sonnier ’17 brought his energy to the court, leading the team with 16 points.
Coach Gruninger said he feels “really lucky to be coaching this team…they play together and have the will to win. It makes me look like I am a good coach, but it’s really all them. As you can see, we have guys on the team that can step up at any moment and contribute. It’s been fun watching them play.”
The Rangers look to add onto their 4 game win streak with a win against McMillan on Friday at 4:30 at Jesuit.
