On February 10th, the Jesuit Rangers basketball team faced off against Carrolton RL Turner for the second time this season, blowing out the lions in a 61-29 victory. Jesuit shut down RL Turner defensively, limiting the Lions to only 31 field goal attempts for the whole game, while Jesuit managed to put up 52. Shooting a majority of those shots was the duo of Tyler Schlapkohl ’15 and Christian Nwosu’15 , who combined for 28 of Jesuit’s 61 total points, only 1 less than RL Turner’s whole team. In addition, Nwosu led the team in rebounds with nine, four of which came off the offensive glass. Mitch Prendergast’17 commented that “the whole team really came together for this win” and that “this game taught [them] that [they] need to play as one during the playoffs.”
Jesuit again dominated its opponent in the next game, beating Sunset for the second time this season by at least 51 points, winning 81-30. Jesuit’s 81 points were a season high as everyone on the team got involved and managed to score at least one basket. Leading the team in scoring was Michael McReynolds ’15 with 16 points, who fell just short of getting a double-double with 9 rebounds. On the defensive end, Jesuit’s tenacious play caused Sunset to shoot an abysmal 24% percent from the field as well as commit 18 turnovers. Dixon Smith’17 made sure to mention “how well the team played on both sides of the ball” and that he “hopes they can continue to play at this high of a level during the playoffs.”
Jesuit’s last regular season game was a rematch against Skyline, a team that the Rangers lost to earlier on the year in a game where they got off to a slow start and trailed throughout. The second game was a completely different story as Jesuit took the lead in the opening minutes and never looked back, refusing to relinquish the lead the whole game. Four different Jesuit players scored in double-digits as Tyler Schlapkohl led the way with 16 points, going 4-4 from beyond the arc. In addition, Michael McReynolds earned a double-double that eluded him in the previous game with 10 points and a team leading 11 rebounds. Mitch Prendergast was excited after the game, saying “it was a great win for the team” and that they “can carry the momentum [they] got from this game into the playoffs.”
With this win Jesuit heads into the playoffs with a 18-10 record in the regular season, going 10-4 in district play. The Rangers will first play Berkner in the Bi-district round, a team they previously beat earlier on in the year. Come out and support the Jesuit Rangers as they hopefully make a deep run in the playoffs!
