The buzzer sounds as Cistercian’s last second prayer bounces harmlessly off the front of the rim. Players and fans alike celebrate JV blue’s triumph over the Cistercian Hawks in a 41-38 shootout, the first of a roller coaster back to back. Similarly, JV gold defeated an athletic Cedar Hill team in the opening game of what was to be a competitive Arlington ISD tournament.
JV Blue
vs Cistercian (December 4th)
In Cistercian and Jesuit’s first explosive matchup of the season, the Hawks “surprised” Jesuit by coming out of the gate and getting easy fast break points according to Jack Allen ’18. He complimented the Hawks for “hanging around all game and keeping it close” until clutch play by Nick Motter ’18 and myself helped put Jesuit ahead for good.
Teammate Peter Papanicolaou ’18 praised the Rangers’ determination in the win, saying they “wanted to win as vindication for [themselves] after last year’s heartbreaking loss.” Animated with this vigorous drive, Jesuit “put [their] foot on the gas and never looked back.”
Chris Horton ’18 echoed the team’s resilience in the clutch and also acknowledged the performances by Jack and Nick who both “stepped up their game” and answered every run from Cistercian down the stretch, revitalizing the squad and closing the contest at the free throw line.
at Highland Park (December 5th)
Triumph from Jesuit’s exciting team win subsided however after their overtime loss to Highland Park the next day. According to Peter Papanicolaou, the Rangers “fell into a slump both offensively and defensively,” committing avoidable turnovers and allowing easy threes that stretched the Scots’ early lead to double-digits by halftime. But again, testing the Rangers’ drive proved futile as they regrouped throughout the 3rd and 4th quarters, stringing together defensive stops as point guard Chris Horton “went off,” pouring in six threes and many assists to tie the game up by the 4th quarter.
In the waning moments of the 4th quarter with Jesuit down two, Nick Motter drove to the hoop with 5 seconds left and missed, but Jack Allen craftily scooped up the miss and tapped the ball in to send the game to OT. The Scots made some lucky shots in overtime, but the game was still tied after a miss by Jack Allen with five seconds remaining. Unfortunately, a blown cover led to a buzzer beater layup, Highland Park taking the first of four outings against Jesuit.
JV Gold
vs Cedar Hill (December 3rd)
The opening of the Arlington ISD tournament went according to plan, ending in an exhilarating win over the athletic Cedar Hill team. Nicky Prendergast ’18 recounted that Jesuit won because of their “outstanding rebounding against the taller and more athletic Cedar Hill.” He also noted their three-point shooting led them to a victory in the close game, saying the team “shot and made almost all [their] threes and our bench played a big part in that.” Jesuit won their first game of the talented Arlington tournament 42-38.
vs South Grand Prairie (December 3rd)
In the second game of the Arlington ISD tournament, the Rangers went up almost immediately against South Grand Prairie following their win over Cedar Hill. Consequently, Nicky Prendergast noted that the Rangers were “unable to get out in transition due to exhaustion from the back to back games,” thus eliminating the easy buckets they normally get. On top of that, fatigue, a key injury to Hank Bitterman ’18, and the absence of star freshman Max Abmas ’19 left few players to substitute and eventually catalyzed Jesuit’s blowout loss to South Grand Prairie 47-62.
vs Vines (December 4th)
Jesuit finished out the Arlington ISD tournament with their second consecutive loss against Vines. Nicky Prendergast again echoed how much they missed Hank Bitterman and Max Abmas, commenting that they “can normally count on a spark from them and [their] absence was sorely felt.” Also, Jesuit “didn’t guard the three well” and allowed Vines to heat up behind the line and lead after 3 quarters. In the 4th, Jesuit made a late push, locking up Vine’s shooters with the remaining reserves, but couldn’t close out the game due to their poor free throw shooting, ultimately losing 55-56.
JV Blue seeks revenge against the Scots at Highland Park Monday, January 11, 2016.
JV Gold looks to continue dominant district play at home against W.T. White Friday, January 8th at 6 pm and at MacArthur January 9th at 1:30 pm.
