Michael Jankovich ’18 and Marcus Hill ’18 combined for 37 points as the Jesuit Rangers, led by their pair of sharpshooting junior wings, advanced to the Regional Semifinals for the first time in program history.
Jesuit (22-10) took on UIL District 11-6A champion Rockwall Yellowjackets (22-10) at Richardson Berkner high school in the Regional Quarterfinal round, coming away with a decisive 69-46 victory. Jankovich led the team in scoring with 21, followed by Hill’s 16 points to go along with seven rebounds. Guard Reid Hatzmann ’18 led the team with 9 assists to go along with 6 rebounds and 8 points, and forward Jeff Grimes ’17 grabbed a game-high 9 boards.
After Rockwall scored the first points of the game, the Rangers grabbed the lead early in the first quarter, as Hill scored 10 of the Rangers’ first 12 points, including two three-pointers. After Rockwall came within three points late in the first quarter, guard Mitch Prendergast ’17 knocked down a three-pointer with seven seconds left to give the Rangers a six-point lead, the closest Rockwall would come for the rest of the night.
“I think the key for us was playing uptempo as we normally do,” said Grimes.” “Our possessions were not short [time-wise], but we moved a lot, grabbed a lot of rebounds and hit shots, which is exactly what we needed to do. We never slowed down.”
Propelled by two Jankovich threes and Grimes’ five rebounds, the Rangers stretched the lead to double-digits in the second quarter, taking a 15-point advantage into halftime.
“It was weird going in [to the second half] with a lead because both games prior we had been down at half,” said Hatzmann. “We wanted to keep up our intensity and defense and continue to keep playing the way we were.”
The Rangers continued to dominate in the second half, and despite shooting only 20% from three-point range, their airtight defense held Rockwall to 34.8% shooting from the field, as Jesuit outscored the Yellowjackets 32-22 in the half.
After the game, Coach Hill was impressed with the team’s poise entering the game: “We played to win, it was great, there were no jitters for this game, we went out loose and confident and we were able to get on a roll,” he said. “Our defense was fantastic, which turned into some great opportunities on the offensive end, which helped get us going as well.”
Hatzmann said the team’s priority was to “continue to attack the rim and find gaps” throughout the course of the game. “We shoot a lot of threes and we are good at it,” he said, “but our main focus has been increasing the quality of shots we take. Against Rockwall we just tried to find gaps and play selflessly and that turned into open looks for everyone.”
With the win, Jesuit advances to the Regional Semifinal to take on undefeated Klein Forest (33-0), winners of UIL District 15-6A.
On the upcoming matchup with the top-ranked team in Texas, Hatzmann said, “Klein Forest can really play. There’s a lot of talk about their ranking and undefeated season but that hasn’t phased us. We are going to play them like any other time and try to play loosely and play our game. The rest will take care of itself.”
“To beat a team like Klein Forest there is more than one biggest key but we have to take care of the ball, rebound, and get back on defense,” said Coach Hill, “which are difficult things to do against them. But we have played against their type of size and speed before so I think we are prepared.”
Grimes emphasized the importance of confidence, saying, “our mindset is to believe. Nobody is believing in our ability to defeat this team, and knowing myself and the guys on this team, that only motivates us. We want to prove everybody wrong, and I hope that’s exactly what we do Friday night.”
