Jesuit Basketball Makes Strong Statement in Non-Conference Play

It is no doubt that Jesuit basketball is one of the premier sports on the Jesuit campus. Last year, the Rangers finished 19-13 and lost in the first round of the playoffs, but sadly lost in the first round of the playoffs. This year the Rangers return several of the key players last year and mix them with new guys in the roster from last year’s JV squad and have done a tremendous job so far. The team is currently 11-2 with losses only to very talented teams.

Jimmy Gales Classic

To open the season the Rangers played a singular game in the Jimmy Gales Classic against Wilmer-Hutchins. Caleb Steger ’25 opened his season with an impressive game, scoring 17 points with 7 rebounds. Will Bronson ’24, the giant that he is, put up 14 points combined with 3 blocks. Michael Grant ’25 added 13 points of his own to help lead the Rangers to a 64-53 victory.

“I feel like everyone has bought into their own role on the team. I feel like if we stay grounded we can win district for sure. We just have to keep playing selfless.” -Ethan Mahowald ’25

Frisco Lone Star Classic

In the first game of the Frisco Lone Star Classic, the Rangers faced off against Little Elm. Will Bronson went a great 8-10 from the field with 22 points and 7 rebounds. Caleb Steger added 18 points and Michael Grant added both 10 points and 7 rebounds. The Rangers won 68-60.

In the second game, the Rangers faced off against a tough #6 in 5A Argyle team. They got down early 21-14 after the first quarter. The score differential was within 2 points in the second and third quarters before the Rangers had a +7 point quarter in the fourth. Steger had a season-high 27 points and Bronson added 17 points and 8 rebounds. This was not enough, however, as Jesuit lost their first game of the year 65-64.

“Our off the court chemistry has been helping us stay together and gives us a chemistry on the court that is dangerous.” -Caleb Steger ’25

Jesuit faced Frisco Heritage in the third game of the tournament. They took an early 17-10 lead in the first quarter and expanded it by 5 more in the second quarter. The Rangers finished the game with a 66-59 victory. Jesuit top scores of Steger, Bronson, and Grant led the team again, with 18, 14, and 15 points respectively.

To finish out the tournament, the Rangers faced off against OKC Storm, a team comprised of homeschoolers in the OKC area. Jesuit looked strong against what was honestly a rather weak team, but it was a great opportunity to play some depth in the year. After going up 35-12 at half, the Rangers closed out the game 68-45. Steger, Bronson, and Grant had 18, 11, and 10 respectively while Tre Mergerson ’24 added 11 points of his own. Ethan Mahowald ’25 put up 5 points and Hank Gramlich ’24 added 6 points.

Knights of Columbus Bob Stras Classic

Jesuit opened up the annual tournament held at Jesuit playing Frisco Centennial just like last year in the annual Teddy Bear Toss Game. During the game, Jesuit students and other fans alike toss a teddy bear onto the court after the Rangers’ first point and all teddy bears are donated to a children’s hospital. Steger had yet another impressive performance with 13 points, but sadly injured his hand during the game and has been out since. Gramlich put up a strong outing with 11 points on 5-5 shooting, and Justin Kemp ’24 had 8 points himself. The Rangers finished the game 55-39.

In the second night of the tournament the Rangers faced off against Sachse. Will Bronson helped the Rangers get out to quick 11-0 lead before Sachse was forced to take a timeout. Bronson finished with 24 points and 8 rebounds on the night. With Steger out, Tre Mergerson stepped up with 10 points and 7 rebounds of his own. In his first break out performance showing what he was capable of last year, Hank Gramlich 22 points and 9 rebounds with 5 assists. All of this contributed to a 71-51 victory in game 2.

“Even with our injuries, our team is starting to find our rhythm and getting big team wins.” -Hank Gramlich

In the championship game of the tournament, Jesuit played Hillcrest. The game was never really that close. The Rangers took an early 20-9 lead after the first quarter and expanded it with another 20 points in the second. They put up 13 points in both of the final two quarters and finished the game with a 66-43 victory. Justin Kemp played very well, bumping his season high to 18 points with 7 rebounds and 5 assists. Michael Grant returned with another strong performance, having 9 points and 9 rebounds, and Mergerson added 8 points with 6 rebounds. Charlie Peters ’25, after coming from an impressive First Team All-District football season, added 7 rebounds in his first varsity minutes.

This tournament win is the first time Jesuit has won the Bob Stras Classic since 2018. In addition to the victory, two Rangers had tournament honors. Will Bronson made the all-tournament team and Hank Gramlich won tournament MVP.

Other Games

In their second overall game of the year Jesuit traveled to Mesquite. Jesuit kept it close in the first quarter, 18-13, but held Mesquite to a mere 3 points in the second quarter while putting up 17. The Rangers finished the game strong 72-42. Bronson put up 19 points and 8 rebounds, and Steger put up 14 and 3 himself. Michael Grant added 5 and 7 in a show of hustle too.

In the next game, they faced McKinney North. It wasn’t even close from the start. Jesuit put up a season-high 32 points in the first quarter and only gave up 11. Perhaps possessing hubris, the Rangers gave up 16 points in the second quarter and only put up 4. Thankfully the Rangers finished out the game well and won 58-41.

This season has been fun and I feel like the team is coming together very well at the right time heading into district play. We have the potential to be a very good team this season.” -Kevin Butera ’25

Prior to the Bob Stras Classic, the Rangers played Frisco Liberty. I don’t even know what to say about the game. At half the Rangers were winning 42-15, then in the third, they scored 21 points WITHOUT ALLOWING A SINGLE POINT in the third quarter. The Rangers eventually handily won the game 75-22. Three Rangers put up double digits, Grant, Steger, and Kemp.

In their final non-conference game before district play, Jesuit faced off against Allen at Allen. Going into the game Allen was the third-ranked team in Texas and is currently a top-100 team nationally, with losses only to other nationally-ranked teams. The Rangers got off to a rough start, trailing 28-9 after the first quarter. Jesuit battled hard though in the second quarter, going on a 18-17 run. Sadly Allen expanded the lead to five in the third and held it in the fourth to hand the Rangers their second loss on the year, 85-62. Michael Grant stepped up to fill Steger, who was still out, with 22 points and 7 assists. Tre Mergerson added 12 points and Bronson added 11. Justin Kemp had 3 steals and 6 assists on the night.

“We’ve strung together 11 team wins and we are starting to play really well together.” -Justin Kemp ’24

Overall, the Rangers have had a great start on the year and have not had a game where they have yet to play at least solidly. The team chemistry is off the charts and the team has a great chance to make it far this year. Similar to football, the likely opponent for the district championship will be Highland Park. The good news is that Highland Park graduated many seniors while we were able to keep or replace ours. The bad news is that senior Jordan Stripling and junior Jacob Ariyo returned. District play will provide a healthy challenge for the Rangers and will prove vital to the success of the Rangers in the playoffs.

Stay tuned to The Roundup for more basketball coverage!