Jesuit basketball recently closed out non-district play and opened up the first half of district play. Jesuit will play both teams twice, once in each of the of the season, and once on the road, once at home.
JJ Pearce
Jesuit opened the first half of district play against JJ Pearce. Pearce has traditionally proved to be a challenge for the Rangers, and it would be important to start off district with a win. Jesuit opened the first quarter with a 20-15 lead, then dominated the second quarter with a 20-8 run, giving the Rangers at 40-23 lead at half. Jesuit held the lead, although did not score as much offensively, and won 59-39.
Recent Trinity commit Will Bronson ’24 continued his dominance with 17 points and 7 rebounds on the night, with Tre Mergerson ’24 following with 12 points and 6 rebounds. Charlie Peters ’25 had 6 points along with 6 rebounds on the night.
Irving
This game’s storyline was very similar to JJ Pearce, with the Rangers having a small first-quarter lead, 14-11, then breaking out with 23 points in the second quarter while holding Irving to 6 points. Jesuit tied Irving’s third-quarter scoring before outscoring them by 12 in the fourth, giving the Rangers a 69-37 victory.
Tre Mergerson had quite a night, with 18 points and 9 rebounds along with 2 steals, while Michael Grant ’25 added 17 and 7 himself. Alec Piotrowski ’24 had a new season high of 12 points to go with 5 rebounds. Charlie Peters led the team with 5 assists.
Lake Highlands
The biggest game of the season so far, Jesuit faced off against Lake Highlands, the reigning UIL 6A Basketball state champions who had proven to be a challenge last year for the Rangers. Lake Highlands, however, was plagued by graduation, with a few players going to play college basketball, along with the former #1 recruit Tre Johnson in the entire country transferring out of Lake Highlands.
Opening to a hot start, the Rangers doubled the Wildcat points in the first quarter 16-8, and extended the lead by 8 at half. Although Lake Highlands outscored the Rangers in a high-scoring third quarter, the Rangers maintained their lead for a 68-52 win over a very good team in the division.
Michael Grant achieved a double-double on the night with 24 points and 10 rebounds. Justin Kemp ’24 followed with a great night of 15 points with 5 three-pointers along with 6 assists. Tre Mergerson had 13 points and 6 rebounds of his own along with a season high 6 assists.
“Good first half of districts but we have more work to do the rest of the year” -Justin Kemp ’24
MacArthur
Going back on the road for their last game before Christmas, the Rangers battled against MacArthur. Jesuit opened the game slow, trailing after the first quarter 15-13, and only cutting the lead by 1 going into the half. After halftime Jesuit came out like they could have to start, almost doubling their scoring 19-10 in the third and again 20-10 in the fourth for a 68-47 victory.
Mergerson and Kemp both had season-high nights, with 22 and 19 points respectively, along with 9 and 6 rebounds. Hank Gramlich ’24 and Michael Grant both had 12-point outings, with 7 and 9 rebounds respectively, Gramlich also added 9 assists and 3 steals in the contest.
Berkner
In their first district game back from Christmas, Jesuit went on the road against Berkner. Maybe it was because they were still on Christmas break, maybe it wasn’t taking Berkner seriously enough, but Jesuit came out playing slow, down 19-13 after the first quarter. Jesuit lessened the lead by three before the half. After several halftime adjustments, Jesuit came out firing at the half, Jesuit outscoring Berkner 22-11. During a relatively high-scoring fourth quarter, Jesuit managed to hold the lead, eventually winning 69-59.
Michael Grant and Caleb Steger both had 21 points, Grant adding 5 rebounds and four assists. Tre Mergerson and Justin Kemp both added 6 points.
“Having the team deal with injuries and constantly changing lineups has been tough for us at times but we have stayed resilient and continued to fight even when faced with adversity.” Caleb Steger ’25
Nimitz
In the last district game before facing rival Highland Park the Rangers dominated Nimitz. The Rangers came out hot with a 25-12 lead at half and only expanded the lead more in the second half, giving them a 69-39 victory.
Michael Grant had 16 points with 5 rebounds and Justin Kemp added 12 points with 4 rebounds and 4 assists of his own. Tre Mergerson had 11 points and 5 rebounds on 5-8 shooting and Ethan Mahowald had 7 points.
Highland Park
In what will likely be one of the hardest weeks of the season, Jesuit opened against rival Highland Park. Jesuit played strong to start the game earning a 3-point lead at half in a fierce battle. After several halftime adjustments in a tense third quarter both teams had even scoring, keeping Jesuit’s slim lead. Finally, in the fourth quarter, Highland Park broke through for a slim lead about halfway through the fourth and decided to hold the ball for the rest of the quarter, putting Jesuit in a desperate spot and stretching the lead.
In a relatively low-scoring game, Steger only had 13 points and Mergerson had 9. Gramlich and Grant each had 8 and 7 points while Gramlich and Justin Kemp both had three assists.
“First half of district went good, we started hot and then lost a couple of close ones, but we are still in a position to win district if we can play how we know we can play.” -Charlie Peters ’25
Richardson
After a tough home loss against a very tough opponent, Jesuit was forced to play state-ranked Richardson just three days later at home. It was a close game after the first quarter, Richardson held a small lead of 18-16. Richardson broke out in the second half, however, and outscored Jesuit 19-8 going into half. Jesuit responded well in the third, holding Richardson to 12 points while scoring 23 of their own. The Rangers fought hard in the fourth, but it was just not enough to score enough and lost by 1, 59-58.
Tre Mergerson had a career night, with 21 points 4 rebounds, and 2 blocks. Steger added 15 points with 7 rebounds and Grant added 9 points with 4 rebounds.
“We learned a lot about ourselves and how to play with each other in closer games. I think we did really well but we can definitely be better against Richardson and Highland Park.” Ethan Mahowald ’25
Jesuit has opened the second half of district play and still has much of a very tough regular season schedule left to play. Things will look up at the eventual return of Will Bronson from injury, but the question is if they can hold out enough before then for his return to matter for playoffs. I have all the confidence in this team to get it done to make the playoffs, however, it is unlikely to become district champs.
“We have lots of must win games coming up and we are treating them like playoffs. Lots of potential for growth for the second half of the season.” Alec Piotrowski ’24
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