On December 8, 2011, days after defeating former district rivals Plano West, the Jesuit Rangers Varsity squad boarded a flight to Buffalo, NY, to play in the annual Canisius Jesuit Shootout Basketball Tournament, hosted by Canisius Jesuit High School in Buffalo. The entire team was excited about the opportunity to showcase their talents in New York, the Mecca of High School Basketball.
The Rangers did just as they had hoped they would, defeating St. Joe’s Catholic School (New York) in the first round, 77-54. They continued their streak, defeating McQuaid, another Jesuit high school in New York, by the score of 60-50.
In the finals, they defeated the hosts, Canisius, by a whopping score of 79-68. Over the three games that they played in New York, they averaged a surprising 72 points while allowing only 57.3 points per game to their opponents.
The team returned on Sunday, December 11 in order to make it on time for Finals/Assessments Week. After finishing their finals strong, they faced District 9-5A opponents WT White on Friday, December 16 in a very interesting North Dallas matchup.
After jumping to a 33-17 half-time lead, the Rangers were outscored by the Longhorns 36-23 in the second half. Despite this breakdown in the second half, the Rangers, led by junior center Steven Spieth’s 16 points, held on in the end, winning an important district matchup 56-53.
This convincing win against WT White was followed by another major district matchup three days later. On December 19, the Varsity Rangers, so far undefeated in district, played the also undefeated Richardson Berkner Rams, in what could turn out to be an important game in deciding who will win the district.
So far this season, Berkner has been the most dangerous district competitor for the Rangers and could eventually be the only thing standing between Jesuit and a district title. In arguably the biggest matchup of the season thus far, the Jesuit Rangers laid an egg, getting outscored 31-18 in the first half, and finishing the game terribly once again with a 20-4 fourth quarter, in favor of the Berkner Rams.
Jesuit let the Rams’ Soma Edo and Kendal Harris score 21 and 13 points, respectively, while having only one player, junior Steven Spieth, score more than 6 points. Despite Spieth developing into a bona fide star, the Rangers dropped this game 61-40. To add insult to injury, senior swingman Reid Leinbaugh suffered a foot injury that will probably keep the long range hot hand out of the lineup until the final stretch of the season.
The same thing that transpired against the Longhorns two games prior happened against the Mesquite Skeeters on Tuesday, December 27 in the first round of the Plano Avery Air Invitational, when Jesuit jumped to a 47-28 lead through three quarters. Just like the game against Mesquite, the Jesuit Rangers let a 19-point lead slip away, getting outscored 22-7 in the 4th quarter.
Despite quite a comeback, the Rangers found themselves in the win column yet again, holding off the Skeeters by four points, 54-50. Steven Spieth once again led the team in scoring with 14 points, while senior center David Lacey followed close behind with 10 points.
The Rangers also delivered a solid defensive performance, despite letting Mesquite player Alex Cooper, who is also the school’s quarterback, score a whopping 26 points. Despite the success that they had in this first round matchup, the Rangers suffered another devastating blow, most likely losing senior center David Lacey for the rest of the season to a torn ACL.
The very next day, the Jesuit Rangers set out to continue their winning streak in the Plano Avery Air Invitational, having to compete against some stout competition. They started the second round of the Invitational with an impressive win against Irving High School. The Rangers outscored Irving 55-28 through three quarters.
The second round game ended with a convincing 66-42 Jesuit win. The Rangers played really well defensively, keeping all but two players from scoring more than 4 points. Offensively, senior Tim Sayers had the biggest game of his season, leading all scorers with 18 points, while D. J. Udofia ‘12 also had the best game of his season, with a stellar 13 point performance.
The same day, the Jesuit Rangers played a subpar Plano Wildcats team that was, thus far, 6-10. Unlike most of the Jesuit varsity basketball games this season, there was never a huge swing of momentum that gave either team a huge lead at any given point. The game was close through 4 quarters and finished in a 46-46 tie.
The Rangers, though, who had not been able to finish games well throughout the first half of their season, were the ones who came out on top in overtime, outscoring the Wildcats 10-4. The final score of this third round game was 56-50, with Steven Spieth’s 18 points leading all scorers. Jared Johnson ’12 had the highest scoring game of his season, with a 14 point performance.
After a stellar finish in the third round against Plano, the Rangers played the final of the Plano Avery Air Invitational against Carrollton Creekview. The Rangers, who usually start off strong, came out sluggish in the final, finishing the first quarter down 24-7. Throughout the second and third quarters, Jesuit only outscored Creekview by a total of 4 points, reducing the lead to 13 points through three quarters.
The fourth quarter, however, was once again where Jesuit made its stand, outscoring Creekview 26-12 in the fourth and scoring the winning basket with mere seconds to spare. Once again, the Rangers’ ability to remain poised and clutch in the fourth quarter helped them win the Plano Avery Air Invitational. On top of their great fourth quarter play, the Rangers had four players score 12 or more points, including Udofia and Spieth who finished with 12 and 13 points, respectively. JD Waggoner ‘13 and Bryan Stankey ‘13 both had, by far, their best performances and led all Rangers scorers with 17 and 14 points, respectively.
After impressively winning the Avery Air Invitational, the Jesuit Rangers started a twelve-game district marathon to end the season by playing district rival Skyline on January 3, 2012. The entire game was completely dominated by Jesuit. The Rangers kept Skyline to two first quarter points en route to a 54-36 domination of the Raiders. Steven Spieth ’13 continued his domination, leading all scorers with 15 points, while Tim Sayers ’12 followed close behind with 14 points.
After the impressive victory over the Raiders, the Jesuit Varsity Squad did battle on Friday night with the Richardson Eagles, who were undefeated in district until they ran into the Rangers. With consistent play on both sides of the ball and Spieth running the point with absolute prowess, the Rangers managed to defeat their district foes 65-49, outscoring the Eagles 37-20 in the first half. Spieth also had a great scoring night, almost doubling all other score totals, finishing with a truly mind-blowing 27 points as the Rangers finished a strong run over the Christmas holiday.
With the Rangers going 10 for 11 over the break and 3 for 4 in district games, Jesuit has climbed the area leaderboards, currently sitting at a lofty 17-3, with their only losses coming to Richardson Berkner, Strake Jesuit, and Mesquite.
As they look forward to their 10-game district stretch, the Rangers hope to stay consistent and lock up a playoff spot. With fixtures like Steven Spieth scoring consistently, big time scoring threats like Tim Sayers in the lineup, and the defensive presence of players like J. D. Waggoner ’13, the Rangers look to cause some damage and make a name for themselves amongst tough UIL public school competition.
