The clock winds down as the Jesuit player throws the ball in. The point guard catches it as he begins to run down the court. He crosses half-court and passes the ball to his right. The power forward receives it and swings it to the right corner. The shooter catches the ball, takes a step back behind the three point line and releases. The announcer yells “It’s good!” The crowd goes wild, cheering on the Jesuit Rangers!

The Jesuit basketball team had two big games this past week, against RL Turner and Irving McArthur. Unfortunately, they fell just short in the game against McArthur but, were able to power through RL Turner. Despite the loss, Jesuit has been playing very well this season and these games were just another testament to that.

Jesuit narrowly lost a tough game against Irving McArthur. McArthur has been playing very well all season, and they simply grabbed more rebounds than Jesuit. So, in turn, they were they were able to out-shoot the Rangers and therefore win 72-53. Alex Reilly ’16, team manager, commented on the game saying “[Jesuit] made a good run but it was not enough, so McArthur closed us out.” Mitch Pendergast ’17 also commented on the game saying “They got the best of us, but I am confident that we can come back in the next game and win.” Although they played to the end, Jesuit unfortunately fell, but, the team seems confident they can beat McArthur if the opportunity to play them again arises.

Although they had previously lost, Jesuit won a great, fiercely fought game against RL Turner. The whole team played really well, everyone scored. According to the manager, “We out played and out worked RL Turner.” It was a great win for the team, Jesuit really lived up to all the hype. They definitively outshot Turner, beating them by a score of 63-39. Tyler Schlapkohl ’15 went off in the game scoring 13 points and grabbing 2 rebounds. Also, Jesuit saw strong performances from Shawn Reagen ’16, Sam Truxal ’15, and Mitch Prendergast ’17 who scored 9,8, and 8 points respectively. Mitch Prendergast ’17 said that “Jesuit had a really great team effort, we came together and just played really well.” Another great varsity player, Dixon Smith ’17 also talked about the game, “This was one of the best games we have played. Our team chemistry was great! We should have a great season so long as we play like that.” Hopefully, these types of wins will continue in the future of the team as they begin their road to the playoffs.

Make sure to come out this and support Jesuit basketball in their upcoming game against Irving Nimitz! It should be a great game to watch.