The Jesuit Crusaders had a promising start to the 2023-2024 season with big wins versus schools like Barlow, LO, and Lincoln. With multiple close losses to Central Catholic and Tualitan, Jesuit felt confident heading into Metro league play standing at 8-4.
Sophomore guard Joe Stimpson, a key role player off the bench, spoke about expectations for Metro League play.
“My expectations heading into metro were to win out, obviously there’s great competition but I think we’re gonna win most of our games,” Stimpson said.
The Crusaders started out league play 3-0, beating Sunset, Mountainside, and Aloha.
“We were sharing the ball, hitting shots, and pushing transition,” senior guard Tyler Curvy said. “Honestly just playing really well together as a team”.
The Crusaders’ momentum stalled midway through Metro League play, suffering two close losses to the Westview Wildcats, and the Beaverton Beavers. Multiple mistakes in both games led to these losses.
“As a team vs Westview we had 17 turnovers, we just weren’t playing to our standard,” Stimpson said.
Since those losses, the Crusaders went on a roll, beating the number 2 OSAA ranked Southridge Skyhawks and the Mountainside Mavericks. The Crusaders reached 8-3 in league play and were ranked #7 in the state. ’
Throughout the season Metro League proves to be a week to week challenge with some of the best teams in the state. According to the latest OSAA rankings, 5 of the top 21 teams in the state are from the Metro League: Southridge is No. 2, Jesuit No. 7 , Beaverton No.8, Mountainside No.16 and Westview No.21.
“I think it has prepared us really well for playoffs, a lot of the top teams are from the metro and we will see that level of play going into playoffs,” Curvy said.
The Crusaders currently hold an overall record of 16-7 , and league record of 8-3. The Crusaders just dropped a tough one vs Southridge but bounced by beating the Wildcats by 26. The Crusaders hope to finish out the season by beating the Beaverton Beavers this friday.
