On Tuesday, March 3, the #6 Jesuit Crusaders pulled out a 72-61 win against the #27 Lakeridge Pacers in the first round of the OSAA 6A playoffs. The Crusaders last played the Pacers in the first round of the 2017 playoffs, where Jesuit won 81-75.
The Crusaders would face a zone defense for the fourth game in a row, but Joe Stimpson wasted no time hitting a three-pointer at the top of the key to set the tone for the game. Major Williams followed the next possession by hitting a triple from the same spot. Jesuit would continue dominating the quarter, scoring in a variety of ways and forcing Lakeridge to take bad shots. With 0.3 seconds left in the first quarter, Penny Harrison lobbed the ball up to Stimpson, who scored at the buzzer and extended Jesuit’s lead 18-7.
Lakeridge picked it up in the second quarter, as two quick layups and a Kyle Nichols three-pointer cut the score 18-14. Ryan Barone would answer back with an 8-0 run by himself, hitting a tough shot in the paint and consecutive shots from behind the arc. Williams and Sam Curvy added a three-pointer and two layups, respectively, forcing Lakeridge to call a timeout. Jesuit would end the half with a commanding 37-20 lead.
The Pacers were not yet done fighting, as they started the quarter by forcing the Crusaders to take heavily contested shots and converting those stops into points. Halfway through the quarter Lakeridge’s Micah Leake scored seven straight points, making the score 41-31. The teams traded baskets for the rest of the quarter, but the Pacers ended the quarter with a pull up jumper from Caiden Dickey. Jesuit gave up 23 points in the third quarter, only holding a 51-43 lead.
Penny Harrison started the fourth with an electric and-1 after dribbling past three defenders in powder blue. A majority of the quarter was back and forth between the teams, but with two minutes left to go, Jesuit extended their lead to 13 after Barone made a put-back layup and Stimpson hit a mid range jumper. Trying to keep their season alive, Lakeridge began pressing and forced two turnovers. The Pacers converted those stops into layups, and on the next possession Logan Baertsch Kovalchick hit a deep three-pointer to make the score 67-61. With little time left, Williams was fouled and he drained his free throws, helping Jesuit escape with a 72-61 win.
Harrison spoke about the team’s upcoming playoff game against the Westview Wildcats.
“We’ve beaten them twice already, but it’s always hard to beat a team three times because they’re going to come in with a lot of motivation and probably make adjustments. For us, it’s really about staying focused, doing our assignments, rebounding, and playing together as a team. If we stay disciplined and play our style of basketball, I feel like we’ll put ourselves in a good position to win,” junior Harrison said.
The Jesuit men’s basketball team will advance to the second round of the OSAA 6A playoffs and
will host the Westview Wildcats. Tipoff is this Friday at 7 p.m. in the Knight Gym. Entry is $6 for students and $10 for adults.
