Alec Zierlein ’22

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Strake Jesuit’s varsity basketball season unfortunately came to an end on February 22nd at the hands of the Clear Falls Knights in the playoffs, so with the season over, it’s as good a time as any to review our season in depth.

Jesuit Basketball finished their season with a final record of 23-13, as well as 10-5 in district, finishing 3rd behind Shadow Creek and Pearland Dawson. Jesuit’s season started off hot, going 6-0 and winning the NorthEast/NorthSide ISD Tournament in San Antonio. Jason Lin, the only sophomore to be on varsity the entire season, hit the game-tying 3 at the buzzer against Brandeis to send Jesuit to overtime in the final minutes of the championship game, where we ended up winning by eight points. 

When asked how it was to be the only sophomore on varsity this season, Jason Lin commented, “It was a really fun experience, getting to play with a lot of great players who were able to mentor me and help me grow as a basketball player.” 

The influence of young players for Strake Jesuit was extremely large this year, as arguably the two best players, Dayton Jones and Jace Posey are both juniors. Trevor Lombard, Aidan McKee, and Jaydon Carroll are other notable juniors that started at least one game on varsity this season. Unfortunately for Jesuit, all of these juniors missed games due to injury, something that hurt us all year and continued in our playoff loss, as Jace Posey was unable to play.

When junior Drayton Jones was asked about some of the saddest moments this season, he noted the Stratford and Atascocita losses, which were upsetting because we lost, but also because he wasn’t able to play and be part of the team. 

The Pearland Dawson and playoff loss were two other upsetting moments this year, as we lost for the second time on a buzzer beater against Dawson and we lost a game we should’ve won against Clear Falls, ending the season on a disappointing note.

Even though we faced some lows, Jesuit basketball was also very successful in many aspects. Seniors Drew Animashaun and Nico Mur will likely make an all-district team, used to commemorate the best players in 23-A, once Shadow Creek has been eliminated from the playoffs. 

Unfortunately, the end of every season means the last games for our senior class, made up of six players: Drew Animashaun, Aaron Rucker, Conner Sauer, Nico Mur, Michael Posoli, and Ryan Chang. These seniors fought hard in practice and in game all year and will be greatly missed.

When asked about the impact of these six players, head coach Dominic Amorosa said, “Our seniors worked really hard. They were extremely dependable and reliable. They challenged each other in practice, they led off the floor, they provided an example to the younger players; we’re gonna miss them greatly, especially in the leadership department.”

Jesuit basketball experienced many highs and lows this year, but ultimately had one of the most fun and talented rosters we’ve seen in the past few years.