Sam Ovella takes a short jumper in the first quarter of the Jesuit-Rummel game played Tuesday night in the Birdcage. The Jays lost, 56-38.

View the Photo Gallery of the Jesuit – Rummel Game

The Raiders came to Jesuit Tuesday night (Jan. 19), they played, and — unfortunately for the Blue Jays — they conquered, leaving feathers scattered on the basketball court of the Birdcage.

The Jays could not find their rhythm against Rummel and as a result, dropped their second District 9-5A game. Jesuit’s 56-38 loss to Rummel gives the Jays an overall record of 7-13 and 2-2 in district play.

Coach Chris Jennings ’78 and his squad of Blue Jays travel across town to chilly Gentilly for a Friday night (Jan. 22) district game against Brother Martin. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. following completion of the junior varsity game which begins at 5:45 p.m. Admission is free to students and faculty from the two rival schools, while parents, grandparents, friends, and students from other schools pay $5; admission is $3 for children ages 6-11.

Coach Chris Jennings ’78 and his Blue Jay squad expect another tough district game when they cross town Friday night to play the Crusaders in Brother Martin’s gym. Tipoff is 7 p.m.

According to Coach Jennings, the Crusaders are very much like the Raiders. “Brother Martin is very athletic, very quick, so it’s going to be another tough game for us,” he said.

Back in the Birdcage, Jesuit took a pummel from Rummel from start to finish.

“Rummel just dictated both ends of the court to us pretty much,” said Coach Jennings, adding that the Jays had a particularly difficult time with one of the Raiders’ guards, whose 21 points made him the game’s highest scorer. “Defensively, we did OK, but again, we let Rummel’s guard dictate everything. He’s really good, but we just have to do a better job on defense.”

The Jays’ offense was led by junior Brendan Conroy, who tallied 10 points on four goals and a pair of free throws. A trio of other players — Will Hillery, Chris Beebe, and Sam Ovella — each accounted for six points.

Jesuit missed all 10 shots from and beyond the three-point line, while the Raiders hit five of seven.

“We’re not a very good 3-point shooting team, and we attempted too many of them. We just don’t shoot the ball real well beyond the 3-point line, so we really have to be more selective when taking those types of shots.”

The Jays mustered only six points in the first quarter and trailed Rummel by seven. The teams went into the locker rooms at halftime with Rummel leading, 25-14. Jesuit had a decent third quarter, scoring 14 points to Rummel’s 11. But the final quarter saw the Raiders tack on 20 points, doubling Jesuit’s output of 10 points.

Following the game, Coach Jennings and his assistants, Jonathan Hernandez ’00 and John Anderson, herded the team into the locker room for a closed-door, heart-to-heart.

“We got to stay with our stuff, not give in,” Coach Jennings said he told the team. “I thought early in the game we had things going, but we became impatient offensively and this allowed Rummel’s offense to get going.”

Meanwhile, the team goes back to practice. “We’ll try to get a little better tomorrow and see what happens,” said Coach Jennings.