Elijah Morgan has big fourth quarter, fuels Jesuit past Brother Martin, 59-54

Full Game Replay: Jesuit at Brother Martin
Postgame Interviews: Chris Jennings, Elijah Morgan

NEW ORLEANS – With the game on the line in an even contest at Brother Martin, Jesuit turned to its best player. He delivered in a big way.

Junior Elijah Morgan scored 15 of his game-high 22 points in the decisive fourth quarter as Jesuit downed Brother Margin 59-54 at Bob Conlin Gymnasium in a key District 9-5A contest Friday night in a game seen live at CrescentCitySports.com. The win was the fourth straight for the Blue Jays (20-6, 8-2) while the loss was the third straight for the Crusaders (15-12, 5-5).

After entering the fourth quarter tied 37-37, Jesuit had runs of 8-0 and 6-0 in the final period, keyed by Morgan.

“We came out and played good defense,” Morgan said. “We definitely limited their outside scoring. To get a big win like that was important for us in the Catholic League. I think I want the ball in that situation in the fourth quarter, down the stretch. They left me open for a wide open three. I’ve just got to make those. Defense is definitely our strong point. We guarded their best players well.”

Morgan did not start for Jesuit but he entered the game in the first quarter and had four points in the period. Javier Perez had five for Brother Martin. There were five lead changes in the quarter.

The Blue Jays went on a 7-0 run in the second quarter to open up a 28-20 lead at the half behind seven points and five assists by Morgan. Drew Black had six points and six rebounds.

Jesuit stretched the lead to 37-25 in the third quarter before Brother Martin responded with a 12-0 run to end the quarter for a 37-37 tie going to the fourth quarter. Davonn Moore had seven points in the quarter for Brother Martin.

Moore finished with 18 points and five rebounds while Tyler Epps had 11 points for the Crusaders. T.J. Small had five points and 13 rebounds. Will Landrieu chipped in with 13 points while Drew Black, III had eight points, 11 rebounds and three assists for the Blue Jays.

“It was a game of runs and we had the last one,” Jesuit head coach Chris Jennings said. “Elijah scored 11 in a row at one point. That was the difference. It worked out bringing him off the bench. I think the big thing that’s happening now is that other guys are contributing to scoring besides Elijah. Zach DeBlieux is a very good defender and he did a good job on Tyler Lally.”

Averaging 17.5 points per game, Lally was held to six points and no 3-pointers.

“This one’s on me,” said Brother Martin head coach Chris Biehl. “We literally did everything we were supposed to do but at the four minute mark in the fourth quarter, we had three mental breakdowns out of four possessions and we let their shooters open. One minute cost us the game. They are good. We are struggling to put the ball in the hole. We like to generate our offense through defense and we are not doing that right now. We’ve lost five of our last six. It’s been 20 years since I could say that as a coach.”

The Blue Jays hammered the Crusaders 76-50 on Feb. 3 at Jesuit.

Jesuit remains a game behind first-place St. Augustine in Catholic League play. The Purple Knights downed Holy Cross 60-50 Friday night. Jesuit will host Archbishop Shaw next Wednesday evening while Brother Martin entertains league-leading St. Augustine Monday night.

“It feels really good right now,” Morgan said. “We just have to get ready for next week.”

Final

JES    13    15      9    22   59

BM    10    10    17    17  54

Scoring

JES—Elijah Morgan 22, Will Landrieu 13, Drew Black, III 8, Mike Hull 6, Noah Varnado 4, Robert McMahon 4, Zach DeBlieux 2

BM—Davonn Moore 18, Tyler Epps 11, Javier Perez 9, Tyler Lally 6, Victor Tomlison 5, T.J. Small 5

Rebounding

JES 29, BM 31

Turnovers

JES 10, BM 6