Jesuit takes charge in final quarter to win at John Curtis, 46-41

RIVER RIDGE – Heated rivalries always bring the best out of everyone, and the Catholic League district usually delivers nothing short of that on both counts.

Jesuit started off slow but pulled away late to come out on top Friday night at John Curtis, 46-41.

The win was sweet payback for the Blue Jays. The Patriots had beaten Jesuit the last two times they played each other, 47-43, on January 24 and again, 42-40, on February 16 last season.

The fourth quarter was electric for both teams. Dual-sport athlete Dagan Bruno went hard on the glass grabbing seven rebounds. Brewer Nitcher for Jesuit had a game-high 20 points and 15 rebounds, and his six fourth quarter points helped the Blue Jays outscore the Patriots, 16-9.

The Patriots came out the gate hard and brought it to the Blue Jays. Dominating on the boards and using their full-court press defense, Curtis jumped out to a 15-8 lead and made the Blue Jays work for those eight points.

Jesuit started off the second quarter slowly, until a steal and layup in transition from Brennan Pitts lit a spark. The Blue Jays went on an 11-0 run to end the first half.

With Pitts and Brewer Nitcher both contributing four points in the second quarter, the teams went into the break tied 19-19. Tensions had also started getting higher after a few players went for a loose ball.

“We had a slow start and we didn’t defend very well,” said Jesuit head coach Chris Jennings. “It’s just a big game, all the district games are just big important games. You have to be ready every night because every team is very good and every team is very well-coached. They all have plans and you have to be ready to play at a very high level.”

The third quarter was back and forth with both teams trading baskets. The Patriots ramped up their defense again just like the first quarter. Jesuit tied the game with 20 seconds remaining but Midnight Martin drove to the basket and made a layup through traffic to give Curtis a 32-30 edge at the end of the third quarter.

“We practice in this type of environment”, John Curtis head coach Biko Paris. “We create our practices as hard and as physically as we can. For games like this, when they get out here it’s nothing but practice. Play our game, we don’t focus on no one else. It’s about us and we have to worry about what we are going to do. We know what Jesuit basketball is so it’s just basketball and if we stick to our principles of ball. If we jump to the ball, talk, communicate, we are tough and we like to challenge ourselves.”

John Curtis (12-6, 1-2) next faces Carver on Monday.

Jesuit (19-3, 3-0 in District 9-5A), along in first in district play, faces another tough district matchup district Saturday at Brother Martin.

“We have worry about Brother Martin tomorrow, so that’s what we are going to work on tomorrow morning to get ready for Brother Martin,” Jennings said. “It’s one game at a time.”

Final
Jesuit 8 11 11 16 – 46
John Curtis 15 4 13 9 – 41

Scoring
Jesuit- Brewer Knitcher 20, Gus Laibe 8, Brennan Pitts 7, Zach LaGraize 5, Jude LaForge 3, Ethan Lapese 3
John Curtis- Autrail Manning 12, Midnight Martin 10, Zaveon Shepherd 5, Dagan Bruno 5, Marlin Johnson 4, Xavier Brown 3, Jarvis Stephenson 2

Rebounds: Jesuit 32, John Curtis 19
Turnovers: Jesuit 9, John Curtis 9