Finishing the game shooting 44 percent from the field while burying nine three-pointers, the Rangers showed no indication of jet lag as they won their 2015 Chris Vontoure Spartan Classic opener, 66-59, over the St. Patrick/St. Vincent Bruins on Thursday evening on the campus of De La Salle High School in Concord, California.

Sophomore Michael Jankovich led the Rangers with 24 points, burying three shots from behind the arc to tie classmate Marcus Hill for the team-high.  Hill finished with 14 points, tying junior Mitch Prendergast, who was a force on the floor, finishing 4-of-9 from the field with a pair of three-pointers.

Junior Jacob Palisch brought down a team-high eight boards, including three offensive rebounds, adding a team-leading four assists.  Senior Ben Kunasek helped lead the Rangers in the defensive game, picking up three steals, while Kunasek, Prendergast and senior Shawn Regan recorded a block each.

The Rangers (6-2) handed St. Patrick/St. Vincent (3-1) its first loss of the 2015-16 campaign by using the Bruins' aggressive offense to their advantage, drawing seven charges throughout the course of the contest.  Despite being outscored, 32-22, in the paint, Jesuit Dallas scored 16 points off of 14 Bruin turnovers while additionally converting 13-of-19 attempts from the free-throw line.

The first quarter saw the Bruins leap out to a 5-0 advantage before Jankovich buried the Rangers' first points of the game from behind the three-point line.  Jankovich's three-pointer marked the beginning of a 12-4 run by the Rangers, allowing the Blue and Gold to take their first lead of the game with 1:22 remaining in the first after a three by Hill.

Jesuit Dallas finished the first half shooting 5-of-7 from distance, with a momentum-altering three from Prendergast with 1:46 remaining in the half capping a 7-0 run that allotted the Rangers a 26-18 lead.  Prendergast struck again with an underhand reverse layup off of a crisp pass by Palisch with under 10 seconds on the clock to close out a strong second quarter for the Rangers, sending the Blue and Gold into the break leading, 30-22 after outscoring St. Patrick/St. Vincent, 18-8, in the quarter.

St. Patrick/St. Vincent sliced the lead to four after opening the third quarter with a 6-2 run.  Jesuit was able to limit the damage with three minutes remaining in the quarter, when Jankovich received a great pass from senior Rusty Landon and skied in for the layup to return the lead to two possessions.  Hill then hit his third three-point bucket of the night to give the Rangers an eight-point lead.  The Bruins ended the half on a 4-0 run, scoring the first bucket of the fourth to bring the Jesuit lead down to two points at 44-42 with 7:20 remaining in regulation.

The Rangers turned the tides permanently in their favor by forcing four St. Patrick/St. Vincent turnovers in the waning moments of the contest, converting 8-of-10 free throw attempts in the final minute of the game to clinch the victory, their second consecutive win and fourth in the month of December.

Jesuit Dallas will next play Serra High School at 6:30 p.m. PST (8:30 p.m. CST) on Friday, Dec. 11 for a chance to play in the championship game of the 28th Annual Chris Vontoure Spartan Classic, which will take place at 5:30 p.m. PST (7:30 p.m. PST) on Saturday.