A pair of 20-point scorers put Jesuit within striking distance on Tuesday night, but Texas state-ranked no. 3 Skyline derailed the Rangers' upset bid, 75-65, in the regular season finale for both teams at Skyline High School.
 
Jesuit (20-10, 9-5 UIL 9-6A) finishes the year second in the district standings and will enter the playoffs against Rowlett on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. Senior Mitch Prendergast scored 23 points, followed closely behind by junior Michael Jankovich, who scored 22 points for the Rangers. Junior Marcus Hill closed the trio of Jesuit shooters with double-digit outings, tacking on 10 points to the Ranger effort.
 
Senior Jeff Grimes, who logged the team's first double-double of the season last Friday against Richardson, scored eight points and brought down three rebounds, tacking on two assists and a steal. Junior Reid Hatzmann logged a team-high four assists, while Jankovich brought down six rebounds to lead the Blue and Gold. Jesuit shot a perfect, 13-of-13 from the free-throw line, but yielded 24 points off of 13 turnovers to the Raiders (19-1), who end the regular season as district champions with a 13-1 mark in UIL District 9-6A.
 
The two teams traded three-pointers to start the game until a 10-0 Skyline run put the Raiders up, 15-6 with 4:29 left in the first. Jesuit caught Skyline in a shooting slump, taking an 11-8 run spanning the end of the first to the second quarter, holding the Raiders to 3-of-10 from the field to close the gap to six points with six minutes left in the first half. However, Skyline held Jesuit to only 10 points over the remainder of the second quarter, taking a 12-point lead into halftime.
 
Jesuit seemed poised for a critical comeback, shooting 52 percent from the floor, 50 percent from three-point range and forcing seven Skyline turnovers in the second half, but the Raiders were able to muster just enough offense to keep their large second quarter lead intact. Jesuit wrapped up the game on a 10-3 run, anchored by 10 points from Jankovich, but a 10-2 Skyline run minutes before proved to lofty for the Rangers to overcome.
 
Next, Jesuit will next face Rowlett on Tuesday, Feb. 21 at Berkner High School in the UIL 6A Bi-District round. Tip-off for the battle between the Rangers and Eagles is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.