A career-high scoring performance by senior Julius Marble and a resounding fourth quarter defensive demonstration led the No. 10 Rangers to their second consecutive Bob Stras Knights of Columbus Dallas Basketball Classic Championship with a 62-40 win over No. 24 Mesquite on Saturday at Walsh Gymnasium. Jesuit improves to 10-0 on the year with the victory and close a dominating three-day stretch which saw the Blue and Gold average 75 points per game and defeat two state-ranked opponents.
 
Marble finished the contest with 25 points, surpassing his previous career-high of 22 recorded on December 9, 2017 against Holy Cross (N.Y.). The senior shot 11-of-18 from the floor and snagged nine rebounds in the championship game, earning tournament Most Valuable Player accolades for the second consecutive year. Marble averaged a double-double over the three-game tournament with 16.7 points and 10.7 boards.
 
Senior Max Abmas scored 15 points, including a team-leading trio of three-pointers, to earn a spot on the all-tournament team. Abmas led the team in scoring with 58 points over three games to average 19.3 points per game while shooting 62.2 percent from the field, 41.2 percent from behind the arc and 83.3 percent from the free-throw line.
 
The Rangers concluded the tournament shooting 57.7 percent as a team while adding a 46.4 percent clip from beyond the arc. Senior Anthony Hollerich scored nine points against Mesquite, fellow fourth year Connor Wilson added six points and sophomore Gavin Perryman tacked on five rebounds. Abmas added six assists and three steals while Marble and Perryman tacked on two assists each.
 
Jesuit continued its first quarter dominance at the tournament, taking an 18-6 lead at the end of the opening quarter. The Rangers shot 7-of-13 from the floor in the first quarter while the defense locked down on the Skeeters, holding Mesquite to 2-of-11 and 1-6 from three-point range while forcing three turnovers. Senior John Phillips knocked down a three-pointer to jump-start the second quarter, giving Jesuit a 15-point lead as the Rangers were able to build a 35-22 halftime advantage on a buzzer-beating feed from Hollerich to Marble.
 
Mesquite began to pick up momentum in the second half, scoring 13 points in the third quarter off of the strength of 10 points from all-tournament designee Cody LeBlanc to remain within 15 points of the Rangers. However, the Rangers took the momentum back with a 10-0 lead between the end of the fourth and beginning of the fifth, punctuated by a thunderous dunk by Marble with 7:30 remaining in regulation.
 
Jesuit held Mesquite to two field goals in the fourth quarter while shooting 60 percent in the final stanza to clinch the championship win. The victory marked the eighth time over Jesuit's 10 games this season that the Blue and Gold have scored 60 points or more en route to a win.
 
Prior to the championship game, Nolan Catholic finished a 2-1 run at the tournament with a 55-50 victory over Lincoln in the third-place game. Nolan's Jayden Williams, named to the all-tournament team, scored 15 points in the penultimate game of the tournament as Lincoln's Anthony Nealon shot 10-of-13 on Saturday to score 22 points en route to earning a spot on the all-tournament squad. MacArthur's Carius Key earned the final all-tournament spot with nine points in the Cardinals' 55-40 win over Lone Star in the consolation championship game.
 
Jesuit will return to Walsh Gym on Tuesday, Dec. 4 as the Rangers will battle Mansfield Summit at 7:30 p.m. The Jaguars will enter Tuesday's matchup with a 5-6 record and a three-game winning streak, most recently scoring a 58-45 win over Wilmer-Hutchins in the seventh-place game of the Spring Creek Tournament in Mansfield, Texas.