Fueled by 38 points from a starting lineup consisting of five seniors, Jesuit Dallas ended the regular season on a five-game winning streak with a 53-45 victory over Skyline on Tuesday evening at Walsh Gymnasium. The Rangers will battle Lakeview Centennial at 7:30 p.m. on Feb. 20 in the University Interscholastic League (UIL) 6A Bi-District Round.
 
Senior Marcus Hill dropped 20 points in his final game at Walsh Gymnasium, shooting 6-of-10 from the floor, 3-of-4 from three-point range and 5-of-7 from the free-throw line to lead the Rangers' scoring contingent. Fellow fourth year Reid Hatzmann added seven points and three assists while senior Keagan Nwosu dragged down a team-leading seven rebounds, adding six points and a block.
 
How it Happened
 

• Skyline scored the game-opening bucket on its first possession, but Jesuit responded with a 9-2 run to take early control of the contest. Abmas drove to the basket for a layup at the buzzer to give the Rangers an 11-6 lead going into the second quarter.
   
• The second quarter was evenly distributed between the two squads, as Jesuit shot 5-of-7 from the field compared to a 6-for-8 clip from the Raiders. After Abmas scored a layup with 1:04 remaining, Jesuit held Skyline without a bucket during a critical possession that afforded the Blue and Gold a four-point lead at halftime.
   
• Skyline erupted out of the gate in the third quarter, taking a 29-26 lead, but the Rangers took the lead for good with a 10-3 lead sparked by a three-pointer from Hill. The Rangers held Skyline to 2-of-10 from the field over an eight-minute stretch spanning the third to fourth quarter, taking a 41-33 lead with 4:45 remaining in the game.
   
• Jesuit Dallas converted 10-of-12 free throws over the final 4:40 of the contest to withstand a late push from the Raiders, clinching the victory and the outright No. 2 seed in UIL District 9-6A to close the season.

 
Inside the Box Score

• The Rangers scored 24 points in the paint and seven points off of six Skyline turnovers. Jesuit shot 45.5 percent from the floor and earned 25 free-throw shots, closing the bout with a 90 percent conversion rate to close out the season.
   
• Over the last five games, Jesuit has averaged 64 points per game while allowing 45 points to opponents, shooting 48.3 percent as a team from the floor and 45.4 from three-point range. Out-rebounding opponents by an average of nine boards per game during that stretch, The Rangers have done most of their damage in the first quarter, outscoring foes 17-9 in the opening stanza.

 
Up Next
 
Jesuit will take on the Patriots (13-16, 7-5 UIL 10-6A) on Tuesday at Naaman Forest High School.