The Rangers finished their tenure at the Cookie Garcia Jesuit Invitational with a 71-59 loss to Saint Ignatius (Ohio) in the third place on Friday in Tampa, Florida. Jesuit led by seven points with 7:02 remaining in the third quarter, but Saint Ignatius rallied and were able to secure the victory in the tournament finale for the Blue and Gold.
 
Junior Michael Grant secured a double-double for the Rangers, scoring 18 points and snagging 12 rebounds while taking on three assists, two steals and a block. Junior Caleb Steger racked up 20 points for the Rangers to lead the team in scoring, shooting 7-of-16 from the floor and a perfect 5-for-5 from the free-throw line, helping the team record a 10-for-11 clip from the charity stripe. Senior Tre Mergerson scored eight points, seniors Justin Kemp and Hank Gramlich notched five points apiece and junior Ethan Mahowald concluded the team's scoring with three points.
 
Kemp added three steals and five rebounds to the team total while Mergerson added a block of his own while securing five rebounds. Jesuit finished the day shooting 42.3 percent from the field and were narrowly outrebounded by the Wildcats, 33-31. The Rangers scored 34 points in the paint and 11 points off of 14 Saint Ignatius turnovers.
 
Jesuit will return to Texas and await its next opponent in 2024. The Rangers will travel to Berkner on Tuesday, January 2 for a 7 p.m. showdown against the Rams. Read Full Article