Slam Dunk: Blue Jay Hoops 2x Tourney Champs
Jesuit Basketball off to blazing fast start to the new season.
The Blue Jay basketball team is on fire. The team is 9-1 and is hungry for more. The Jays started off the season with a 5-0 record and won the Jesuit Invitational Tournament, defeating a good Country Day team by double digits. Coach Jennings said, “We have a myriad of players, each adept in diverse aspects of the game.”
The team’s roster is deep, and rotates through a large number of players each game. The team’s only loss came after an awful inbound play with only a few seconds remaining, causing Hahnville to win. In that one loss, Coach Jennings said that he will use it as a learning experience about late game management. The lesson seems to have paid off because the Blue Jay basketball team has continued to look dominant into the winter schedule.
The team looks strong with returning senior Jude LaForge leading the way. In fact, one of the biggest strengths of the Jays is both their senior leadership and the team’s depth. This year Coach Jennings can count on a rotation of nine plus players all of whom have been with the team since training camp began.
The team’s most dominant win was a rout of Destrehan 87-47. The offense for the Jays looks outstanding, the key question for the season will be can the defense keep up. Again, so far in the early goings the answer seems to be yes.
The Jays opened the Catholic Tournament with victories over St. Paul’s and Landry. A highlight from the early tournament play was the fastbreak dunk by junior Brandt Blanchard. In the finals, the Jays faced co-host Brother Martin and defeated the crusaders in a close contest 60-58. The win takes the team to two tournament victories in the early season with the Jesuit National Tournament right after Christmas. The tournament, which is held at Jesuit Tampa, will see the Jays will face off against other Jesuit schools from around the country.
Shortly after, they will have a tough district opener the against Karr while everyone is still home for Christmas. Hopefully, this team will be the one that gets to the promised land, the coveted state championship. The team definitely has the potential they just need to stay hot.
You can follow all the action all season long by following Blue Jay Hoops on X (formerly Twitter) and on Instagram. Additionally, you can watch all home games live on the Jesuit Athletics YouTube channel. Of course, the best choice is to go to the Birdcage and join the Gizzard in support of the basketball team as they look to win district and state.