Dallas Jesuit takes district opener over Coppell

Dallas Jesuit High School - Seniors Michael Jankovich and Marcus Hill led the Dallas Jesuit Rangers (1-0) to a win over the Coppell Cowboys (0-1) by posting 14 points each. The Rangers beat the Cowboys 48-38 in the opening of District 9-6A (Region II) play Wednesday afternoon.

Dallas Jesuit took an 18-16 point lead into halftime before blowing the doors open in the third quarter with a 12-2 run to extend their lead to 30-18. The Rangers defense allowed only four points to the Cowboys in the third and held Coppell to a total of seven points through the four-minute mark of the fourth. The Rangers held Coppell to 35% shooting on the day and head Jesuit coach, Chris Hill was excited about his team's effort.

“I thought our defense was really good tonight and we paid attention to our assignments,” said Hill. “[Coppell] had some of their players not shoot as well as they have been, but I think we had something to do with that.”

After coming back from the half-time break, Hill said that his team executed better on the offensive side if the ball.

“We didn’t freak out and our shots eventually started falling. When they are on offense, they really want you to work on defense and wear you down, but we were patient and we started scoring once we got the ball out of their hands.

The Dallas Jesuit Rangers are now 12-1 on the year and were coming off a seven-day layoff due to dead period for semester testing. The Rangers were last on the floor for a game on December 12, when they played and beat Mansfield Timberview.

Jankovich (2-for-4 from behind the arc) thought the team came together after knocking some of the dust off.

“We came in tight and the first half turned out to be an adjustment period for us and we made it work. We were at our best tonight moving the ball around and allowing our shooters to get open looks. We also have Julius (Marble) on the inside which opens things up for us.”

Besides Jankovich and Hill, two other Rangers scored. Julius Marble totaled 11 points for and Max Abmas chipped in nine on three three-pointers (3-for-5 on the game).

Grayson Early and Tariq Aman both hit double figures for Coppell, with Early scoring 12 and Aman going for 11. Each player shot 5-12 from the field.

Over the last three games, Jankovich has reached double-digit scoring. The 6-foot-5 unsigned senior shooting guard scored 14 in his district opener, went for 15 against Mansfield Timberview, and 17 versus Holy Cross. In that span of those three games, Jankovich has hit 7-out-13 three-pointers. Jankovich suffered a broken hand prior to the season and though he didn’t miss the season opener, he said that he finally feels 100%. He looked perfectly fine against Coppell as he moved around the perimeter and made open shots. He is unselfish and a great passer and he thinks the game on the court.

Jankovich is ready for his recruitment to pick up and says he has heard from Texas State, Brown and Utah State in recent weeks. Texas State was on hand to watch Jankovich Wednesday.

You couldn’t look at the boxscore to tell what type of prospect Quevian Adger of Coppell is, but the 6-foot-6 forward showed potential on limited touches while TexasHoops/GASO staff watched up close. He started the game off with a short corner jumper and moved up and down the court with ease. He even handled the ball out on the perimeter. Adger finished the game with four points and two rebounds, and with more touches and opportunities, he would have had a bigger game. He has length and size to compete and Jesuit’s big man Julius Marble didn’t seem to bother him. Overall, you had to like that Adger played within the Coppell system and didn’t feel the need to freelance and take the game into his own hands. He did what was asked of him within the offense.

TexasHoops/GASO staff has seen Adger multiple times this year.

The Rangers defense forced 16 turnovers. Coppell outrebounded Jesuit 27-18, and grabbed 13 offensive rebounds. Jesuit shot 50% for the game from behind the arc (7-14) while going a perfect 5-for-5 from three-point range in the second half.