The Jesuit High School Sacramento varsity basketball team ended the regular season with an 18-9 record and held the number one seed in the San Joaquin Section Division 2 bracket. The Marauders then went all the way to the sectional finals before falling just short in the Section Championship. Jesuit is now playing in the state tournament as they try to repeat as state champions. 

In the first round of the section playoffs, the Marauders blew out the 16 seed, Atwater Falcons, 79-43. 

Jesuit followed the blowout with another big game in the quarter-finals, beating the ninth-seeded Tracy by 24 points. The game was never close, as Jesuit jumped out to a 40-26 lead by halftime. With a final score of 74-50, the Marauders secured their spot in the semifinals. 

In the Section Semi-Finals, Woodcreek started hot and took a 16-12 lead into the second quarter. Jesuit quickly responded with great defense, outscoring Woodcreek 19-8 in the second to take a 31-24 lead into halftime. Despite the Marauders losing their momentum in the third quarter, the team quickly bounced back and advanced to the Section Championship with a 51-43 win.

Following the win, Jesuit went into the finals at the Golden 1 Center with a chance to capture the Section title against Destiny Christian Academy. The game was very low scoring, with a 9-9 score at the end of the first quarter, and went into the half tied at 20. The Marauders fell behind by 4 at the end of the third, but were able to retake the lead and lead by 4 late in the 4th. However, Jesuit was not able to close out the game, losing the tightly-contested fixture 45-41.

Coming off that loss, Jesuit was placed as a 16 seed in the Division 1 bracket. They went on the road to compete against the number one-seeded Buchanan High School, and pulled off the upset 60-54 win after a strong second quarter gave them a big lead at half. From then on, they maintained their lead and produced a statement win for the Marauders against the top team in the bracket.

The Marauders play at King’s Academy High School next on today, March 5, with a chance to head to the regional semi-final.