Jesuit's five district counterparts have the two weeks until the Class 5A-11 tournament to digest the sobering reality thrust upon them Tuesday.
On a night when the Tigers were missing their starting point guard and fresh legs, they still topped the district's second-best team by more than two touchdowns.
Playing their fourth game in five days, the Tigers (21-1, 9-0) held Lennard (14-5, 8-2) without a field goal the final seven minutes to pull away for a 71-54 win on Senior Night at the Tiger Palace. The victory clinched the district tournament's top seed for Jesuit.
"We were fine (physically), we just didn't play that well coming out," said Colgate-bound senior Jack Fleming (17 points), whose squad topped Lennard by 29 in the teams' first meeting.
"It was really our defense mainly. We gave up a lot of 3's to them and they were hot tonight and they hit a lot of them."
The Longhorns' eighth 3-pointer, by Trey Jones with 7:00 to play, cut Jesuit's lead to 55-49. It would be Lennard's last field goal.
Jesuit responded with a 9-0 run, with senior Travis Johnson (25 points) scoring four during the stretch. Before the final spurt, Jesuit struggled to extend its lead as the Longhorns stayed within striking distance behind their dribble penetration and long-range touch.
Junior Caelen Watts led Lennard with 16, including three treys. Senior Joey Galvis added 13 for Jesuit, which was playing without point guard Devin Harris (two-game suspension).
"It just speaks to (the fact) everyone on our team can step up on any given night and help us to get wins," Fleming said.
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Tigers top Lennard, clinch No. 1 district seed
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