On Saturday on Jan.11, the Jesuit High School Sacramento Marauders took on the Christian Brothers High School Falcons at home in the annual Holy Hoops game. After 32 minutes of physical and competitive play, Jesuit fell to their rivals 48-50, losing Holy Hoops for the first time since the Obama Administration. 

The first quarter started off fast. Thanks to Christian Brothers’ fouls, as well as 8 points from forward Asher Schroeder ’25, Jesuit took an early 16-13 lead.

Jesuit started the second quarter hot, going on a 10-3 run in the first few minutes. The end of the quarter didn’t go as well, with Christian Brothers cutting the lead – which had been as high as 11 – down to 4, leaving the score at 30-26 Jesuit going into halftime. 

The slight Marauder lead quickly disappeared in the second half, with Christian Brothers starting the half on a 5-0 run. Up by 1, the Falcons had their first lead since it was 13-12 in the middle of the first quarter. 

The two teams remained neck and neck for nearly the entirety of the quarter until Jesuit went up 42-37 with a minute left in the third.

Christian Brothers started the fourth quarter with impeccable defense, holding Jesuit to 0 made field goals, and only two points from free throws, in the first five minutes. 

With the Falcons up 49-44, Asher scored in the paint to cut the deficit to 3 with two minutes left. After regaining possession, the Marauders needed a quick score. Fortunately, guard Brandon Williams ’26 cut the lead to 1 with 10 seconds left on the game clock. 

After a few quick fouls, Jesuit put Christian Brothers at the freethrow line. After the first free throw was made, the lead was extended to 2. With a missed second free throw, Jesuit called timeout, leaving 4.9 seconds on the clock. 

Guard Luke Browne ’25 got the inbound and found a clean though deep 3 point attempt, but it missed right, and the Marauders lost by 2. 

The loss moved Jesuit to a record of 11 wins and 5 losses. Despite this loss, the team remains undefeated in league play, with three wins. There are still a lot of games left in the season, and the Marauders need to keep playing at a high level to make a deep playoff run.