Lions Sports Update (1/8)

There are no varsity sports updates for last week. Due to the weather emergency, all varsity games/events were cancelled. The following is a list of sports updates from January 8.

BASKETBALL
The St. Mark’s varsity basketball team enjoyed a busy stretch of holiday action! Before the break, the Lions hosted a pair of contests against Kingdom Collegiate Academy on December 19 and the Dallas Thunder on December 20. The first game was a fast-paced, high-scoring affair in which both teams caught fire for stretches. Senior Luke Laczkowski and sophomore Dawson Battie erupted for 57 combined points, many of which came during a decisive 4th quarter run that propelled St. Mark’s to an exciting 86-81 victory. The next night, the Lions eclipsed the 80-point mark again, thanks to a balanced scoring attack that featured double-digit efforts from juniors Spencer Hopkin and Pranav Danda, and 7 points each from the trio of senior Mathew Jordan and sophomores Asher Collins and AJ Thomas. Saturday, December 21, was the annual alumni game. Almost 30 former players returned for a morning filled with competitive laughs and high-fives. What a fabulous way to start the 4-day break heading into Christmas!  On December 26, the boys in navy and blue woke up bright and early to put away their stockings and compete in a 9 am game against Skyline High School at Skyline in the seeding game round of the 84th annual Dallas Independent School District Tournament. Luke Laczkowski looked unstoppable right out of the gate, notching 33 points in a convincing 73-58 victory over the storied opponent. In the first elimination game several hours later, seniors Henry Estes and Lawrence Gardner turned in strong performances in a 75-42 rout of Madison High School. The next day, SM would square off against two teams that had defeated them earlier in the season.

In the first contest against Bishop Lynch, Laczkowski posted 27 points, while Dawson Battie’s 15 and Pranav Danda’s 8 helped cement a 57-43 quarterfinal win. The same trio would combine for 51 in the semis to defeat Cedar Hill 64-52. Incredibly, the threesome would run it back in the championship on December 28 at Ellis Davis Fieldhouse, pouring in 45 of the team’s 54 points and earning a dramatic overtime victory against Panther Creek. Senior Jack Baker hit an enormous 3-pointer during a momentum-swinging run to close out the third quarter, and sophomore AJ Thomas put the clamps on Panther Creek’s leading scorer throughout the second half as the Marksmen claimed the school’s first-ever championship in the top division of this historic tournament. Battie and Danda earned all-tournament-team honors, and Laczkowski was named MVP of the event. What a remarkable accomplishment for the entire program!!  The team returns to action with a home game this Thursday night at 7:30 pm against the DASCHE Spartans and a 7:30 pm Friday night road game at Legacy Christian.

WRESTLING
To start the Christmas break, St. Mark’s wrestlers competed in the 3rd Annual Birdville Bash JV and Varsity level tournaments in North Richland Hills. The JV wrestlers competed extremely well, with freshmen Dillon Kennedy and Parker Oskoui winning gold, Barrett Knetsch taking silver, and Holden Fritz winning bronze. At the varsity level, the Lions placed 3rd as a team out of 22 teams with co-captains Beau Bacon and Wyatt Loehr finishing in 1st place, freshman Ferris Gottlich in second, Zach Golle and Jackson Barnes in third, and Oliver Loehr finishing in 4th place. St. Mark’s was two points from placing second as a team and provided some great wrestling highlights. Of note, Bacon won all of his matches by pin, and Benjamin Hernandez threw three opponents with a lateral drop, taking them from their feet to their backs.  Over this past weekend, January 2-5, the Lion wrestlers competed in the national level Prep Slam XVII wrestling tournament in Atlanta, Georgia. This tough tournament with 47 Preparatory Schools from around the country provided an incredible experience for the SM wrestlers. Out of the ten wrestlers that attended, five made it to Day 2. Freshman Holden Fritz made it on the consolation side, and the other four St. Mark’s wrestlers made it to the quarterfinal round (Ferris Gottlich, Zach Golle, Jackson Barnes, and Wyatt Loehr). Unfortunately, the quarterfinals were extremely tough, and the Lions did not win any of those matches but bounced back and won every consolation match except for one. The final four Lion wrestlers lost their “Blood Round” consolation matches, which would lead to placing. Even though they fell short of placing, your Lion wrestlers competed like champions and are ready for their next opponents. As a team, St. Mark’s ended 24th out of 47 teams.  This Friday, due to the forecasted inclement weather, the varsity duals versus St. John’s School and Bishop Lynch have been canceled. Still, we will focus on running the annual Middle School wrestling tournament on Saturday, January 11. The Lions’ next event is competing in the North Zone Duals at Bishop T. K. Gorman in Tyler, Texas on January 17.  

SOCCER
A depleted Lions varsity soccer squad dropped their second game away to Greenhill 1-3 just before Winter Break. Missing several senior defenders, the Lions decided to go with the time-tested strategy of playing defense on offense, creating a number of quality scoring chances. However, the Lions were unable to put those chances away, while Greenhill capitalized on a few of theirs. The scoring started with a penalty kick given to Greenhill midway through the first half. It looked like the Lions might equalize several times, but they could not do it before Greenhill struck again. Down 0-2, the Lions doubled down on offense and managed to claw back a goal to keep it competitive. Senior Captain Aydin Sumer took a free-kick from 25 yards out before Greenhill had time to set up their wall, catching the opposing GK at his post. But the Lion’s hopes were dashed when Greenhill was able to net an insurance goal with only a few minutes to spare.  The Lions also hosted the alumni team on the first Saturday of Winter Break. Some goals were scored on both sides, along with a lot of back-slapping and trash-talking with old friends. The alumni side showed up strong with more than 30 players, and the play and possession were actually pretty impressive at times for both squads. Ultimately, the Lions decided to set a few goals to give the alumni a taste of the glory days. The score will remain a mystery.  The team travels to Trinity Christian this week on Friday (7:30 pm). 

SWIMMING
The varsity swim team took on Alcuin and ESD the week before Christmas Break in what would be a great tune-up meet for the Lions. All had Solid mid-season swims, and the Lions went 1,2,3 in every event. The Lions are back in the pool this Thursday, January 9 , hosting Parish and John Paul II.