Lions Sports Update 01/20

The Varsity Basketball team went 2-0 last week, winning a non-conference home game over Decatur (78-74) and an SPC counter home game over Trinity Valley (71-31). Senior guard, Jack Gordon ’15, whose 52 points on the week earned him 1,000 for his career, was named the Dallas Morning News’ High School Basketball Player of the Week. See the article HERE. This week the Lions host three SPC counter games against Ft. Worth Country Day (tonight at 7:30 pm), Casady (Friday at 6:00 p.m.), and Holland Hall (Saturday at 1:00 pm).

 

On Wednesday, the Varsity Wrestling team defeated 6A Colleyville Heritage by a score of 45-36. The dual came down to the last match with the lions needing to win the match to win the dual. Freshman John Gunnin, in his varsity debut, took the mat a secured the victory by pinning his opponent in :41 seconds. The team then traveled to the Red River Rumble in Vernon, TX on Saturday. Several Lions brought home medals: Jake Holder ’15 (2nd), Blake Spangler ’15 (5th), Justin Jones ’15 (5th), and Travis Nadalini ’15 (6th). The team will travel to Houston this weekend to compete in the Texas Prep Dual State Tournament. 

 

The Varsity Swim Team had a full week. On Tuesday they traveled to Highland Park to take on HP and Jesuit. After an amazing performance they beat HP 178 to 101; and Jesuit 183 to 111. On Thursday they’ve faced 4 time 6A State Champions, Southlake Carroll. SM won two out of 3 relays, they recorded 60% best personal times, and they came only 60 points short of winning the meet. On Saturday the team swam in the Casady/McGuiness Invitational in Oklahoma City. Competing against 20 other schools, public and private, our team did an excellent job. They placed first in the meet, scoring 752 points. Altus HS was second with 318 points; Putnam City HS placed third with 166 points. Thursday the team will travel to Greenhill for a dual meet.

 

The Varsity Soccer team began the week with a high-scoring affair against a very talented Home School Association team that saw the Lions come up short 3-5. After falling behind by three goals, the Lions came roaring back with two goals, two minutes apart, midway through the first half. Walter Johnson ’15 and Oscar Garcia Del Rio ’15 scored goals with assistance from Alex Sanchez ’16, Josh Bandopadhay ’17, and Ben Wilner ’15. The Lions fell behind by two goals in the second half before Alex Sanchez’s free kick found the back of the net. Pushing forward in search of an equalizer, the Lions conceded a late goal to a very efficient HSAA team. On Friday, the Lions resumed SPC north zone counters hosting the Trinity Valley Trojans.  An opportunistic Jack Dayton ’15 opened the scoring just two minutes into the match, taking full advantage of a goalkeeper miscue. It would be more than forty-five minutes before the Lions finally took charge of the match with a brilliant goal from Charlie O’Brien ’16 off of junior Will Diamond’s throw-in that was redirected by Scott Smythe ’17. Jack Dayton then recorded a another goal from Oscar Del Rio’s pass before Alex Sanchez gave the Lions a very comfortable lead thanks to the ball movement of Walter Johnson and Scott Smythe. With virtually no time left in the match, Oscar Del Rio redirected Walter Johnson’s cross into the TVS goal for a fifth goal. The week ahead will be instrumental in determining a birth for St. Mark’s at the SPC Tournament with three home games in five days (Fort Worth Country Day, Casady, Holland Hall). The Lions are currently fifth in the north zone, three points behind co-leaders Cistercian and ESD.