Lions Sports Update (1/06)

BASKETBALL
The varsity basketball team enjoyed a very busy holiday break on and off the court. On Thursday, December 16, the Lions hosted Yavneh following the final full day of 2021 classes. Lucas Blumenthal paced the Lions with 9 points, and his sophomore classmates, CJ Ness and Ethan Singleton, helped solidify a 65-36 victory. The next day, following the all-school Christmas party, the team boarded a plane for Tennessee, where they competed in the “Memphis vs The World” showcase. Elevation Prep, one of the strongest programs from Indianapolis awaited the Lions in the Friday evening game. Corvin Oprea overcame a first half injury to post a 30-point effort, and fellow seniors Tate Laczkowski (15) and Caleb Vanzant (10) also reached double digits, as the boys in navy and gold represented Texas well with a gritty 61-50 victory. The next night’s opponent was Christian Brothers High School, a top-ranked team in Tennessee. St. Mark’s jumped out to an early lead, but tired legs eventually caught up with the Lions as they suffered defeat, despite a stellar shooting/scoring performance from Tate Laczkowski. The Lions finished the trip with a fantastic day of sightseeing that included the National Civil Rights Museum and spectating a Memphis Grizzlies game in support of SM alum and Grizzlies’ head coach, Taylor Jenkins ’03. The team then returned to Dallas and engaged in a community service project assisting Afghan refugees. 

On December 28, St. Mark’s was back in action, this time competing in the historic (and ultra-talented) Whataburger Invitational in Mansfield. The team’s first opponent was Duncanville, the nation’s #1 ranked boys’ basketball program. The Lions kept things interesting for a while but trailed by 12 heading into the halftime break. Tate Laczkowski and Corvin Oprea poured in 18 and 14 points, respectively, but it wasn’t enough as Duncanville ran away in the second half, handing the Lions an 81-43 defeat. The next day, North Crowley followed a similar script, overcoming SM’s halftime lead with a huge third quarter that ultimately resulted in a 13-point Lions loss. Junior Rapha Mitterer-Claudet had an especially strong game, facilitating from the post in a myriad of ways. In the final game of the tournament, the Marksmen squared off against JJ Pearce from Richardson. Junior Arjun Khatti helped the Lions effectively attack the Mustangs’ zone, but despite turning a double-digit deficit into a fourth-quarter lead, poor shooting at the free throw line doomed the Lions, handing them their fourth straight loss. 

After taking a couple of days off to celebrate New Year’s, program legends of past and present connected for the annual alumni game on January 2. One of the highlights featured the father-son jump ball between junior George Genender and his father, Paul ’87. The alums’ veteran-savvy was on full display, as All-SPC stars-turned-college playmakers, Will Ingram ’17 (who just finished a 4-year basketball playing career at Middlebury) and Jack Gordon ’15 (who wrapped up his 4-year Cornell career in 2019) - both of whom are current assistant coaches in the program - helped the alums keep their bragging rights. It was a fun day in every regard! This week, the Lions host an incredibly talented TACA squad Thursday night at 7:30pm.
 

WRESTLING
Celebrating 53 years of wrestling at our School, St. Mark’s Wrestling hosted and wrestled in our Christmas Lonestar Open Wrestling Tournament on December 17 and 18.  Overall, the Lions took 3rd out of 19 Teams, which was stacked with some of the top Texas’ 6A and 5A public school wrestling programs. The team improved by four positions from their last showing. Senior co-captains Jedidiah Kim and Elijah Ellis earned Gold Medals. The Lions finished with four more medalists: senior co-captain Sal Abbasi, junior co-captain Hayward Metcalf, and sophomore Quina Perkison finished with 3rd place Bronze Medals while junior Stice Neuhoff finished in 4th place. Rounding out the year, on December 29-31, six Marksmen travelled to Atlanta, Georgia to participate in the nationally renowned Prep Slam Tournament at Holy Innocents Preparatory School. Four out of the six Marksmen wrestlers achieved the medal round. Senior co-captain Jedidiah Kim won 3rd place bronze. Elijah Ellis, Hayward Metcalf, and Xander Bowles achieved impressive 5th place finishes. As a team with only six out of fourteen weight classes, the Lions finished 7th out of 31 teams from across the country. St. Mark’s had the best finish for a team from Texas in this national-level tournament this year. This Saturday, St. Mark’s will wrestle in Fossil Ridge HS Tournament.  

SOCCER 
After a challenging weekend in San Antonio/Austin, the varsity soccer team travelled to Greenhill to take on the rival Hornets. It was also Coach Martin’s 600th match as the varsity coach at St. Mark’s. The Lions began sluggishly with heavy legs from the weekend and found themselves down a goal after 27 minutes. St. Mark’s responded with an infusion of energy brought on by substitutes who helped level the score within five minutes. Freshman Alden Reagins was released in space after a clever combination between sophomore Alex Soliz and senior Will Shoup. Reagins’ well struck shot found the upper right-hand corner of the Greenhill net. Both teams produced good chances in the second half but neither could score resulting in draw. Then on Thursday as the winter holiday approached, the Lions travelled to The Covenant School. SM wasted little time in setting an offensive tone for the match when senior Stefan Moreno scored within the first two minutes. In addition, seniors Lars Ochs and Noah Soliz would record goals and assists, as well as sophomore Alex Soliz, freshman Aydin Sumer, and juniors John Charest and Akash Munshi. A halftime score of 6-1 was followed up with a goal by each team in the second half to make the score 7-2 at fulltime. On January 2nd, a frigid and blustery Sunday morning gave way to a sunny but cold afternoon that provided an entertaining and competitive alumni match. Freshman Ayden Sumer earned a brace for the Lions and junior Akash Munshi converted a penalty kick while Casey Topletz ’01 scored for the alumni team resulting in a final score of 3-1. The Lions will host The Covenant School, John Paul II, and Prestonwood Christian in their final week of preparation for the north zone counter season.