On Friday, January 24th, the Bishop’s student section was flooded with white tutus, pom poms, and headbands, setting the competitive tone for the Bishop’s Boys Basketball game against longtime rivals: Francis Parker.
Co-Captain, Jacob Tsai (‘25), explained that although Parker had some great individual players, going into the game, Bishop’s “felt excited to play in front of our home crowd on a Friday night.” The gym was booming as the boys took their positions on the court in preparation to begin the game. In the initial moments, the boys were still warming up to their opponents, which led to a difficult first quarter, with the Knights trailing back 6-21.
Jacob reflected on the early moments of the game, saying that although they had a well-thought-out plan, they did not execute it in the first quarter. “We let them get out to a quick 10-0 run, which put us in a hole that was difficult to dig ourselves out of,” in the following quarters, he explained.
Regardless, the boys came out stronger in the second quarter and were able to match the level of their opponents. They scored 15 points while Parker was able to pull out 16, making the overall score of the game going into half-time, 36-22 for the Lancers (Parker’s mascot).
Jacob said that Parker’s strong performance came down to all of their players, no matter the level, having brought their A-game. He says, “We put a lot of effort into stopping their best individual players, which allowed their role players to step up.” As a team, Bishop’s “wasn’t expecting their role players to possess that level of shotmaking,” but surprisingly they did.
As Head Basketball Coach Nick Levine put it, “The [Parker] kids who don’t always score came in and made big plays and really helped them win the game”.
Parker’s lead, agreed Jojo, was due to the fact that “they came with hard intensity and were really physical.” Even though the boys played exactly how they practiced, Parker “just had a really good shooting night,” he explained.
For a halftime treat, the Dungeon organized a half-court shooting competition. Cece Jeffery (‘27) was up first against Ryan Landa (‘25). After both sides put in effort, Ryan was able to make it in the basket first, securing his position in the final round.
Up next was Henry Armstrong (‘25) against Head of School Mr. Ron Kim. Tensions were high as both competitors were attempting to make a basket. Henry made one first, securing his way to the finals.
Henry and Ryan, the finalists, went head to head. Henry scored immediately, making him the winner of the halftime, half-court, game.
Cece said, “Even though I lost, I’m really glad that the Dungeon planned this activity in between quarters to get the crowd involved.”
The Knights went back out onto the court in the third quarter and continued to put up a fight. The quarter ended with a Parker lead of 48-31. In terms of points scored per quarter, however, the Knights remained closely behind them, scoring nine points to the Lancers’ 12.
Quarter 4 was not very different from the rest, with the Knights scoring 9 points and the Lancers barely topping them off by scoring 11 points, making the final score 40-59. Although the Knights felt as though they physically kept up with the Lancers, the final score did not quite translate into how the Knights perceived their performance — largely due to their first-quarter struggles.
Coach Levine, Jacob, and Jojo all agreed that Lucas Myer (‘25) was an essential part of the game, “specifically in the second quarter before halftime,” according to Jojo. Jacob explained that Lucas had a “great game on both ends of the floor,” both defensively, when guarding the other team’s players and offensively when attacking the rim and making big shots.
Coach Levine highlights that Lucas did a good job with his assignment. “He took on a challenge for defense and still was able to make some plays for us offensively.”
Another shout-out, from Jacob, was for Romeo Wright (‘26), “who did a fantastic job per usual grabbing rebounds and being a rim protector.”
Regardless of the outcome, the boys played their hearts out, fueled by the energy of the stands. Overall, Jojo said he was proud of the team because of their perseverance, “we kept competing even cutting into the lead multiple times.”
Jacob believes that even though Parker has a lot of talent, “we make up for it through our connectivity,” which is just as, if not even more, important.
Since then the team has played five games and their most up-to-date record is 14-12, wins to losses. The boys just celebrated their five seniors at Senior Night this past Saturday the 8th, who Jojo says, “We all look up to and will miss next year”. They ended their night with a victory against High Tech High School.
“We play in one of the very best leagues in San Diego with mostly open division and D1 teams. We love competing with the best of the best because we know it’ll prepare us for the D2 playoffs,” Jacob said. Don’t forget to show up to their playoff matches and support them for the remainder of their season. Let’s Go Knights!
