The Jesuit High School Varsity Basketball Team will take on Rio Americano High School at Rio this Friday night. This rivalry game is one of Jesuit and Rio’s biggest games of the year.

The battle of American River Drive has and will always be a game of huge excitement.

“I think that the team gets excited about the Rio game because of the neighborhood rivalry,” said Head Varsity Basketball Coach Jon Rotz ‘92. “Because of the proximity of the schools, many of the students and players are friends or have known each other for a long time.”

The Varsity game begins at 7 p.m., the Junior Varsity game at 5:30 p.m. and the Freshman game at 4 p.m. The Varsity game is expected to sell out due to a high attendance of students from both Jesuit and Rio. The Galley Crew will be in force and at a high intensity.

“The Galley Crew plays a huge role,” said guard/wing Matthew Ehrlich ‘17. “Our team definitely feeds off of the energy that the Galley Crew brings.”

This game is always a high pressure contest because of Jesuit and Rio’s past history. Despite the pressure, the team has the power to phase out the pressure and focus on winning.

“[The pressure] doesn’t affect the way we play,” Matthew said. “Coach Rotz just wants us to go out and play our game and show that we are the tougher team.”

“We are looking at Rio as if they were any other opponent, we need to go out and play as hard as we can no matter who we play,” said guard/wing Kyle Hewitt ‘17.

After a tough time in the Fr. Barry Christmas Classic Tournament, the Marauders are looking to bounce back with a solid win against Rio.

“The team is working on competing at a higher level. Our definition of competing is getting better at doing the little things that lead to winning under pressure,” Coach Rotz said. “Rebounding, defending, working hard in a consistent manner through practices and games are the goals for this week.”

Make sure to come out Friday night to Rio Americano to cheer on your fellow Marauders.