GLEN CARBON – After a lengthy Thanksgiving holiday break, the Father McGivney Catholic High School girls basketball team continued its four-game homestand Thursday night as it hosted the Althoff Crusaders.
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The Griffins won the Gateway Metro Conference opener by a score of 49-43, getting off to a quick start and never trailing.
McGivney started the game on a 12-3 blitz thanks to a couple of three-pointers from Layla Tobin, a three-point play from Elle Willenborg, and another triple from Emerson McGaughey.
The Griffins led 14-7 after the first quarter and slightly increased their lead at halftime to 23-15.
“I thought we were in a position there where we could have stretched that lead a little bit,” Father McGivney head coach Jeff Oller said. “But, from then on, it seemed like it was in that eight-to-10-point range.”
No Griffins were in double figures, but 10 different players scored. Tobin and Peyton Ellis led with seven points apiece. McGaughey and Myleigh Rodgers each had six.
Alexa Jones, Willenborg, Sofia Rossetto, Bristol Ellis, and Carly McElroy each scored four points, and Zoe Oller had three.
Althoff outscored the Griffins in the second half, 28-26, as both teams shot bonus free throws down the stretch.
“They did enough,” Oller said of his team’s second-half performance. “I think there’s a lot we can learn from it. It’s a lot better the next day to learn from a win than a loss. We’ll take some stuff from it and just keep improving.”
The Crusaders were led by Reece Distler with 21 points, while Gabby Dalke had 10. They fall to 2-3 on the season and 0-1 in the GMC.
The Griffins improve to 4-1, their best start since the 2022-23 season, where they won 10 out of their opening 11 games.
McGivney is now 4-4 against Althoff all-time. The teams will meet again for their second conference meeting in Belleville on Monday, January 12.
McGivney is back in action at home on Saturday, December 6, against Hardin Calhoun with a 5:30 p.m. tip-off. The Griffins wrap up the home stand on Monday against Maryville Christian at 7:30 p.m.
