GLEN CARBON - Senior forward Kellen Weir was Father McGivney Catholic's top scorer with 14 points as the Griffins got their new year off on the right foot in a 57-32 win over Mulberry Grove Friday night at the McGivney gym.
The team clicked on all cylinders in the win over the Aces, and was a great way to get 2020 started after enduring rough times during the recent Vandalia Holiday Tournament.
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"Yeah, it feels really good to finally have the team all click," Weir said during a postgame interview. "We only have two seniors (Weir and Clayton Scott), and a bunch of freshmen, but all the boys were rocking tonight, and it was really fun."
And with such a young team, with five freshmen, one sophomore and three junior on the roster, it's very important for the two seniors to take a prominent leadership role. Weir approaches that with enthusiasm and a willingness to help the younger players.
"I'm more like the leader," Weir said. "Since me and Clayton have been the only two that. like, have been through the program, we just kind of lead all the freshmen into the right way. And I think we're doing a pretty good job right now."
Although the Griffins' record now stands at 4-9, the team has worked hard and played hard all season, and all of their efforts paid off in a very complete, cohesive win. Weir felt playing at home gave McGivney an extra edge.
"Whenever we play at home, we just have an extra edge," Weir said, "like a little extra fight. You can't lose at home, and we just came off some a tough tournament in Vandalia, but we turned it around and got a win at home."
McGivney does have some more tough games ahead on their schedule, but getting the win at home was a tremendous way to get 2020 started.
"Yeah, it was very fun," Weir said, "and we're ready to play here again."
As far as individual and team goals for the second half of the season, Weir is keeping it on an almost basic level.
"Our goals are just to win over the teams we can beat," Weir said, "and, like, versus a (Class) 3A school, we just gotta play hard, get better, and get ready for the playoffs."
The Class 1A playoffs are coming right around the corner next month, and the spirit and morale of the team has gotten better as the calendar turned to the new year.
"It was down in the tournament in Vandalia; we were losing," Weir said. "But the morale's really good. We rallied the troops, got a win."
And as the second half goes on, don't be surprised if the Griffins start turning things around and become a team that no one will want to play against come the start of the postseason.
"I think we're going to turn it around really quick," a confident Weir said, "and surprise a lot of people."
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