GLEN CARBON - The Father McGivney Catholic High School boys basketball team snapped a five-game losing streak Tuesday night. They hosted the Maryville Christian Lions and won by a score of 59-43. The win moves the Griffins to 4-5 on the season while the Lions are now 5-6.
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Three players scored double-digits for McGivney. Evan Schrage and Jacob Huber each scored 19 points and Jackson Rodgers added 11.
For Maryville Christian, Issac Ballard led with 12 points and Logan Schwenk had 10.
McGivney opened the game on an 8-1 run, forcing the Lions to call a quick timeout. They extended their lead to 16-4 after the first quarter.
The Lions had a big run in them in the second to get the scoreline to 23-28 forcing McGivney to call a timeout with less than four minutes to go in the half.
Maryville continued to battle and close the gap, but they still trailed 27-24 at halftime.
Both teams came out a little slow in the third, but eventually got things moving.
The Lions came all the back to tie the game at 30, but only momentarily.
McGivney changed their game plan at the half and it worked out well for them.
"Our adjustment was to go back to playing man-to-man defense and pressuring the basketball," McGivney head coach Todd Strong said. "That got us some transition baskets and then we got ahead, they had to play man and we spread them out a little bit and we just extended the lead."
The Griffins immediately answered with a three-pointer and once again extended their lead. They led 41-32 after the third quarter.
Right out of the gate in the fourth quarter, Huber put through a couple of three-pointers and the Griffins never looked back. They kept their foot on the gas and went on to win the game by a score of 59-43.
It's a conference win for the Griffins, but more importantly, it snaps that five-game losing streak. Coach Strong was pleased about it but knows his team can be better. He's focused on the team's future this season.
"We're working for February. Everything we do now is for February."
The Griffins will have four straight home games before the Christmas break. They'll host Bunker Hill on Friday and then Gibault on Saturday. Both those games are set to tip off at 7:30 p.m.
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