Heard Leads With 39 Points, Knights Come Back From 11-Point Third Quarter Deficit To Take 69-64 Win At McGivney

GLEN CARBON – Thijson Heard was the game’s leading scorer with an incredible 39 points as Metro-East Lutheran came back from an 11-point deficit in the third quarter to take a 69-64 win over Father McGivney Catholic in a very entertaining game Friday night at the McGivney gym.

It was the Gateway Metro Conference opener for both schools, and the Knights used good shooting to help dig its way out of a 42-31 deficit in the third to pull off the win in a rivalry game between the two schools.

“We stayed locked up in the gym together for a whole month,” Knights head coach Anthony Smith said after the game. “You know, Father McGivney ;played a really, really good game, and at the end of the day, and they’re going to be a really good team. I thought we at least ought to be ready. We’re fairly good.”

Both teams played a very good game, and Smith is very happy with how the Knights have started out.

“Coach (Cory Clouser) does a good job,” Smith said. “Those kids came out, they played hard, they shot the ball really, really well, and we knew they were going to come out and shoot it well. For us, we’ve just got to stick to the script. We can’t afford to turn our backs on each other when things get tough. We were on the bench, and we were still having some conversations, and I told them ‘We’ve still got another quarter to play.’ So, to calm down and stick to the script, and it worked.”

Smith was unaware that Heard had a big game with his 39 points until informed by a reporter about his game.

“Did he get 39?,” Smith asked. “Oh, man, that’s tough. I did not know that far,” he said with a big smile and chuckle. “He’s really shooting the ball extremely well. I don’t know if there’s another kid in the area shooting the ball better than him right now. But he can really shoot it well. I have no problem. He worked hard in the summer, along with everybody else. So, he reaped the benefits of that.”

Metro-East opens the season at 2-0, and it’s a great way to get their season underway.

“It’s better than 0-2,” Smith said with a smile. He’s also hopeful of the Knights continuing to play hard, and hopes the Knights will come out on top many times this season.

“We’re just going to continue to play hard,” Smith said. “These are all battles for us. Our goal is to win the war. So, we just prepare, and try to come out and play the best game possible. We’ve got to get better on defense. I don’t know if giving up 61 points, and giving up 57, those aren’t good games. We’ve got to be better than that. So, we’ve still got some stuff we’ve got to work on.”

The Griffins played very hard and well, and the result definitely left much to be desired for McGivney.

“Our kids played very hard, they left it out of the floor," McGivney Coach Cory Clauser said. "We had numerous second-half leads. We didn’t close. The effort, the intensity, the chemistry is there, now we need to limit our turnovers, and know how to finish games better.”

McGivney is still 4-2 after winning their first four games of the season at the Mulberry Grove Turkey Tournament, the best start in school history, but have dropped back-to-back home games. It’s still a good start, but there’s still much to go for the Griffins.

“It’s a good start,” Clouser said, “but there’s opportunities for it to be better. We were in the New Athens game (Tuesday night), we were tied at halftime with New Athens, we had a second-half lead. It’s time to take the next step, now, as a program. Just being OK, just being in games is no longer good enough. We have to find a way to close and win.”

Both teams played hard, and Clouser wished the Griffins would have clamped down on the Knights better defensively.

“I wish we locked It up a little better defensively,” Clouser said. “I don’t like allowing 69 points, but our offense was very good. We always have five capable players on offense that are capable of scoring. Aiden Willis did a great job inside, and our four perimeter guys did excellent handing the ball. We just have to lock it better defensively.”

The Gateway Metro Conference is a very good league, indeed, and Clouser hopes to win more games inside the conference.

“We have to win more conference games,” Clouser said. “That was one of our 10, the other nine, we have to compete, and find a way to get Metro the next time. And compete with Marquette (Catholic, Centralis) Christ Our Rock, all the way down the line.. We have to find a way to win our conference games, because ultimately, that’s what matters.”

It's a very good conference, but Clouser feels the competition will help make the Griffins a better team.

“It’s a very tough conference,” Clouser said. “But this makes us better. If you’re a competitor, if you’re an athlete, if you’re a coach that cares about the success of your program, you want to be in a good conference. It makes us better, but we have to find a way to get over the hump, and start winning those close ones. I love this team, these kids really fight and compete, I love the effort so far through six games.”

Heard opened the game with a three, and Junior Brown hit a short jumper to give the Knight an early 5-2 lead, but the Griffins came back on a pair of baskets by Carson Barone to go ahead 706. The sides continued to trade baskets, with Heard hitting a late three to put Metro-East up 17-14, but Tyler Jacobs countered with a basket that cut the lead after one quarter to 17-16.

A free throw and three by Kaleb Turney lifted the Knights into a 21-16 lead early in the second, and another Heard three lifted Metro-East into a 24-168 advantage, The Griffins got a basket and a three from David Carroll to cut the lead to 24-23, then Carroll hit again to push the Griffins into the lead at 35-34, A pair of Carroll free throws gave McGivney a 28-26 lead at halftime.

At the start of the third quarter, the Griffins went on a 12-5 run, climaxed by a Carroll three to give McGivney a 40-31 lead, forcing the Knights to call time out. Carroll scored again to make it 42-31, but the Knights fought back, behind hot shooting from Heard to forge a 44-44 tie before a three from Owen Kolesa gave the Griffins a 47-44 lead after three quarters.

To start the final quarter, Lucas Lorenz hit a three to tie the game 47-47, and the teams exchanged the lead until the Knights went on a run, led by a big three from Heard to make it 62-56 with 2:12 left. The lead became 68-56, but the Griffins had one last comeback in them and back-to-back threes from Jacobs cut the lead to 68-64 with 7.1 seconds left. A free throw by Nathan Barney settled the issue, as the Knight went on to the 69-64 win.

The Knights are now 2-0, having won their opener Thursday night over Granite City 74-57 at home, and plays at Christ Our Rock on Tuesday, then hosts Bunker Hill Dec. 12, both games starting at 7:30 p.m., then goes to Carlinville Dec. 14 in an 8 p.m. start. The Griffins go to 4-2, and goes to Belleville Althoff Catholic Tuesday night before hosting Mulberry Grove next Friday, and Marquette Dec. 17, all games starting at 7:30 p.m.

Dan Brannan also contributed to this story.

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