GLEN CARBON – Freshman Anna McKee lead the way with 26 points while three other players chipped in with five each as the Father McGivney Catholic girls basketball team defeated Valmeyer 50-5 in a game played Friday night at McGivney gym.
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McKee, who's become the team's top scorer, had many open looks on the night, but also shined on the defensive end, where the Griffins were able to create many of their scoring chances.
“She was pretty open on the perimeter,' said Griffins coach Jeff Oller, “but she also did a pretty good job in our defense, create some offense out of defense, which we like a lot of players on our team to do.”
The Pirates have a young team, with no seniors and three juniors on their roster. In fact, Valmeyer had only seven players available to play, but to their tremendous credit, played hard and hung in for the entire 32 minutes.
“Yeah, definitely,” Oller said. “They're a young team, they played hard all the way through, and they're getting good experience. We were talking before the game, me and (Pirate coach Craig Laskowski), and they've got a really positive attitude. We're happy we were able to compete and stayed focused throughout the game.”
McKee scored the first seven and 10 of her team's first 12 points as the Griffins jumped out to a 16-0 lead after the first quarter. It became 25-0 in the second, as the defense forced turnovers that McKee and Macy Hoppes were able to convert into baskets. Valmeyer did have some chances, but weren't able to convert as the Griffins took a 33-0 lead into the halftime break.
McGivney scored the first five points of the second half, courtesy of a basket from Caitlyn Pendall and another three from McKee before Lexi Davis hit the second of two free throws with 2:47 left in the third quarter to give the Pirates its first point. The Pirates kept battling throughout, and got its first basket off a steal and lay in by Brianna Miller with 4:32 left in the game. Valmeyer added a second basket on a shot underneath by Brooke Maus, but three balls from Hoppes and McKee, along with baskets from Zena Pendall and Sierra Williams made the final score 50-5.
McKee lead all the scorers with 26. while Hoppes, Williams and Madison Webb each had five. In addition, Abbey Bloodworth had three points, while Bridget Weeks, and both Zena and Caitlyn Pendall each had two.
Oller had very high praise for the Pirates and their future.
“Absolutely,” Oller said. “They had good attitudes the whole time, I know the coach is teaching them the right things. I know they're gonna make strides. And the experience this year is really going to help them in the future.”
The Griffins will have the holiday season off, and return to action January 4, when they host Metro-East Lutheran, with the tipoff set for 7:30 p.m., then go on the road for a Saturday afternoon game at Piasa Southwestern January 6.
