MARYVILLE – Chase Jansen led the way with 17 points as Father McGivney Catholic rallied from a cold first half to take a 38-35 win over Maryville Christian in a Gateway Metro Conference boys basketball game Friday night at the Maryville gym,
The Griffins trailed at halftime 14-9, but found their shooting touch in the final quarter, taking the win when the Lions missed a desperation three at the final buzzer, giving McGivney the win.
It was an important one for the Griffins, as they were able to overcome a slow start against their backyard rivals, the schools located just blocks from each other.
‘We ran our offense pretty well, the shots weren’t falling,” Father McGivney head coach Cory Clouser said. “Maryville Christian, they’re in this conference just like we are, and they face the quality of opponents we do. It toughens you up, and that’s the third time we’ve beaten them but all three of them have been battles. We’ve now won by six, by 10, and by three against them, in three different locations. But every time, it’s been a fight, and every time, they’ve had a second-half lead. So it’s not been easy, by any means, coach (Chad) Ambuehl does a great job, and they’ve got some pretty athletic guards over there.’
The Griffins continue to make progress and move forward with their program, and the win was a big one, indeed.
“It’s another step forward,” Clouser said. “That’s our 13th win now, which surpasses last year. Last year, we had 12. Our goal every year going forward should be winning seasons, to compete a little more in the conference, and try to get some hardware in the postseason in February and March.”
Speaking of which – the IHSA Class 1A playoffs start in less than two weeks, with the final week of the regular season at hand., and the Griffins have a goal to win the first-ever regional championship in the program’s history.
“This year, we got our first tournament title this year, and hopefully, we do the same thing, regional-wise, and just keep making history in the program,” Coach Clouser said.
Clouser does feel confident in his team and their chances come the postseason.
“I think we have a chance,” Clouser said. “We’re getting healthier, we still have our big guy, (Aiden) Willis, out; hopefully, he’s back for the postseason. And other guys are stepping up. Injuries, and the sicknesses we’ve had this year, we’ve had to become a lot deeper, because we’ve really haven’t been full strength all year. And hopefully, we’re getting healthy at the right time.”
The playoffs are very unpredictable, and Clouser knows anything can happen.
“You never know what can happen,” Clouser said. “We’ll probably play Bunker Hill, (Hardin) Calhoun, any combination of Metro (East Lutheran) and (Raymond) Lincolnwood. And I feel like we can compete with those teams, we’ve just got to get over the hump., we’ve got to take care of business.”
Maryville Christian head coach Chad Ambuehl felt it was a game that the Lions played well enough to win, but missed shots and other key factors helped swing the game McGivney’s was.
“It was a tough loss,” Ambuehl said, “That was a game we probably should have won, and we played well enough to win. We just didn’t make shots, and we had some key turnovers. So, the kids played really hard, and we put ourselves in a position to win the game tonight. We just came up a little short.”
Will Rakers and Dillon Paul traded early baskets in the opening minutes for both teams, and after that, tough defense and missed shots ruled the opening quarter, with Levi Gray hitting back-to-back shots near the end of the period to give the Lions a 5-2 lead. In the second quarter, Gavin Ambuehl converted a three-point play to give Maryville a 10-6 lead, and after a technical foul called against the Griffins, Ambuehl hit the ensuing free throws to give Maryville a 12-6 lead. Paul hit inside before the buzzer to give the Lions a 14-9 halftime lead.
Brendan Kayser banked home a three at the start of the second half to cut the lead to 14-12, but free throws by Paul and a pair of baskets by Gray upped the Maryville lead to 20-12. A three-point play by David Carroll, and a basket by Jansen cut the lead to 20-17, but a three at the buzzer by Ambuehl gave the Lions a 23-17 lead at three quarter time.
An early basket in the fourth quarter by Gray upped the Maryville advantage to 25-17, but a three from Carroll and a basket by Jansen cut the lead to 25-22, forcing a Maryville time out. Afterwards, Carson Barone’s driving basket, and a Rakers score gave the Griffins the lead for the first time at 26-25. Carroll scored again to make the lead 28-25, forcing the Lions to call time out. Later on, a Paul basket gave the Lions a 31-30 lead, but three free throws by Barone gave the Griffins the lead back at 33-31. A pair of free throws by Jansen with 57.5 seconds left gave McGivney a 57-53 lead, and another free throw by Rakers upped the lead to 38-35. The Lions called time out with 10.1 seconds left to set up a play, but a desperation three by Ambuehl was off the mark, giving the Griffins the 38-35 win.
Jansen led the Griffins with 17 points, with Carroll adding eight points, both Barone and Rakers had five points each, and Kayser had three points. Gray led the Lions with 14 points, while Paul had 12 points, Ambuehl scored five points, and Jayden Huff scored four points.
McGivney is now 13-15 and hosts Marissa-Coulterville on Thursday night in its home finale, both games starting at 7:30 p.m.
Dan Brannan also contributed to this story.
