GRANITE CITY – After playing three games at Triad High School for the Stove Top Classic to open the season and then on the road at O’Fallon and Metro-East Lutheran, the Granite City Warriors boys basketball team finally held its home opener Wednesday night.
They welcomed the Riverview Gardens Rams from across the river and won a back-and-forth game by a score of 56-49. The Warriors improve to 2-5 on the season.
“It’s good to play at home,” Warriors head coach Gerard Moore said postgame. “We played five tough ones to begin the year. At Stove Top, we played Mount Vernon, Mascoutah, and Triad. That’s three tough games to start with when you’re young. But hey, we put them to the burner, and we just have to keep working to get better.”
It’s a second straight win for Granite and a second straight huge game from the 6-foot-5 junior center Evan Brewer.
He put up 29 points and eight rebounds in a 45-39 win against Union (Mo.) last week and followed that performance up with a 24-point night against Riverview.
The first quarter saw seven ties and three lead changes, but it was the Warriors leading 16-14 after the first quarter.
The teams swapped the lead twice more to open the second quarter as they exchanged threes. Taurean Valentine went first and then Antonio Dean took the lead at 22-20. The Rams scored a single free throw at the other end before Granite closed the half on an 8-2 run to take a 30-23 halftime lead.
Brewer had 14 points in the first half.
Granite kept the lead after three quarters, but the Rams began to close the gap, going on a five-point run to end the third and bring the score to 40-35.
The Rams then opened the fourth quarter on an 8-2 run to take the lead at 43-42, but only for a moment. Brewer put home two free throws to regain the lead at 44-43 and from there the Warriors never trailed again. They closed the game on a 14-6 run, making six free throws at the end.
“We made some mistakes at the end, giving up some shots and turning it over, but that’s what you’re going to get with a young team,” Moore said. “They aren’t going to be perfect. You just have to live with it, and hopefully, they grow from those mistakes they make. It’s a process, and I have utmost confidence that they’re going to be better in the long run.”
The Warriors lost nine players, eight to graduation and one to transfer. They only returned one starting player in Brewer. They are relatively young with Valentine being the only senior.
Not to mention a pretty tough schedule to open the season. Because of all that, Moore believes his team is much better than their record implies.
“When you play good teams, they make you look bad,” he said. “And our schedule; we don’t have room for young players. You have to be ready to go. We lost nine guys last year. And coming in with only one returning starter. We only bring back 10 percent of our scoring. That’s tough. But the guys, they’re doing a good job, game by game, just keep building their confidence.”
Besides the big night from Brewer, Granite got 11 points from Javier Cass and eight points from Valentine. Dean had five and Tyler Moore had four. Jack Dutko and Johnnie Coleman each scored two.
Riverview Gardens falls to 3-4 on the season. They were led in scoring by Tyrique Collins-McIntyre with 12, Calvin Nash with 10, Rico Lumpkins Jr. and David Foston III with seven each, and Jalen Cotton with six.
The Warriors take the show back on the road against Belleville West and Collinsville. They’ll be back at Collinsville at the end of this month in the annual Prairie Farms Holiday Classic, up against some strong opposition, taking on Belleville East (7-0) in their opening game on Friday, Dec. 27 at 9 p.m.
“Our schedule is really loaded,” Moore said. “These younger guys have to learn from it and get better. That’s what it’s about. I have utmost faith that they’re going to eventually be a really good team.”
Granite City will play next at home on Thursday, Dec. 19 against McCluer at 7:30 p.m.
