McGivney Uses 17-Point Rally To Beat Roxana In Home Opener

GLEN CARBON – The Father McGivney Catholic High School girls basketball team hosted Roxana in its home-opener Wednesday afternoon, overcoming a slow start and winning 57-21.

The Shells opened the game on an 8-2 run, but couldn’t hold onto that lead for long.

McGivney’s Elle Willenborg made back-to-back three-pointers to tie the game at eight before an Alexa Jones basket gave the Griffins the lead.

They’d never look back after two more treys from Willenborg and another from Zoe Oller. McGivney closed the quarter on a 17-point run to lead 19-8.

“Some turnovers there to start the game, but the three-point shot; that was huge,” Griffins’ head coach Jeff Oller said regarding the first quarter shooting.

“I think she had four in the first quarter. To do that as a freshman,” he said of Willenborg, who ended the game with a team-high 14 points.

McGivney outscored the Shells 8-3 in the second quarter to take a commanding 27-11 lead at halftime.

“We had a good start. I had to call two timeouts in the first two minutes to get that good start, but after that, it just snowballed,” Roxana head coach Mike Arbuthnot said.

2 Large, 1 Topping Pizzas: $35.70 + Tax

Shop Local

Roma's Pizza

Get This Deal →

“Our turnovers, obviously. And they’re a good, athletic team; they started knocking down threes, and all credit goes to them. They just outplayed us and outworked us.”

McGivney outscored Roxana 13-7 in the third quarter and then ended the game on another 17-point run to get to the 57-21 final.

McGivney improved to 3-1 after a successful outing at the Columbia Tip-Off Tournament last week.

“I think we saw some good competition there,” Oller said. We saw all types of defenses there, which is always great.”

The Griffins lost their season-opener to Waterloo but then beat Greenville and Carlyle to win the consolation bracket.

Roxana took part in a similar season-opening tournament at Dupo and won two of three. The Shells are now 2-2 on the young season.

Besides Willenborg’s 14 points, McGivney got 11 from Oller, nine from Layla Tobin, seven from Jones, and six from Peyton Ellis.

Roxana only saw four scorers, led by Kylee Slayden’s 10 points. Josie Brannon and Leah Newton each scored four, and Ava Cherry had three.

❮ ❯

More like this:

Griffins Rout Marquette – Win Program’s Second Gateway Metro Conference Title

Feb 5, 2026

Byron, Carlson, Petri & Kalb Male Athletes Of The Month: Father McGIvney Boys Shine In Gateway Conference Track and Field Meet

May 12, 2026

Peyton Ellis Leads McGivney Girls Past Carlinville in Sectional Semifinal

Feb 25, 2026

Griffins Girls Are Regional Champs: Head Coach Jeff Oller Achieves 200th Win For Father McGivney

Feb 20, 2026

Play It Again Sports Roundup: Thursday, Feb. 26, 2026 - Belleville East Advances, McGivney Girls Lose Sectional Bid

Feb 27, 2026