What’s recently happened?
Right now at Griffith High School (GHS), the spotlight has been all over the Boys Basketball team. After last year’s season, which was the most successful of the past five seasons, everyone was excited to see what the team would do this year. This group lost only two seniors last year and is now in the best window for success. Led by Seniors Cameron Chandler, Savon Miles, and Korhan Leflore as well as Juniors Gianni Feaster, AJ Hatch, Colton Strezo, and Jakhari Mackey, this team is now fully upperclassmen besides Sophomores Jalen Wilson and Ventris Tetter.
To start the season, Griffith opened up against the Hobart High School Brickies. The Panthers quickly displayed their skill, leading 12-1 close to the start and never looking back. The Panthers played confidently and won 64-54, led by Miles' 17 points, most of which came at crucial times in the fourth quarter. Miles cited his improved confidence and leadership as reasons why he has improved so much since last season.
“I think I improved a lot from last year by being a leader and a player,” Miles said. “I think I got a lot more confident in a lot of aspects like getting to the rim and my shot. I'm not afraid to take my own shot if it's needed, I'm also not afraid to hustle or to be that guy to make the plays for the team – whatever it takes to win.”
After their 1-0 start, the Panthers traveled to Lake Station to play for the traveling conference trophy. The Panthers won 66-26 and got their hands on the conference trophy for the first time. This 40-point blowout was led by Mackey’s 19 points.
Riding the momentum from their big win, the Panthers went into their home opener against Bishop Noll Institute, a team which was heavily favored. Griffith put up a valiant effort and kept it close the whole game, but took their first loss at 44-53. Feaster said despite the loss, the goals stayed the same.
“The ultimate goal is still to win Sectionals and be a respected basketball program again,” Feaster said.
Following that conference game was another conference game against Illiana Christian High School. After a slow start, the Panthers finished the first half up 35-20 and finished the game 66-51. Led by another great performance by Miles, the Panthers are now 3-1 and look ahead to their game on December 12 against Merrillville High School.
What’s coming up?
Coupled with the success on the court, Griffith’s wrestling program has been on the rise on the mats as well. The team has seen massive improvements and has a standout individual who has been dominating.
Just this week, Senior Paola Villarruel moved into the top spot for her weight class (120lbs). This came as no surprise to her, as she was third at the Girls Wrestling State championship last year and has continued to wrestle year-round. On January 12, Villarruel plans to take a crack at a State championship in her current weight class.
Despite recently coming off injury, Villarruel is still as confident as ever that she can win State. Paola also wrestles 120 lbs for Boys Wrestling as well and hopes to advance through the postseason as far as possible. With both boys and girls postseasons coming up, expect big things from the number one girl wrestler at 120lbs in the state.
Staff spotlight:
Shannon Belmonte is a student-favorite teacher at GHS. Her job entails teaching from ninth grade English to 12th grade English, and she helps out all the teachers in the English department with various things. Belmonte has a great “why” for becoming a teacher.
“When I was younger, my aunt was a foster parent to several kids with special needs,” she said. “My job was to babysit and to help tutor them. I loved seeing their faces light up with excitement when they learned or figured out something new.”
Belmonte credits her aunt for nurturing her love for teaching.
“She would see the joy it brought me when I worked with her foster kids, and she pushed me into becoming a teacher so I could see that joy on a daily basis,” Belomonte said. “She always encouraged me to work my hardest and was my cheerleader when times were hard.”
Belmonte graduated from Hobart in 1993 and from Indiana University Northwest in 2002, but she only began teaching at GHS in the fall of 2019. She has a bachelor’s degree in elementary education that allows her to teach from first to sixth grade and a Mild Intervention license which allows her to teach special education from ages 3 to 22. Belmonte has taught all across the Region. From Crown Point to Dyer to Munster, the Region has felt her impact, and she is an incredible teacher and person.
Student spotlight:
Jose Rizo is a senior student-athlete at GHS. Rizo plays two sports, baseball and wrestling, and he is on varsity for both. Along with Rizo’s athletic commitments, he also excels in the classroom, maintaining a high 3.0 grade point average throughout high school. While he is involved in a lot, his favorite activity is wrestling. Rizo enjoys wrestling because he believes he is much better at wrestling than baseball, and he might wrestle in college if the opportunity presents itself.
Rizo also is a big participant in the student section. He enjoys cheering for his friends no matter the sport and is extremely passionate about sports in general.
Rizo’s favorite part of GHS is the people. He enjoys spending time around everyone.
“I love hanging out with my friends, and it is by far my favorite aspect of high school,” he said.
Rizo graduates this year and is unsure of his future plans, but he knows the future is bright for him.