After sitting out a year, Tolton's Javar Galbreath aspires to be one of Missouri's best

In a word, last season sucked for Javar Galbreath.

He watched Father Tolton finish the 2022-23 season with a 21-11 record, defeat cross-town opponent Hickman and win the Class 4 District 9 title before advancing to the state semifinals to face Vashon, a team that won six of the past eight championships.

But, Galbreath couldn't contribute anything on the floor for the Trailblazers. After transferring from Fulton High School before the 22-23 season, Galbreath wasn't eligible to play for Tolton, meaning he had to sit out his entire junior season.

"It sucked," Galbreath said. "It sucked. The only thing I wanted to do was play, and I didn't get to."

For Tolton, it still charged along without Galbreath on the court. While head coach Jeremy Osborne noted that the team doesn't dwell on who it could have on the court, he also noted that Galbreath was still great for the Trailblazers by being a great leader and supporter of his teammates.

A season later though times have changed, and Galbreath is now eligible to participate in MSHAA play. Despite a loss to Webster Groves on Dec. 1 that saw Tolton drop to 1-1 on the young season, Galbreath was in high spirits in the Trailblazers gymnasium.

"It feels great to come back out and play," Galbreath said. "I've been waiting to play for a long time. It feels good."

In his second regular season game back, Galbreath was all over the floor for Tolton. He displayed his ability to score at all levels on the court, while his size allowed him to play successfully inside the arc. When the final buzzer sounded against Webster Groves, his final stat line read 13 points, four rebounds, two assists, and a steal.

"Javar is a great kid," Osborne said. "He does a great job defensively, and he really contributes in a big way offensively, and that's what he's capable of. He's a double-double type of kid. He's in a good spot in terms of understanding his role and so I think that's always a plus when guys buy into their role.

Tolton's head coach also mentioned that his desire to not be complacent helped him improve as a player heading into this season.

"I think he's a very hard worker. He's working to get better continually and a lot of guys will rest on their laurels, but he doesn't," Osborne said. "He's a hard worker and so, you know we're excited for him, just like we are for everybody else."

When asked what he thinks he brings to the team, the senior mentioned one key thing:

"Energy," Galbreath said. "I think I bring a lot of energy, a lot of defense."

Galbreath is appreciative of the support that he's received since he's been at Tolton while saying that Osborne has his back with whatever he is trying to accomplish. There are three individual goals and one team goal that comes to his mind.

He wants to be an All-State player while leading the Trailblazers in blocks or rebounds. The ultimate goal for the team is to make a state title game appearance. Tolton the state title game in 2022 where they lost to Vashon 57-48 and Galbreath was still at Fulton.

Galbreath and the Trailblazers are one of 33 boys teams participating in this year's Norm Stewart Classic. Tolton will take the court for its only matchup on Saturday at 7 pm.

Tolton's opponent, Lyon County, comes from 330 miles east and hails from Eddyville, Kentucky. The Lyons are undefeated on the season with a 3-0 record and are outscoring their opponents by a combined 94 points.

Osborne's squad is looking to get the bad taste out of their mouth from last Friday's performance. A lesson learned from an almost comeback victory is that the Trailblazers need to play a complete 32 minutes.

“I think you got to play four quarters for one," Osborne said. "You got to play for four quarters. You’re not always going to shoot it well, right? We had some great looks tonight and didn’t cash in on but we got to play a complete game, especially against our schedule,” Osborne said. “So you know, it’s always more fun to learn from a win than a loss but you gotta learn the same. So we got to put together four quarters in all aspects of the game and we’ll get there.”

This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: Behind Tolton basketball's Javar Galbreath's motivation after sitting out a season