McMahon scores 31 in Spartans' win
Brian McMahon made sure there would be no whitewash in St. Francis' second league boys basketball game of the weekend.
The Spartans' senior forward simply would not be denied.
McMahon poured in a career-high 31 points and dominated the backboards with 16 rebounds, including a dozen on the offensive end, to lead St. Francis past Marmion 60-53 in Suburban Catholic Conference action Saturday evening in Aurora.
Like a horde of pesky gnats, Marmion countered every St. Francis outburst with a salvo of its own, only to fall in the end.
St. Francis (5-2, 3-1) broke free of the only tie of the game at 2-2, and ultimately took a 33-27 lead into halftime largely courtesy of the 20 points manufactured by McMahon via a host of inside moves.
When his unrelenting scoring attack faltered after the intermission, McMahon parlayed his equally unremitting approach on the glass with 7 offensive rebounds alone in the third quarter.
"Most of them were my own misses," McMahon said. "I was just following my shots."
On two separate occasions after the break, the St. Charles resident converted putbacks on his third attempt in each sequence.
The second time proved the most important as St. Francis' once 10-point, third-quarter lead had been reduced to 49-48 after a 13-4 run by the Cadets (5-2, 2-2).
The McMahon putback proved to be the only field goal St. Francis mustered in the quarter, but the Spartans escaped by converting 11 of 14 fourth-quarter free throws to secure the victory.
"That was definitely key for us to hit our free throws down the stretch," McMahon said.
Cliché or not, the adage of games being decided at the foul line proved to be the undoing of the Cadets, who conversely suffered from a collective 4-of-12 performance at the line.
The Cadets' often inspired play, headlined by the 20-point, 9-rebound night of senior Tyler Smith, could not offset St. Francis' 16-point plurality from the free-throw line.
"There are no moral victories in defeat," Marmion coach Rashon Bruno said. "We shot ourselves in the foot tonight. (McMahon) wanted the ball more than we did. Definitely a tough loss to swallow."
Bob Vonderhaar sank 5 fourth-quarter free throws for St. Francis and collected 9 defensive rebounds, while Jack Purdom and Dan McCoy hit consecutive 3-pointers to help give the Spartans a 45-35 lead with 2:46 to play in the third.
St. Francis' near wire-to-wire win made its scoreless third quarter against Aurora Central on Friday night at home more palatable.
"We practiced this morning," St. Francis coach Shawn Healy said. "We asked the kids to start believing in themselves."