Spartans' McMahon too much for Marmion
Brian McMahon made sure there would be no whitewash in St. Francis' second league 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 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 Cadets' run.
It 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 (9 points) and Dan McCoy hit consecutive 3-pointers to help give the squad 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."
Aurora Christian 60, Coal City 59:ŒThe Eagles rebounded from Friday's loss by knocking off the Coalers on the road. Travis Cleveland led the Eagles (4-4) with 15 points and Marcus Barnes added 12 points.
"We were real resilient tonight," said Eagle Coach Don Davidson. "Our kids played well."
Schaumburg 64, Elgin 61:ŒThe calendar says December, but Schaumburg and Elgin took each other's best shots for four quarters of a boys basketball game played with March intensity at Chesbrough Field House Saturday night.
The lead changed hands in every quarter, 18 times total, before Schaumburg escaped with a 64-61 nonconference victory, largely because junior forward Blake Mueller stood his ground.
Elgin (5-2) trailed 62-61 when the Maroons sent Schaumburg junior Perrish Bell to the free-throw line with 16.6 seconds to play.
Bell missed the front end of the bonus and Elgin point guard Jeremy Granger -- who on Elgin's 2 previous possessions had rimmed out a pair of scoop shots that could have given the Maroons the lead -- raced up court once again.
Granger got a step on his defender, drove the lane and shot as he made contact with Mueller, who had shuffled into the lane to try to draw a charge.
Granger's shot banked in, but the official along the baseline immediately waived it off and called Granger for the offensive foul, which gave the ball back to Schaumburg with 9.3 seconds left.
"Earlier in the game I tried to take a charge and they called a blocking foul on me, so I knew I had to get my feet set," Mueller said.
After Cully Payne subsequently sank a pair of free throws to extend the Schaumburg lead to 3 points with 8.3 to play, Elgin's Tom Roth quickly brought the ball up court and dumped it off to senior guard Armani Williams a few feet beyond the 3-point arc.
With a Saxon on his hip, Williams, who led all scorers in the game with 19 points, turned and launched a potential game-tying 3-pointer. However, the shot caromed off the front rim at the buzzer.
"I saw it," Williams said, "but I also saw my body fading away."
Elgin saw its 5-game winning streak snapped because the Maroons couldn't sink key shots in the game's final two minutes when trailing 62-61. Elgin missed its final 4 shots in addition to 3 free throw attempts that could have knotted the game at 62 or put Elgin ahead.
"It's kind of frustrating because we wanted to play with the lead down the stretch," Granger said. "But they didn't drop for us and we got called for charges. It just didn't happen for us tonight."
Said Elgin coach Mike Sitter: "It was like a prizefight and we traded them punch for punch. Unfortunately, they got the last punch in. We had four chances there in the end in the last few minutes to take the lead and we didn't get it done. That's something we have to improve on between now and March."
The win emboldened the Saxons (8-2), who won in Elgin a night after winning a physical contest in Palatine.
"It gives us a little bit of confidence that we can play with different types of teams," Schaumburg coach Bob Williams said. "We played a Palatine team last night that was extremely physical and methodical. Then we come here tonight and play an Elgin team that is so explosive.
"To be able to compete in both of those games says a lot about our kids, so it's a confidence booster for us."
Schaumburg trailed 34-24 in the second quarter before erupting for a 16-2 run that bridged halftime.
After five more lead changes the Saxons grabbed a 62-57 lead with 2:12 to play when Mueller followed his three-point play with an easy inside bucket assisted by Bell.
Brandon Bolger led the Saxons with 17 points while Payne added 15 (13 in the second half) and Mueller 12.
-- Jerry Fitzpatrick
Girls basketball
Walther Lutheran 61, Aurora Christian 57:ŒIn a tight game, Walther's successful free-throw shooting proved the difference. Lauren Heck scored 20 points and Rachel Mertens added 18 points and 9 rebounds for the Eagles (6-5, 1-1).
Burlington splits at Woodstock: Burlington Central defeated Marengo 40-35 in the first round of the Woodstock/Richmond tournament but then lost to Round Lake 35-34 in the second round.
Jordan Maisto scored 16 points to lead the win over Marengo.
Cory Bazany had 18 points and 10 rebounds for the Rockets (7-4) in their loss to Round Lake.
Waubonsie Valley 54, South Elgin 35: Undefeated Waubonsie jumped out to a 31-14 halftime lead and never looked back in downing the Storm in Upstate Eight Conference action.
Courtney Kumerow had 11 points to lead South Elgin (5-6, 1-2) while Dijon Smith and Genevieve Johnson added 8 points each.
Wrestling
At Glenbrook South:ŒThe Batavia third-place team finish was the product of a pair of champions, runners-up and third-place winners.
The competition marked the fourth consecutive day of action for the Bulldogs.
"They looked a little bit tired today, but they held it together," Batavia coach Tom Arlis said. "We ended up doing better (as a team) than we did last year (fourth overall). It was four days of continuous wrestling (between duals on Wednesday and Thursday and the two-day tournament)."
Rocco Wade and Matt McCarter defended their individual championships at 135 and 189 pounds, respectively, for Batavia.
Logan Arlis and Max Nowry pinned their way to the championship match, only to see the top-ranked 103-pounder in the state from Wheeling prevail 5-2.
Ethan Huggins (215 pounds) also fell in the title match, while Billy Ayers (140) and Danny Watson (160) captured third-place consolation honors.
-- Kevin McGavin
Hockey
Saints split weekend: St. Charles East went 1-1 in the IHSL last weekend. They defeated Andrew 6-4 and fell to St. Ignatius 5-3.
Against Andrew, the Saints (11-19-3, 4-6) trailed 4-1 late in the second. But Kyle Sullivan scored three goals in the third period, including the game-winner with an assist from Josh Lorusso.
Then on Sunday, St. Ignatius took three one-goal leads and the Saints tied it three times. Finally, St. Ignatius scored the final two goals to put it away. Mike Jimenez scored a pair of goals for the Saints.
Men's basketball
Aurora 70, Milwaukee School of Engineering 63: Larry Welton scored a game-high 22 points and had 6 rebounds for the Spartans (7-2, 5-0). Doug Lambert added 20 points on 8-of-12 shooting from the field and nailed three shots from behind the arc.
Women's basketball
Aurora 77, Milwaukee School of Engineering 59:ŒThe Spartans remained unbeaten in the NAC (5-4, 4-0) with a victory in Milwaukee. Kim Voiles had 17 points and 8 rebounds. Kisha Miller added 13 points and 6 steals.