Summer hoops pays off for Marauder
After a summer playing of Amateur Athletic Union basketball tournaments, Cormac McMahon is fitting in well with the A.N. Myer Marauders senior boys squad.
“It has been pretty easy, to be honest,” the Grade 11 student said. “It seemed like it was going to be harder, but it was better than I thought.
“Playing in the summer, it really helped.”
The Niagara Tigers experience helped in every area for McMahon, who scored 10 points Wednesday as the Marauders opened the 64th Annual Welland Tribune Basketball Tournament with a 56-31 victory over the Sir Winston Churchill Bulldogs.
“It was so much more physical and fast — everything is better down there — so it helped slow down the game for me,” the 16-year-old said.
Myer head coach Dave Shaw likes a lot about McMahon’s game.
“He is a talented player and he has a lot of offensive skills,” he said. “His shot makes it tough on defences, he’s good off the dribble and he looks to attack.”
Shaw also likes another component of McMahon’s game.
“The one thing that is nice about him is that he is an unselfish player,” he said. “He makes the pass if he sees a teammate with a better shot and it’s a nice thing to see from a player in high school.”
To take the next step in his basketball progression, Shaw feels McMahon has to get used to the speed and physicality of older players.
“He also needs to learn to take over games when he can.”
McMahon has a number of goals for the season, including doing what Shaw mentioned above.
“I want to be able to dunk more and I want to be able to dominate the game a lot more. Maybe that will happen in Grade 12,” he said.
McMahon knows it won’t come easy.
“I need to work out every day and grind it out,” he said.
He is confident in his team’s chances this season.
“I think we can go to OFSAA (Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations’ AAA championships),” he said. “We have to get through Notre Dame at zone and then through some tough teams at SOSSA (Southern Ontario Secondary Schools Association championships),” he said. “I think we can do it.”
But the first thing on the minds of the Marauders is to win the Trib tourney.
“It’s a really big tournament, really old, and it would mean a lot to us to win it,” McMahon said.
Churchill head coach Gregg Loucks saw some positives with his team’s play Wednesday.
“I was happy because we are getting a little more effort,” he said. “We are still really struggling to score, but we are getting better.”
Loucks continues to see growth in his team.
“They are understanding better where they need to be, there’s more effort and they have a better understanding of the effort that is needed,” he said. “It is showing some grit and we are getting there.”
Shaw described Myer’s win as a good start to the tournament.
“Even though we played the Brock (Tyler Grummett Memorial) tournament, we were a little rusty and we are making some changes and adding some things as we go.
“It was good to get out and see what it looked like.”
Shaw felt Churchill battled hard.
“We were just able to make a few more shots than they did.”
STATS PACK
Marauders 56 Bulldogs 31
Mountainview Homes Players of the Game: A.N. Myer’s Nick Murdaca and Churchill’s Nick Beaudoin.
For the A.N. Myer Marauders: Murdaca (16), Cormac McMahon (10), Christian Kuriata (6), Noah Sharp (6), Matt Garrett (6), Adam Lamb (5), Caleb Kim (4), Jeff Dai (3), Jashon Carter (2) and Kory Costantino (2).
For the Sir Winston Churchill Bulldogs: Brendan Barker (7), Noah Garnace (7), Beaudoin (7), Nate Butler (6) and Connor Johnston (2).
IRISH 72 EAGLES 36
The host Notre Dame Fighting Irish advanced to the championship quarter-finals of the 64th Annual Welland Tribune Basketball Tournament with a 72-36 victory over the Grimsby Eagles Wednesday.
Scoring for the Fighting Irish were Andrew Zezela (16), David Jones (15), Shammar Campbell (10), Jesse Rao (6), Austin Cooper (4), Brandon Markowski (4), Anthony Cimino (3), Ryan Fitzgerald (3), Roldin Valencia Cortes (3), Nelson Collee (3) and Ralph Leroy (2).
Replying for the Eagles were Nick Pasaluko (21), Matthew Scocchia (7), Jacob Baker (4), Corey Stewart (2) and Ben Tschovsky (2).
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