The above video is courtesy of Mr. Steve Douglass and Nick Wnuk of the New Media Department
Sophomore year, Justin McMahon suited up in his LFHS Varsity Basketball uniform for the first time. Back then, he recalls he was the player who was often yelled at the most, and the newbie on a squad with high expectations that eventually finished as the most decorated team in school history. Two years later, Justin is the most experienced player on the team, two inches taller and nearly twenty lbs. stronger than he was as a 10th grader, and his role has shifted from the leaded to the leader.
“When I was a sophomore, I looked up to the senior guys… like, Noah Karras and Steve Vogrich and, of course, Evan [Boudreaux] and Jack [Traynor]. They mentored me throughout the summer and showed me the ropes in a lot of ways.”
Of the many pieces of advice the upperclassmen gave him, one main constant point was, “They told me not to take anything personally. I remember one summer league game, it was tied and I took the last shot of the game and missed. Coach (LaScala) was super mad at me, and for good reason, but back in the locker room Noah and Steve told me not to take it personally. From then on, I didn’t.” McMahon has learned from his two full seasons on the team and is excited to be a leader for the new players on the team this year, like juniors Mead Payne, Drew Arnson, Jed Thomas, Sean Trkla, Ben Gibson, and Kyle Waggoner. McMahon says leadership is his priority. “Trust–both ways–is a leadership quality that is really important to me.” For McMahon, staying in the Friday night before a tournament is fine by him, because he knows all his teammates are doing the exact same thing.
“When you have trust in the guys around you, it automatically makes the team a lot stronger. You know we have strength in solidarity and that we are all doing the right thing. ”
McMahon’s senior year comes with both feelings of excitement accompanied by melancholy undertones. He’s been playing with some of his senior teammates, Michael Parsky, Connor Hanekamp, Brian Stickler, and Reed Thomas, since the fifth grade. “We’ve grown up together and we know how each other plays since we’ve been doing it for eight years.” With that brotherhood, of course, comes emotion, but also a bit of pressure for McMahon. He knows that he and each of the players he’s battled with for so long are under a bit of pressure to sustain the dynamic they have had all these years. Naturally, when you’re a senior, all of your successes and missteps are magnified as the stage gets increasingly larger. But McMahon and his teammates are the kinds of players who seek out that pressure. For them, the fact that LFHS Head Coach Phil LaScala has again put together one of the hardest non-conference schedules in the state (to go along with conference play in the already rugged North Suburban Conference) is a bonus rather than something to fear. This season the Scouts have already played Benet (last year’s IHSA State Tournament runner-up), St. Viator (a perennial power from the East Suburban Catholic Conference), and Chicago University High School, who boasts a Division-1 prospect. Also, McMahon says the one thing he’s really looking forward to in his senior year is the last home game. “Home games are the best,” McMahon explained. “The whole student section, the Scout cheers, playing in front of my mom and dad and with my teammates on our home court for the last time–that’s going to be pretty special. Not just for me, but for my parents [Susan and Mike McMahon] who have supported me throughout this whole journey as well.”
But Justin is not getting too far ahead of himself yet. After being elevated to All-NSC a year ago, McMahon has set high expectations for himself and his team for 2016-17. Although the team suffered a few hard losses early on, he has high hopes for the rest of the year in terms of the team’s development. “It’s not the start we wanted, but it’s just a test to our trust we have in all of our hard work and practice.”
On Saturday night, the tables may have turned in terms of the Scouts’ season. Trailing by 6 points with less than a minute left in the game, the Scouts came back to outlast Warren Township High School in 3 overtimes, 70-65. McMahon, as you would have guessed, led the way for the Scouts, finishing with 27 hard-earned points (16-20 FT’s) and the game-tying 3-pointer in regulation that catapulted the Scouts’ confidence moving forward. Although the comeback was undoubtedly a team effort, McMahon was at the center of every team huddle, directing his teammates with his leadership.
“We needed that one,” McMahon explained. “It’s one thing to play close games, but it’s another to win them. We’re figuring out how to win and that will only make our team stronger, tougher, and more together moving forward.”
And he’s right. The team has bounced back and is more than ready for their first home game this Tuesday, December 12th, against Libertyville High School. Last year, the Scouts outlasted LHS in overtime on the road in another comeback victory. Who was the one who delivered the pass to Lorenzo Edwards for the game-tying shot in regulation? That was Justin McMahon. This year, don’t be surprised if he’s the one shooting it.
