3-2-1: McMahon Shot Helps L-W East Girls Basketball Team Blast Off

Meaghan McMahon's 3-pointer at the buzzer to end the first half provided a spark for Lincoln-Way East in its 54-41 sectional semifinal girls basketball victory over Homewood-Flossmoor.

Lincoln-Way East coach Jim Martin has a stopwatch-like name for the drill he likes to end girls basketball practice with on a regular basis. “It’s called a 3-2-1 drill,” he said. “I got it from (a coaching friend). It’s a fun way to end practice. You go, ‘Three, two, one and you throw it up from half-court or whatever, not so much with a girl on you throwing it that way.’ ” Not like Meaghan McMahon did to end the first half in Lincoln-Way East’s 54-41 victory over Homewood-Flossmoor in a Class 4A Sandburg Sectional semifinal matchup on Tuesday night? “No,” Martin said of whether the Griffins hit buzzer-beaters in practice sessions very often. “So, this was great.” McMahon, a 5-foot-11 junior forward who so often is overshadowed by her …

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Girls Basketball: L-W East Ousts Homewood-Flossmoor in Sectional Semifinal

Lincoln-Way East 54, Homewood-Flossmoor 41: Meaghan McMahon made a heroic shot, and Taylor Johnson turned in a heroic performance as the Griffins took the rubber match from their Southwest Suburban Blue rivals on Tuesday night.

The Skinny: Meaghan McMahon made a heroic shot to end the first half in Lincoln-Way East’s 54-41 girls basketball victory over Homewood-Flossmoor in semifinal action Tuesday night at the Sandburg Sectional in Orland Park. Taylor Johnson took over the game in the second half. McMahon, a 5-foot-11 junior forward, banked home a 3-pointer from just across half-court line as the buzzer sounded to end the first half. Johnson, a senior guard who is headed to Loyola, recovered from foul trouble and scored 13 of her game-high 19 points in the second half. The two teams split during the regular season, each winning on its home floor, and East used a 2-3 zone defense to control the rubber match. H-F played without Charnelle Reed, the Western Illinois…

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Ron Kremer

9:03 am on Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Agreed. Taylor Johnson must avoid foul trouble. She did play through it vs. H-F, though. And she played with the composure of a leader, too.   more ›

Girls Basketball: Homewood-Flossmoor Ousts T.F. South in Regional Play

Candace Hicks led Homewood-Flossmoor to a 48-24 girls basketball victory over Thornton Fractional South in play at the Stagg Regional on Tuesday night.

Brent Pulls an Inside Job for H-F Girls Basketball

Homewood-Flossmoor center/forward Amena Brent has transformed from a player into a leader during her senior season with the Vikings' girls basketball team.

Amena Brent wasn’t her normal dominant self in the second half of Homewood-Flossmoor’s 70-55 girls basketball victory over Joliet Central. She was charged with her fourth foul with 3:16 remaining in the third quarter of Thursday night’s game in Joliet. She took a seat on the H-F bench. And, even when she did return in the fourth quarter, she was limited in what she could do under the basket. She scored all eight of her points in the first half and grabbed eight of her 11 rebounds in the first two quarters. “I got some petty fouls in the second half,” Brent said. “I couldn’t play the way I usually do—or how physical I am. So, it really limited me in scoring and rebounding.” H-F has come to rely on the 6-foot-1 Brent to provide the power in …

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Girls Basketball: Parker Takes the Point in H-F Victory over Joliet Central

Homewood-Flossmoor 70, Joliet Central 55: With senior Charnelle Reed sidelined because of an injury, the Vikings turned to junior Lauren Parker to handle the ball in their regular-season finale on Thursday night in Joliet.

The Skinny: Western Illinois University recruit Charnelle Reed sat out of Homewood-Flossmoor’s 70-55 girls basketball victory over Joliet Central on Thursday night because of a knee injury. Stetson recruit Amena Brent picked up her fourth foul and took a seat on the bench with 3:16 remaining in the third quarter. Without their two senior leaders, the Vikings turned to juniors Lauren Parker and Sydni Johnson to step up when Joliet Central caught fire in the second half. Johnson scored a team-high 14 points. Parker took over the lion’s share of the ball handling duties for H-F. And she scored 11 points. The Vikings survived a 25-point performance from Joliet Central’s Nijea Dixon. She made five 3-pointers and poured in 20 points in the …

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Girls Basketbal: H-F Falls to Marist in Semifinals at Hillcrest Tourney

Homewood-Flossmoor dropped a 51-44 decision to Marist in semifinal action at the Hillcrest Holiday Tournament despite 18 points from Danielle Woolfolk.

Girls Basketball: McMahon, Johnson Lift L-W East Past Homewood-Flossmoor

Lincoln-Way East 47, Homewood-Flossmoor 40: Caitlin McMahon and Taylor Johnson combined for 28 points and powered the Griffins to a huge home victory over the Vikings in Southwest Suburban Blue girls basketball.

The Skinny: Caitlin McMahon started with a flurry. Taylor Johnson finished with a bang. The two led Lincoln-Way East to a 47-40 girls basketball victory over Homewood-Flossmoor in a battle of Southwest Suburban Blue Conference powers on Thursday night in Frankfort. McMahon, a 6-foot senior forward, scored eight of her team-high 15 points in the first quarter for the Griffins. Johnson, a 5-6 senior guard, scored seven of her 13 points in the fourth quarter. She hit 5-of-6 free throws with the game on the line in the waning moments. Patch’s MVP: Caitlin McMahon, Lincoln-Way East. She made all three of her shots and two free throws in the first quarter en route to a team-high total of 15 points. She also grabbed 11 rebounds. Key Moments: …

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Sports Photo Gallery: Fun at H-F Girls Hoops Camp is a Noble Idea

Vikings coach Dana Noble stresses concept of having fun during his summer camp. But he's also looking to introduce newcomers to his program.

F-U-N. Three letters spell out the main focus at the Homewood-Flossmoor girls basketball camp, run by coach Dana Noble with assistances from Jason Cheeks and Matt Holdren. But don't be mistaken. There is more to the camp than that. Girls of all ages come from the surrounding area to hone their fundamental skills and develop their games. The H-F camp is also a way for incoming students to get an insight to the school's program. And it provides current H-F players an opportunity to stay in shape. Check out the action from a day at the camp.

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Girls Basketball: H-F Fought the Law and Law's Team Won

Marian Catholic 72, Homewood-Flossmoor 58. Simone Law simply wouldn't let her team lose, scoring 22 points and collecting 16 rebounds to help the Spartans turn a third-quarter nail-biter into a runaway victory.

The Hot Read: Homewood-Flossmoor went ahead 41-37 with 5:12 remaining on three free throws from Charnelle Reed and a putback basket by Lauren Parker. Marian Catholic responded, though, with a 13-2 run to finish the third quarter and H-F  wouldn't get any closer than 50-45 at the start of the fourth quarter as the Spartans pulled away to notch a 72-58 girls basketball victory on Monday in play at the Class 4A Lincoln-Way North Sectional. Patch's MVP: Marian Catholic's Simone Law proved to be way too much for Homewood-Flossmoor to handle. The Loyola University recruit did it with her scoring and her rebounding and seemingly always came up with a big play when her team needed it most. She also made seven of her final eight free throw attempts…

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Extra Points: H-F's 'D' Leaves Stagg Down and Out

The Vikings were all over the court Thursday night, pressuring the ball and creating turnovers. Meanwhile, Chargers coach Bill Turner praised his team's effort in a losing cause.

Come playoff time, defense is more important than ever. Thursday night, Homewood-Flossmoor’s girls basketball team played great defense en route to a 40-22 victory over Stagg for the Thornton Regional championship. “At this point in the season, games get tighter,” H-F coach Dana Noble said. “Teams get tighter, and you have to be able to stop the other team. I think that made a difference today.” Despite playing great defense, the Vikings didn’t play as well on the offensive end as they would have liked. “We played defense like we wanted to. The offense just didn’t go the way we wanted to see it go,” Noble said. The Vikings forced Stagg into 28 turnovers, but committed 23 of their own. But Noble isn’t terribly concerned about the turnovers…

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