McNamara holds off Cardinal boys, 69-64

Bishop Ireton’s home court crowd had entirely too many vociferous fans of the visiting team, and that visiting team happened to be one of the very best teams in the area. The night, it seemed, could have been quite unpleasant for the Cardinals of Bishop Ireton when they hosted McNamara.

The Cardinals, however, were determined to not let that happen. Bishop Ireton’s squad that took the floor played enthusiastic, not intimidated. They did everything a team must do to win — they rebounded, they shot well, they defended well, they passed well, they fought hard for the ball, and stayed in the game until the very end. But, as the McNamara fans chanted, it was a case of “too much juice” on the other side as the Mustangs defeated Ireton, 69-64.

The Mustangs’ biggest weapon on the night was senior guard Marcus Thornton, who scored 26 points against a strong Ireton defense. Defensively, the Mustangs’ fluid zone defense was particularly difficult to overcome, and forced Ireton to be more cautious in its shooting than it wanted to be.

It also denied the Cardinals inside lanes much of the time and forced the Cardinals to rely on outside shooting much of the time. McNamara’s offensive game was equally frustrating. Coach Marty Keithline has built a system based on passing the ball until a virtually undefended shot presents itself. No matter how lethal a scorer any player became, no double-teaming was possible, as that player could quickly kick it out to a teammate at almost any angle, and much too often, that teammate would be alone on the floor with an easy shot.

The game stayed close because of the outstanding play from Ireton’s three guards: juniors Malcolm Westbrook and Marcus Hayes and senior Antonio Rouse. Hayes’ seven points in the first half were crucial to Ireton only trailing by four at the half. However, he ran into foul trouble early in the second. After holding a brief lead in the first quarter, Westbrook would knot it the only other time in the game with a basket early in the second quarter.

Later, he would hit a jumper at the very end of the third to bring it within five after trailing by ten only a couple minutes earlier. Rouse scored seven in the first half and six in the second for thirteen points. Forward Patrick Hanafin led all Cardinals scorers with 22, mostly in the second half. At one point in the second half, the senior sank a shot to pull it within a point, then had the ball in his hands a few seconds later. Hanafin had a good look for the go-ahead basket, but missed. It was Ireton’s best chance to score the upset. Though the Cardinals whittled down several big McNamara leads, the Mustangs excellent transition game seemed to reemerge at just the moment it seemed the momentum had shifted.

McNamara improves to 19-4 with a 10-3 conference record. Ireton is now 8-15 and 0-12 in the WCAC, still seeking their first conference win.