L-W East Girls Basketball Serving Up Huge Helpings of Johnson and McMahon

Fifteen. Forty-five. The combo platter isn’t just an item on the dinner menu.

It’s served on a regular basis in the Lincoln-Way East girls basketball camp.

The Griffins, 7-0 overall and 3-0 in the Southwest Suburban Blue, feature a combo platter as tantalizing as anything cooked up by an Iron Chef. Taylor Johnson and Caitlin McMahon have set the table from Day 1 with their senior leadership, both on the floor and off, and when one is struggling the other is there to step up.

In East’s 47-40 victory over Homewood-Flossmoor on Thursday night, McMahon started with the hot hand. She made all three of her shots and dropped in two free throws in the first quarter. She scored eight of her team-high 15 points in a burst that was tantamount to say, “Bring it on.”

McMahon’s charge out of the starting block was doubly important because Johnson couldn’t find her touch in the early going. She missed her first seven shots and went scoreless in the first quarter.

She made amends with the game on the line in the waning moments.

Johnson, a 5-6 point guard who is headed to Loyola, scored seven of her 13 points in the fourth quarter. She netted 5-of-6 free throws to help East stave off a late charge by H-F.

McMahon and Johnson. The combo platter.

McMahon wears uniform No. 45. Johnson is No. 15. The two girls feed off each other, play almost as if one.

“Me and Taylor have really good chemistry together,” said McMahon, a St. Xavier University recruit. “We play on the weekends together. She does a good job of getting me the ball. I try to do a good job of passing it back out for a shot for her.”

Johnson burned Homewood-Flossmoor by hitting a school single-game record 23 of 32 free throws a year ago when the Vikings tried to press East into submission. She was forced to go away from her trademark dribble-drive moves to the basket when H-F reverted to a zone on Thursday night.

“They sagged off,” East coach Jim Martin said. “That was the first time she had to try not to be a ball hog in the sense of shooting every time she came down. A good player’s got to understand that.

“No one on our team is going to be upset if she’s shooting the basketball when she’s open. It’s the poor decisions that would upset us. We made a couple adjustments, made (Charnelle) Reed come out and guard her and got her some openings to the basket and tried to get some screens for her at the high post.

“When she gets just that much space, she’s good. But, no, not one of her best games. Still, a great leader on the floor, her and Caitlin (McMahon) both. How many rebounds did Caitlin have? Eleven. So, that’s another double-double for her, and that’s big for us. That’s what we need out of her. I think our other kids did what we asked.”

Meaghan McMahon scored six points and grabbed nine rebounds. Amy Jacobsen drained a three-pointer and chipped in five points. Nathalie Hill capped a 12-3 second-quarter scoring spurt for the Griffins with a long jumper.

Call them side dishes.

Caitlin McMahon and Taylor Johnson are the featured attractions on the Griffins girls basketball combo platter. The two made sure East prevailed despite a 6:40 scoring dry spell and nine turnovers in the fourth quarter.

“I think we were too fast with the ball,” Johnson said. “We need to slow it down, especially me. I was all over the place. I think that’s something we need to work on as a team. I think we got just a little out of control there.”