-Gallery below contains McDevitt vs. La Salle game photos taken by PSD photographer Kathy Leister

Through 62 games, 32 have been decided by fewer than 10 points. Of those 32, the margin at the end of regulation was five points or fewer on 24 occasions: Three games were tied and necessitated overtime, five were decided by one point, six were decided by two points, five were decided by three points, three were decided by four points, and two were decided by five points.

   A comparison to last year shows that of the 91 games, only 31 were decided by fewer than 10 points and 17 of those by five or less.

   “The close games have been crazy,” said La Salle senior Matt McMahon. “I think it is just a testament to how difficult the Catholic League is this year. There is not a single team that can take a night off. You have to bring it every game.”

   McMahon’s recent heroics are a case in point.

   Against Bishop McDevitt on January 26, the host Lancers had a one-point lead inside the final minute. Hoping to build on their edge, a drive to the hoop and tight defense by La Salle senior Sean Simon resulted in a missed shot. Junior Titus Beard grabbed the rebound and fired an outlet pass to junior Zach Crisler.

   “I was just thinking to spot up and get ready to pull the trigger,” said McMahon. “Zach kicked it back to Titus, who drove the middle and kicked it to Allen (Powell). Allen made the unselfish play and passed it to me, and I just let it fly.”

   McMahon’s three-point bullet with a defender in his face not only hit all net, it also drew a foul. McMahon casually buried the free throw for his first-ever four-point shot in high school. His 12 points were a career high.

At Roman Catholic, the 7-2 Cahillites have won five straight and with a little luck could be undefeated. Their only losses were by two points to the league’s top two teams (Neumann-Goretti, 56-54; Bonner-Prendergast, 68-66 in overtime).

   Balanced scoring seems to be Roman’s forte. In their first four league games, four different players led on offense (junior Hakim Hart, 21; junior Seth Lundy, 17; senior Allen Betrand, 22; and sophomore Lynn Green, 20). In game five, Betrand and Greer tied for most. Then Lundy took over the reins with consecutive team highs of 17, 30, and 19. In yesterday’s 79-55 win over visiting Father Judge, Betrand netted 21 while Hart (20) and Greer (17) were close behind.

   “Our team is working towards a commitment to making the right team play on every possession,” said Roman second-year coach Matt Griffin. “We are consistently teaching our players to take and read defenses and take advantage of how we are being played.