Cardinal O'Hara edges Archbishop Ryan

THOUGH THE WORDS were bellowed in the Far Northeast, they likely were heard in Kensington.

Tim Kelly was not a happy (insert coach for camper).

"I'm tired of it!! Every single time!!"

Sean Mayo could relate to Kelly's anguish. He felt it to the same degree and since he was standing quite close to Kelly, he also wondered whether he'd just suffered a broken eardrum.

After allowing a follow and a layup off a steal, Cardinal O'Hara High's basketball team had quickly coughed up 80 percent of a five-point lead. Thus, the timeout snapout by Kelly.

"Everyone on the team wants to win," said Mayo, a 6-5, 215-pound senior. "Sometimes we don't have the ability to finish the games. That has happened more than once.

"It does cross your mind. 'It might be happening again.' Luckily, we got through this one."

The visiting Lions' 41-39 Catholic League win over Archbishop Ryan Friday night was not assured until star guard Eric Fleming, who's actually forced to jump center for his no-height squad, failed to connect on roughly a 25-footer with 3 seconds remaining. Pat Hagenbach was the contesting defender.

Mayo's contributions included 10 points, three rebounds and two apiece of steals/blocks on a night when, like almost always, foul trouble cost him quality minutes.

He certainly emerged at the proper juncture, however. Shooting 3-for-3 and 2-for-2, he packed eight of his points into the final 5-plus minutes and, oh, he also earned an Olympic gold medal in the long jump.

With 19.4 seconds remaining and O'Hara ahead, 39-37, soph guard Chris Duffin, under pressure, whipped an errant pass toward the corner opposite O'Hara's bench. Mayo ran over, soared beyond the baseline, caught the ball in midair and was able to call time before his feet hit the floor.

Huge play by the largest Lion!

"Spur of the moment. Thought it was the right [decision]," Mayo said, simply. "I had no idea whether I'd jumped from inbounds. I just was in the air, made eye contact with the referee and made the timeout call."

When asked whether he might brag about about his heroics Monday in school, he smiled and said, "No, no. I'll keep it to myself."

Joel Davidson hit the front end of a one-and-one at 15.1 and Fleming rebounded. Then, at 9.3, Fleming missed a left-wing trey but - oh, my - Davidson banged into him and Eric went to the line for a trio. Make. Miss. Make.

As O'Hara rushed the ball toward halfcourt, Ryan's Kyle Slawter appeared to unleash a pretty forceful stop-the-clock chop at maybe 7.5. No whistle. Finally, Duffin was fouled at 5.6 and hit the back end of a double-bonus to set up the last-shot sequence involving Fleming (23 points, three treys).

Foul. That's a four-letter word to Mayo.

"Normally, I get ticky-tacks in the first quarter, and that keeps me from playing in the second quarter," he said. Being held out "is a good idea, though, because I can save my fouls for the rest of the game.

"It's frustrating not being able to help my team. But I do watch for things that might help me later, and I do call out things to my teammates, like whether they're open."

Mayo, who lives in Media, also played football through the eighth grade and he figures during his years at O'Hara, he was asked at least three times to resume by coach Danny Algeo.

"I actually was going to do it this past season," he said. "But I was so involved with AAU basketball, I wasn't able to make the summertime stuff. I decided to just stick with basketball."

Davidson (11) was the Lions' only other double-digit scorer. Terrell Grobes and Ed Allen, the other players with height, grabbed some tough rebounds, and Lamotte Williams posted five steals.

For Ryan, Fleming added eight rebounds and five steals to his points, Nick Aughenbaugh (11 points, five steals) shot 4-for-4 in the second half, and Slawter (scoreless) managed 14 stats - five rebounds, six assists, two steals, one block. Christian Rivera claimed six boards.

Mayo, who envisions a career in business or physical therapy, is hearing from Division III schools, such as Neumann, Rosemont and Marywood.

If he talks to someone from those schools Saturday, maybe he'll be told, "Hey, I heard your coach yelling. At our place. The guy's voice really carries, man."

OK, Marywood might be a stretch. It's in Scranton. *