Taryn McMahon works for Moe’s Mexican restaurant in Lawrenceville and it seems to be good training for what Lawrence High girls basketball coach Dana Williams has in mind for the junior this season.
“I kind of do everything,” McMahon said. “Everyone does everything pretty much. I make the food, clean up, everything.”
Which is exactly what Williams expects. When asked to assess her forward’s qualities and the roles she will play this year, Williams answer was, “Are you ready to write? It’s a long list.”
And while Moe’s may be a training ground for everything, the LHS “Safe Driving” club that Taryn is part of, is a bit ironic. Because trying to drive the lane against the 5-10 shot blocker is anything but safe.
“She’s strong, she plays even a couple inches taller than she is,” Williams said. “Defensively she doesn’t back down, which I love about her. She led us in blocked shots with 14, that’s a lot.”
Rejections are something that McMahon prides herself on, explaining that her court awareness often helps her get blocks.
“If my hands are in their face, it is what it is,” she said. “There’s been times I just read it. There are girls who come running over toward me and I say ‘OK, that wasn’t very smart.’ I just slide over and I’m like ‘I got this.’”
As for fast breaks, she said, “I try to get downcourt as fast as I can in the center. I read who has the ball and I try to shift over to whatever side that’s on. But I see who else is coming down the court. A lot of times I’m already back there. If there’s two players they’re either gonna pass it or shoot it. If I stay in between them and read it and see what they’re doing and know what they’re looking for, that’s where I go.”
Defense and rebounding have been McMahon’s strong points, as she grabbed 90 caroms last year and is the team’s third best returning rebounder behind Emma Dobkin and Jaslin Garcia. This year, she and Williams both expect improvement from her scoring average just over 2 per game.
“We’re looking for her to score 10 points or so a game, hopefully get 10 rebounds a game,” Williams said. “I think her goal this season against most teams would be to get that double double. Taryn has come such a long way just from her freshman year, with the effort she puts in at practice and in the off-season.
“She has put in the time and energy and it shows how much she’s improved on game day. Her confidence has really soared over the past season. This summer she did a great job in the paint on offense in our summer league. She gets her hands up, she wants the basketball, she’s active. She used to be a little more quiet on the court. She would put her hands up but not really demand the ball. Now we see her wanting touches all the time.”
McMahon showed sparks of that attitude last year. And after years of hearing how good she could be by applying herself, Taryn did just that in the summer. She played on the Cardinals’ summer league team and also played AAU for the first time with Team Elevation.
“I’ve been playing since third grade, I know the game and I’ve been told for years that they see so much potential in me,” she said. “This summer I wanted to see what I can do when I put the work in. So I went for it. I was doing stuff six days a week. I went to a lot of college camp things, showcases, tournaments, it was a lot.
“I hadn’t done AAU, I wasn’t looking to do it ever. But two of my teammates played and I would go to their practices and I was like’ I might as well try it.’”
The results were positive.
“It kind of opened my eyes up to what everyone else was like,” she said. “There are a lot of college coaches involved. It was eye opening to see what they’re looking for and what other teams are like, and how everyone communicates.
“Even at the tournaments, me and my mom would watch a random game. I’d look at the center on a team and what she’s doing or what move she’s doing. I’m looking to see if I can try the same thing when my games come around and I can try something new.”
McMahon began playing in the Lawrence recreation league and also would go against her older and younger brothers at times. Taryn’s mom was her rec coach and she played with several girls who are now Cardinal teammates.
“I loved rec,” she said. “It was a fun experience for me and it kept me in basketball. Then I joined middle school and I got COVID.”
At Lawrence, she played JV as a freshman and made varsity last year when Williams returned after a hiatus of several years. After having a serious conversation with herself about what she wanted to do in hoops, McMahon opted to go to work.
“For a while I wasn’t sure if I wanted to go to college for basketball,” she said. “But then I decided I was gonna try the process and go to all these college clinics. My mom helped me so much with that. I want to get better at the game, especially to help my high school team. I love coming to practice, I love my teammates, I enjoy the whole high school basketball experience and I have a passion for playing the game here.”
One of the major things McMahon has improved on is her ball handling, which in turn has helped her penetration to the basket. Despite the club she is in, Taryn was not a safe driver when going to the hoop.
“I’m not a strong ball handler and I’m working on that,” she said. “I didn’t drive a lot because it was scary to me because I’d turn the ball over when I drove. So I’d get in the paint and get the ball, but I didn’t do anything with it. I came to AAU and said ‘I’m gonna go for it.’ I was trying new things and it worked out.”
In the preseason practices, Williams was thrilled at the improvement she saw in a girl she expects to be a key player.
“Her confidence is a lot stronger from the summer,” the coach said. “Just being on the court and working out you can really see a difference from last season to the beginning of this season.”
That confidence is shared in her teammates as well; as both McMahon and Williams are certain the Cardinals can improve on their five wins from last year. Second leading scorer Amber Wooding returns, and the sophomore was second on the team in assists (36) and first in steals (73). Dobkin (132 rebounds) and Garcia (106 rebounds) will provide Taryn with help inside.
“I very much think we’re gonna step it up a whole lot this year,” McMahon said. “Everybody improved obviously from summer league, summer practices. We have eight returners, with everybody stepping up together, I think this will be a better looking year.”
And Taryn will be right in the middle of it. “Every day we look to improve,” Williams said. “We’re incredibly young, we’re still freshmen and sophomore heavy. We’re looking for her to be a leader on the court which I think comes very naturally for her. I told her she’s our glue, we need her to help keep everyone sticking all together.
“She’s friends with everyone, she’s positive with everyone. There’s not a person on the team that she doesn’t talk to or doesn’t get along with. She’s always smoothing things over. When something is going tough in practice and I’m kind of on them she’s one of the first voices we hear trying to pick everybody up.”
Another goal is to hold teams under 35 points per game.
“I know that’s a lofty goal but I really think we can do it,” Williams said. “Taryn’s been watching the game, she goes to watch Rider all the time. She’s reading where to be on defense. Half of blocking a shot is getting yourself in the right position first. I think she’s doing a nice job off the ball there.”
So, McMahon is being asked to produce double-doubles in points and rebounds, block shots, and hold the team together. Sounds like a lot to put on a junior.
“We ask her to do that,” Williams said, “because she can handle it.”
The bosses at Moe’s probably say the same thing.
Taryn McMahon is hoping to increase her scoring this year.,
