Like father,
like Ma-son

By Joe Mason
For the Times

Isiah Mason stepped to the line with his team down by a point.
Mason, a senior shooting guard on the Cardinal Dougherty High School basketball team, was fouled late in his team’s Catholic League Northern Division encounter against La Salle on Jan. 27, and he went to the line, shooting one-and-one.
The first shot . . . all cotton.
The second shot . . . again, nothing but net.
Final score: Cardinal Dougherty, 57, La Salle, 56.
Great way to win the game, but for Mason, it’s just more of the same. He’s the only returning starter from last year’s team that went undefeated in Northern Division play.
Most of those players are now playing in college, but Mason is working hard to help a young Dougherty team compete for a spot in the postseason.
"It’s not too hard," said Mason, who scored eight points in the triumph. "In the beginning of the year, we really didn’t know what to expect, because we didn’t know how well the rest of the players could play.
"The younger guys have really done a great job," he said. "They’re helping us win a lot of games, and that’s why we still have a good chance to make the playoffs."
Considering their inexperience, the Cardinals have fared remarkably well. Other than Mason and senior forward Brandon Savage, the Cardinals came into the season with a group of players who had yet to see meaningful minutes on the varsity level.
Now, with four games to go on the schedule, Dougherty sits at 6-4, which is good enough for second place in a top-heavy division.
"It’s a crazy year because everyone is beating everyone," said Mason, whose free-throws helped Dougherty avenge an early-season loss to the Explorers. "It makes it tough, because every time you go out you have a chance to win or lose, but it does make you work a lot harder because you know every game can come down to one shot."
"I’m happy with the way we played (against La Salle)," said Dougherty coach Mark Heimerdinger. "I’m happy because we paid attention to detail and we made adjustments according to what our opponents were doing. Today we did that very well."
Mason no longer is worried about La Salle, at least not yet. His only concern is helping Dougherty return to the playoffs.
In the future, he wants to continue his basketball career, most likely at a local college, where he hopes to major in business management.
His play on the basketball court will continue to entertain his father, Donald Mason, a former star at Kensington High School.
"He was a point guard, but he comes to all my games and he always tells me to score," Mason said. "I want to go to school around here, because I’m kind of a mama’s boy and I want to stay around my dad and my mom (Brenda Riggins).
"I’m real close to my family and I want to stay around here. If I had a chance to go to Georgetown, I’d go there because that’s where my favorite basketball player, Allen Iverson, went. But if not, I’ll stay around here."
Last year, after downing La Salle in the first round of the league playoffs, Dougherty squared off with Roman Catholic in the semifinals at the Palestra. The Cardinals didn’t win, but Mason did have a lot of fun.
"It’s great playing in that kind of atmosphere," said Mason, who leads Dougherty in scoring this season. "But first I want to make sure we make it back to the playoffs.
"Dougherty has been in the playoffs every year I remember, and I don’t want to be on the team that doesn’t make it," Mason said. "We wanted to win the division, but if we can’t do that, I really want to make sure we go back to the playoffs and have a chance to win a title in my final year." ••