Balanced Larkin topples Elgin
It was truly a team effort by the Larkin girls basketball team on Friday night as the Royals cruised to a 64-46 win over Elgin in second round action of the Elgin City Classic at Westminster Christian.
Larkin had 10 players in the scoring column, including 3 in double digits. Shawniece Colen Douglas led the way for the Royals with a team-high 15 points to go with 6 rebounds. Haley Bohne and Marlee Kyles each had 13 points. Kyles also added 6 assists.
With the win the Royals improved to 2-0 in the tournament and will play for the title on Saturday against Harvest Christian at Harvest Christian.
"Kylie did a real good job of distributing the basketball and we were able to get a lot of people involved," Larkin coach Steve Knapp said. "We are starting to be more aggressive on the offensive end and we want to see that continue."
The Royals (8-12) came out on fire in the first quarter, hitting 10-of-17 shots (59 percent) from the field, to jump out to a 25-10 lead. Kyles, Bohne, and Sarah El Rahmany each had a 3-pointer while Douglas had 3 baskets inside.
"Playing against Elgin kind of raises the intensity," said Douglas. "We want to use this tournament to build some confidence towards the playoffs."
Larkin stretched the lead to 20 points early in the second quarter. Elgin managed to climb back within 10 points early in the fourth quarter before the Royals went on a 13-0 run to clinch the win.
Elgin (1-17) did get a couple of solid performances out of post player Alisha Panthier, who had 18 points and 12 rebounds, along with guard Lakiya Harvey, who added 16 points.
"We've been working on establishing more of a perimeter-post relationship," Elgin coach Dr. Nick Bumbales said. "It was nice to see that inside-outside balance. We had 2 ½ quarters where we outscored them, but that first quarter really put us in a hole."