Harvest Christian nips Larkin for Elgin City Classic title

With the game on the line, Paulina Castro showed why she will play college basketball at the Division I level next year.

Castro scored 8 of her 17 points in the fourth quarter, hitting two long 3-pointers then nailing a one-handed floater in the lane with 25 seconds to play as Harvest Christian came back from a 10-point deficit to beat Larkin 46-44 in the championship game of the Elgin City Classic girls basketball tournament at Harvest's Mitchell Swaback Athletic Center Saturday afternoon.

"The game was getting tight and everyone had to step up," said Castro, who will play at Northern Illinois next year. "My role was to hit the shots I got. My teammates have a lot of faith in me and they did a great job of getting rebounds and tipping loose balls."

Larkin (8-13) took big leads to start the game and the second half but in between the Royals struggled offensively allowing Harvest, which won the City Classic for the second straight year, to get back into the game and eventually win it. The Royals led 8-0 in less than 3 minutes, but by the end of the first quarter the Lions (15-6) had cut the deficit to 12-10.

Larkin led 19-17 at halftime and then went on a 10-2 run to open the second half and grab a 29-19 lead after a Marlee Kyles basket with 5:35 left in the third quarter. Harvest called time out and the comeback began.

"When they went on that 10-point run and we called time out we all just said we had to suck it up and we did," Castro said. "We got aggressive, got a few stops and got our momentum back."

Harvest cut the lead to 35-29 by the end of the third quarter and the fourth quarter belonged to Castro and the Lions, who efficiently made 7 of their 9 shot attempts in the period. Trailing 37-31 with 6:14 to play, Castro hit a 3-pointer from 5 feet beyond the arc, sophomore Katie Kaldenberger made a basket and freshman Jenn Kasper nailed a 3-pointer from the left corner to give the Lions their first lead since late in the second quarter at 39-37.

But Kyles came right back with a 3 to make it 40-39 Larkin with 3:42 left. Rachel Oostdyk scored in the paint for the Lions, Kyles and Kyles drove the lane to score and Larkin led 42-41 with 3:15 remaining. At the 3:04 mark, Castro nailed another 3, also from 5 feet beyond the arc, to give Harvest a 44-42 lead but Sam Wahl scored at the other end to tie things at 44 with 2:53 to play.

After a Harvest turnover, though, Larkin missed three straight shots in the paint and Harvest took possession with 1:41 to go. The Lions patiently moved the ball until, with 25 seconds left, Castro drove the lane and made a one-handed floater that turned out to be the game-winner as Larkin was unable to hit a shot that would have tied the game and Harvest sophomore Alyssa Iverson came away with the rebound.

"We had them where we wanted them," said Larkin coach Steve Knapp. "But then we had some offensive breakdowns and Paulina hit a couple tough shots. We needed to get great shots and we passed up a couple but I never questioned my girls' heart today."

Kyles had 18 points and 7 rebounds to lead the Royals, who made just 19 of 59 shots. Megan Chwee added 12 points. Kasper had 8 points for Harvest, while Oostdyk had 7 points and Kaldenberger added 6 points and 13 rebounds.

"We've been trying to teach a culture of toughness this year and this was perfect timing," said Lions' coach Rich DeTamble, whose Class 1A team is now 9-5 against 3-4A competition this season. "I'm so proud of our kids to not waver. You just cannot underestimate the value of a comeback win against a quality team. They were coachable today and they listened. We did not waste one possession in the fourth quarter."

Elgin 62, Westminster Christian 50: The Maroons (2-17) snapped a 17-game losing streak and finished 1-2 in the City Classic. Alisha Panthier led the way with 20 points while Lakiya Harvey and Tianna Stewart had 14 each. Maddie Versluys led the Warriors (7-11) with 33 points.