St. Charles North hangs on to down Larkin

For the second-straight game Larkin's boys basketball team was looking for a miracle comeback.

But St. Charles North senior Mikey Schroeder, who had seen Keion Adams' game-winner over St. Charles East last Friday, wasn't going to allow the Royals another repeat.

Behind Schroeder's 30 points, which included five 3-pointers, 3 big shots to end the third and 3 key free throws in the final minute, the North Stars were able to stave off Larkin 62-58, getting a big confidence booster on Senior Night in the teams' final Upstate Eight River game of the season.

North (7-15, 4-8), which lost by 25 to the Royals last month, now owns big wins over the Royals (14-11, 6-6), Jacobs and Elgin before its play-in matchup against Bartlett at the Class 4A St. Charles East regional next Monday, a rematch of Bartlett's 57-40 win on February 3.

"It gives us confidence against Bartlett," said Schroeder, who shot 9 of 18 from the floor. "We think we can win our regional; Bartlett's a hard task and Batavia's a hard task, but it's not like we can't do it. If we play like that and like we played Jacobs we can put a plaque on the wall. That's what we're going for."

Even when Larkin used a 14-0 run in third quarter to erase a 15-point North lead, the North Stars never wavered. Schroeder drained a left wing 3 late in the third to keep the Royals at bay and in the fourth when Larkin had the lead down to 1 again, North used Kyle King's behind-the-back pass from the left elbow to Griffin Hammer for a two-handed slam with 1:29 left and a 57-54 lead that would hold.

"We knew they were going to have a run; they usually make multiple runs during games. We burned a couple of timeouts in the third to try and stop it," North coach Tom Poulin said. "I feel like we did just enough to hang onto the lead but it was really our guys showing some toughness and maturity and showing they've learned lessons throughout the season. We've had some rough spots where we've let the game get away and we didn't let that happen tonight."

Armon Osborne's 15 points and Hammer's 11 points and 4 rebounds didn't let it happen despite North shooting 38.4 percent on 20 of 52 shooting and 16 turnovers.

North opened up a 15-point lead on two separate occasions and opened up the second half leading 36-21. Larkin though, which committed 15 first-half turnovers, woke up in the third thanks to AJ Hunter and Keyvon Kyles, whose smart playmaking helped Larkin outscore North 21-11 in the quarter.

Kyles, who led Larkin with 18 points and 4 steals, drained 2 straight 3-pointers, his last cutting North's lead to 36-33 and Hunter's subsequent layup with 2:27 cut it to 1.

"We just stopped aching and complaining about this and that and went out there and played," Kyles said despite the team's 20 turnovers. "When we're playing our best we're out there not thinking and just playing."

Christian Negron added 7 points and 13 rebounds while Jalen Shaw had 10 points, 6 rebounds and 3 blocks off the bench. Hunter's potential 3-point play with 42.3 left cut it to 3, though Hunter's missed free throw and Larkin's 4 putbacks that followed all came up empty. But Larkin coach Deryn Carter won't see the loss as a deterrent for the playoffs.

"We have a mature group, they can understand it," said Carter, whose team shot 46.5 percent from the field. "You need to learn from your mistakes but when the ball's thrown up Monday, (the loss) isn't going to have anything to do with it. When the playoffs come, it is what it is and I like where we're at."