Streamwood heats up in win over Larkin
After sinking only 7 first half baskets, the Streamwood girls basketball team exploded for 12 third quarter buckets to overwhelm Larkin 66-39 Thursday night in Upstate Eight River action.
The Sabres, leading the host Royals 24-13, opened the second half with an 18-4 run to extend their advantage to 42-17 halfway through the period. Streamwood ended the quarter ahead 54-21.
Senior Monica Brown led the balanced attack, scoring 11 of her game-high 13 points in the period, including 3 straight 3-point shots. Teammates Mandy Mien (10 points), Becky Roncone (11) and Andrea Bracy (12) all hit double figures for the night.
"I didn't see it coming. That's the most points (in a quarter) so far this year," said Streamwood coach George Rosner of his squad's third quarter outburst. "We talked about what we had to do at halftime and it's up to them to do it. We did talk about making shots and opening the floor because their zone was so wide. We wanted to get the ball in the middle more and work off that, which we did."
"We hung with them for three out of the four quarters. The third quarter was where they busted it open from 11 to 31," Larkin coach Steve Knapp said. "We did some scouting and they haven't shot the ball well from the 3-point line. They came out and hit 3 or 4 threes in the third quarter."
Brianna Young provided all the Royals' offense in the third period, scoring all 8 of her points in the frame.
The Sabres' defense held Larkin (2-7, 1-2) to single digits during the first 3 quarters.
Streamwood's offense started off slow, making only one basket in the first quarter, but still led 8-7 after the first eight minutes thanks to Larkin fouls. The Sabres scored their first 6 points from the free throw line.
Bracy sank the first Streamwood (2-8, 2-2) bucket on a layup with 1:30 to play in the first quarter.
"We took a couple shots that were good but I thought we could've moved the ball a little bit more (during the first quarter). We are trying to get the ball into Andrea and Becky and score inside. We got a little bit away from that," Rosner said. "I think the second quarter was better defensively. I think we kind of took control more defensively in the second quarter and got enough baskets to build up a nice lead."
Knapp attributed the Royals' foul trouble to their lack of offense.
"The biggest part of our offense is Brianna in the middle and when she got in foul trouble (early in the third quarter) and came out, then we struggled a little bit handling the ball," he said.
Haley Bohne and Alexia Saldivar scored 7 points each for Larkin.