Wrap: Elgin rallies to get past Larkin

The Larkin boys basketball team proved something to itself by hanging with talented Elgin for three quarters in Friday night's Upstate Eight Conference opener at Chesbrough Field House.

But the speedy Maroons ultimately proved they can withstand their rival's best shot and keep right on rolling.

Larkin (0-4) established leads on three occasions in the third quarter and was still within 56-52 with 4:54 left in the final period before Elgin (4-1) ignited for a 13-0 run that sealed a 75-59 victory, Elgin's fourth straight.

"That's not the way we predicted it to happen but, hey, they played hard," Elgin senior guard Armani Williams said. "I mean, anything goes when you play in an Elgin-Larkin game."

Elgin led 32-27 at the half but Larkin shot 50-percent from the floor (8 of 16) in the third quarter when it capitalized on 6 Elgin turnovers.

The surprising Royals took their final lead of the game at 45-44 when Nick Bee drove the lane for a layup with 2:13 left in the period. Bee led Larkin with 18 points while Ryan Shriver added 15 and Cam Kinley posted 10 points and 10 rebounds.

"Nobody expected us to play that way," Bee said. "We hung with them when nobody expected it. We showed that when we work together we can play a lot better than we did in that (Downers Grove South) tournament."

Larkin junior Jeff Saurbaugh kept Larkin within striking distance with his 3-pointer that cut Elgin's lead to 56-52 with 4:54 to play.

After that it was all Elgin.

The Maroons exploded for a 13-0 run that ended all suspense. Armani Williams scored 6 points to fuel the run, Derrell Howse added a basket in transition and another by pounding the glass and Jeremy Granger capped the run with a steal and a rim-rattling dunk on a breakaway with 2:25 to play that put Elgin up 69-52.

"Finally, we said enough is enough," Elgin coach Mike Sitter said. "We're going to get the loose balls and rebounds and we're going to push it up the floor. That's what turned the tide. That's what changed the whole flow."

Armani Williams led all scorers with 26 points, including five 3-pointers in 14 attempts. Jeremy Granger added 14 points and 8 rebounds and D'Angelo Stewart finished with 10 points and 8 rebounds for Elgin.

Larkin, which relies on several football players in the lineup, had trouble running the floor with the Maroons in the game's late stages.

"This is exactly what I wanted: to concentrate on our stuff, which we did, but the fatigue factor came in," first-year Larkin coach Larry Hight said. "That's something we can work on with conditioning. A lot of these guys are football players and they're not in basketball shape yet."

Girls basketball

Larkin 52, Elgin 42: The final numbers are anything but pretty, but one thing the Elgin-Larkin girls basketball game at Chesbrough Field House Friday night did not lack was intensity.

Larkin fought off the pesky Maroons 52-42 in overtime in an Upstate Eight Conference opener for both teams that featured 67 turnovers, 53 fouls, 62 free-throw attempts and seven players fouling out.

"We made so many mistakes I don't know how to feel," said an exhausted Larkin coach Amy Silverman, whose team beat its crosstown rival for the 10th straight time and 11th in the last 12 meetings.

"I feel like maybe we stole one there."

Despite the loss, Elgin coach Angie Hudson was upbeat about her team's performance.

"I thought our girls played tremendous tonight," said Hudson, whose squad had to play the final 1:13 of the game with only four players due to foul outs. "This is a win in our books. They gave me the full effort tonight and I'm proud of them."

Junior Ellen Holton scored a game-high 23 points for the Maroons (0-7, 0-1) while senior Alyssa Burns led Larkin (1-6, 1-0) with 15 points. Each fouled out in the overtime.

Larkin got key contributions from every player on the floor after their leader was whistled for her fifth foul with 3:13 left in the extra session. The Royals had just taken a 43-41 lead on a Burns basket 26 seconds earlier.

"We were just so excited and we made too many fundamental errors," said Burns. "It was difficult but we had to fight through it."

After Holton made a free throw to make it a 43-42 game with 3:13 left, Kay (7 points, 7 rebounds) converted on a conventional 3-point play to send the Royals on an 11-0 game-ending run and the win.

"Toward the end my calf started cramping up but I knew Alyssa was in foul trouble and we needed someone to be the leader," said Kay, who played the entire final 20 minutes without a break.

Larkin also got stellar second-half efforts from junior Jessica Harris (13 points, 10 rebounds), who hit 9 of 10 from the line, including 4 of 4 in the overtime. Senior Sophie Sterricker added 10 points and 13 rebounds, senior Jennifer Koch had 9 points and junior Leah Rybakowski came off the bench to provide some much needed ball-handling down the stretch.

"Jessica Harris stepped it up at the free-throw line, Leah really stepped it up and what can I say about Laura Kay? I wasn't able to get her a break that whole second half," Silverman said. "I'm really proud of how they all stepped it up when Burns went out."

Larkin shot just 16 of 57 from the floor and 19 of 41 from the line for the game but won the rebounding battle 55-46 and had fewer turnovers (37-30). Elgin shot 15-for-55 from the floor and 11 of 21 from the line.

Caris Alan and Giselle Bruskewitz (9 rebounds) added 8 points each for the Maroons.

Elgin sent the game into overtime when, down 41-38, Holton made a free throw with 9 seconds to play. Hudson then called time out and instructed Holton to miss the second free throw, get the rebound and score. Holton did and the first Elgin-Larkin game in at least 15 years to go to overtime did.

"I told Ellen to miss the shot intentionally and she did a tremendous job," Hudson said.

But in the end the Royals used Harris' free throw touch and fewer foul outs to prevail.

-- John Radtke

Boys basketball

Burlington Central nabs a win in OT: Trailing throughout the first half, Burlington Centr,al (3-1) took a second half lead, but could not hold on as it watched Genoa-Kingston bounce back from a 7-point deficit in the final minutes of play with 3 consecutive shots from behind the arc to end regulation a 68-68 tie.

Behind a 29-point performance from Mike McCurdy who led all offensive efforts, the Rockets outscored Genoa 13-10 in overtime for the nonconference win.

"The kids hung in there," said BC coach Chris Payne. "They showed a lot of composure in overtime not letting the comeback get to them."

Also scoring in double digits for Burlington were Jake McNutt (18 points, five 3-pointers), Jason Wagner (19 points) and Shane Larkin (10 points).

Hampshire 58, Oregon 56: Even after three quarters, Hampshire (2-2) recorded the winning basket in the final quarter of this nonconference contest to earn the 58-56 victory. T.J. Burzak led the Whip-Pur offensive attack with 22 points. Justin Bieber added 14 points, and Mike Kozenczak contributed with 9 points en route to the win.

Walther Lutheran 54, Westminster Christian 49: Westminster Christian (2-2, 0-1) put up a good fight, but came out on the losing end of this Private School League match-up. Joel Benson led all scoring efforts with 22 points, and Tyler Beachler added double-digit offense with 15 points.

Wrestling

Dundee-Crown d. Huntley: With wins from Miko Villanueva (103 pounds), Phil Roos (119), Jermaine Lee (125), Cody Muscat (130), Jack Lewis (135), Mike Rust (140), Austin Tanner (145), Ryan Horcher (152), Justin Walden (171), Roney Dumas (215) and Mike Lukowski (275), Dundee-Crown (7-0) remains unbeaten.

Lewis, Tanner, Walden and Dumas each recorded pins.

For Huntley, Coty Claudio (112), Jordon Bakley (160) and Tony Benning (189) each recorded individual victories.

Men's basketball

Judson 90, Indiana University-Northwest 62: After an early 21-4 first half run, Judson (4-3) never looked back in this nonconference win over Indiana. For the seventh consecutive game this season, DeWayne Robinson scored over 20 points with 27 to lead all scorers. He also led the Eagles on the boards pulling down 9 rebounds. Ilija Bojanic added 17 points en route to the win.

Women's basketball

Judson 96, Indiana University-Northwest 20: In opening action of the Judson Tournament, the Eagles (3-5) ran away with a 96-20 win over Indiana. The 96 points was the most scored since Judson defeated Principia 101-65 in the 2005-06 season.

Leading offensive efforts for the Eagles were Theresa Larson (14 points), Devonaye Henderson with 13 points and 12 rebounds, her first double-double of the year and Ashley Cheairs (11 points).