Storm stands above Larkin

South Elgin enjoyed a precipitous height advantage at three of five starting positions in Thursday's Upstate Eight Conference boys basketball tilt at Larkin.

Center Dan Lopez (6-foot-9) had 6 inches on Larkin's Cam Kinley, and long-armed Storm guards Adam Hodge (6-4) and Josh Glenn (6-1) each stood taller than their Larkin counterparts, Nick Bee (5-9) and Ryan Shriver (5-9).

The taller South Elgin trio outscored Larkin's key players 32-16.

"Being small, it's going to be hard all year," Kinley said. "We just have to fight through."

Despite those advantages in size, the true difference maker in South Elgin's 47-32 victory -- a win that improved the Storm to 3-0 all-time against Larkin -- was energetic forward Jeff Lewis, who was pure hustle Thursday.

Lewis is the kind of player unafraid to donate skin to the cause by diving for a loose ball, the kind of player to whom boxing out for a rebound is more important than scoring, the kind of player who stands firm and takes a charge despite impending impacts.

He's the kind of unselfish player who helps a team win. Thursday, he contributed 2 steals, 2 charges taken, 7 points and 10 rebounds.

"I just get out there everyday and try to carry over what I do in practice to the games," Lewis said.

The junior snared 6 of his 10 rebounds in the first quarter to ignite the Storm, which took a 10-4 lead after one period.

"He's just a tough kid," South Elgin coach Chaz Taft said. "That's the kind of kid we want at South Elgin. He's the prototype."

Larkin (0-6, 0-2) had trouble finding the net against the Storm (4-2, 2-0). The Royals connected for only 11 field goals in the game, 3 in the first half when they shot 3 of 18 and turned the ball over 8 times.

For the game Larkin shot 32 percent (11 of 34) while South Elgin was connecting at a 46-percent clip (16 of 35).

"They were hitting their shots in the first half. We weren't," Larkin coach Larry Hight said. "We got behind and we couldn't catch up to them. They're too good a team to come back on."

South Elgin took a 24-11 lead to the half and was able to fend off a modest Larkin run in the third quarter.

Deonte McFadden capped a 6-0 Larkin surge with back-to-back buckets that cut the deficit to 35-28 with 6:46 to play, but he subsequently missed 2 free throws that could have pulled Larkin within 5 points.

Leading 37-30, South Elgin outscored the Royals 10-2 to seal its third straight victory on Larkin's home court.