Waubonsie Valley 68, Larkin 57

The postgame comments and expressions would not accurately predict who won Friday's Upstate Eight Conference boys basketball game at Waubonsie Valley.

The visiting Larkin Royals walked off the court with their heads held high and coach Larry Hight was beaming with pride. The Warriors, meanwhile, talked of regrouping and trying to figure how to get back on track.

But it was Waubonsie Valley that did indeed prevail 68-57 to improve to 10-2 and 4-0 in conference, while Larkin stayed winless on the year at 0-9 and 0-3.

"They played their butts off and we didn't match their intensity," Warriors coach Steve Weemer said of the Royals. "They deserved to win."

With guards Nick Bee and Cam Kinley playing with every thing they had to offer, Larkin trailed just 46-41 after three quarters and then sliced the deficit down to 48-46 following a short jumper by Bee, who eventually fouled out after scoring 20 points and pulling down 5 rebounds.

The Royals missed a layup with a chance to tie and then Waubonsie's Kevin VandenBerg pulled down an offensive rebound on the other end that led to a pair of free throws. When Josh Daniels added a pair of foul shots, the Warriors had a little breathing room and went on to win despite a pair of late 3-pointers from Bee.

"That's our best game of the year," Hight said. "It was a 3- or 4-point game with two minutes left. That was by far our best effort. The kids laid it all out on the court. It shows what we can do with (against) a 9-2 team."

The Warriors did accomplish a few things, including 21 points and a trio of 3s from Daniels and a double-double from forward Kyle Obendorf, who had 10 points and 12 rebounds.

But VandenBerg believes his team was a little lucky in escaping with a win against an inspired Larkin team.

"They played well and we didn't. That's basically what you can say," the senior guard said. "We got lucky. We played bad and still came away with a win."

With Daniels scoring 9 points in the second quarter, the Warriors broke from a 16-all tie after one quarter to take a 34-26 lead at the half. The hosts managed that despite 11 turnovers in the first half en route to 22 for the game.

But Brandon Cooks had 4 baskets in the third quarter for the Royals and then Bee and Kinley, who had 12 points and 6 rebounds, helped them scare the Warriors until the final minutes before coming up short. The Warriors' Jelani Johnson scored 6 of his 14 points in the final quarter.

"You never feel good after a loss, but after this one I do," Hight said.