Larkin 39, East Aurora 33
Trailing 21-6 at the half, getting a Senior Night victory was going to be a tall order for the Larkin girls basketball team.
It would require contributions from everyone on the court, senior leadership, perseverance and composure.
Doubling their point total from the first half in the third quarter alone while holding East Aurora (5-21, 1-9) to just 5 points certainly turned the tide and in the end, defensive efforts earned the Royals a huge 38-33 come-from-behind Upstate Eight Conference win.
"You need two things in a game like this," said Larkin coach Amy Silverman. "You have got to play defense and you have got to rebound. East Aurora was doing it very well, and we weren't.
"I knew if we could play defense in the second half, we could win this game."
The halftime pep talk regenerated the Royals, who racked up 14 second-half steals and 12 rebounds enabling them to pull ahead and stay on top until the final buzzer.
Lindsey Casebeer (6 points, 6 rebounds) opened what would later become a 13-5 run with a free throw to start the third quarter. With 5 quick steals from Alyssa Burns who finished the night with 9 picks, Jessica Harris (6 points, 5 rebounds), Laura Kay (5 points), Sophie Sterricker (2 points) and Burns herself each nabbed timely buckets bringing the Royals (4-20, 2-7) to within 8 points at 26-18 before the conclusion of the quarter.
After a pair of single free throws from each side, Larkin scored 5 unanswered points getting the crowd on its feet as the Royals brought it to 27-25. Harris found nothing but net from the outside, followed by a drive from Burns who then hit a free throw after pulling down a defensive board and going the distance with it.
Burns, who led all scorers with 19 points, tallied 11 of those points in the fourth quarter, several on the receiving end of 4 fourth quarter snags from Kay (5 rebounds, 5 steals).
"East Aurora wasn't expecting us to come out as hard as we did in the second half," Kay said. "Tonight showed me how we can play from here on out.
"The teamwork was the best I've seen all season."
Larkin tied it up at 27-27 on Harris basket following a steal from Kay.
Late free-throws would be crucial, and after shooting 4-for-10 from the foul line in the first half, the Royals capitalized late hitting 12-of-21.
Larkin's first lead of the game came with 4:28 left to play when Burns sunk two from the foul line to make it 29-27.
They never looked back.
"I knew if we took the lead, we weren't going to lose it," said Silverman. "Jen Koch and Leah Rybakowski did a great job defensively off the bench, Alyssa was great from the free throw line, Laura did a nice job rebounding and Sophie was just outstanding on the boards."
Sterricker finished the game with 14 rebounds for the Royals.
"The girls did exactly what I asked them to do and it paid off," said Silverman. "We got the W. "I'm really proud of them. They played with so much heart tonight so that our seniors could get a win on Senior Night."
And for that, the senior crew will always be grateful.
"These girls are absolutely amazing," said Kay. "I'm going to miss them all so much."