Larkin, South Elgin fall in nonconference play
The Geneva boys basketball team has caused havoc most of the season with its half-court trapping defense.
The pressure certainly got to Larkin on Saturday.
The Vikings' defense had five steals during a 15-0 second-quarter run that was the difference in Geneva's 77-52 victory over the Royals in Elgin.
"Our energy level increased in the second 8 minutes," Vikings coach Tim Pease said. "That's what we needed to sustain."
Larkin (1-23) led 21-17 with 6:22 remaining in the second quarter after a Terell John free throw. On the Royals' next possession, Geneva's Max Cary had a steal and converted it into a layup. Another steal led to a Alex Turnowchyk layup to cap a 15-0 run that gave the Vikings (15-11) a 32-21 lead with 1:50 remaining in the first half. During the run, Geneva had five steals that led to four easy layups and 9 points.
"The half-court trap is effective if you are very much taller than the guard," Royals coach Larry Hight said. "When you have two trees around you, it's hard to get it out of there."
The Royals committed 7 turnovers, six coming on Geneva steals, in the second quarter as they saw what was a 5-point lead with a minute left in the first quarter turn into a 38-27 halftime deficit.
Cary, a 6-foot-2 senior, had four steals and Chris Jordan, a 6-5 senior, had three steals in the first half. The Royals had only three players dressed over 6-feet tall.
"Their running game got us," Hight said. "We tied them in the first quarter and they got a (15-0) run on the running game. We didn't have an answer for it."
Larkin cut the deficit to 9, 38-29, when John scored to open the second half. After a Cary 3-pointer, the Vikings' lead never fell below 11 the rest of the way.
The Royals were with 11, 58-47, with 5:50 left in the game, but Jordan sparked a 13-0 run. Jordan scored 8 points during the run and finished with a game-high 21 points. He added five rebounds and four steals.
Cary had 14 points, five steals and four rebounds. Turnowchyk added 13 points, four rebounds and two steals. Jeremy D'Amico contributed 12 points, four rebounds and three steals.
"(Balance scoring) is the way we have to play," Pease said. "We have to share the ball in transition. We're not a team where I guy is going to carry us."
John's 13 points led the Royals. Cam Kinley had 9 points, 4 rebounds and 4 blocks.
Libertyville 60, South Elgin 51: There were some nervous moments for host Libertyville in nonconference boys basketball action Saturday night.
South Elgin tried to make a late rally, but the Wildcats held on down the stretch to capture a 60-51 victory to snap a four-game losing streak on Senior Night.
Libertyville (9-15) only led 41-35 with 7:49 to play before a rebound basket by junior center Jeremy Letchford gave the Wildcats their biggest lead at 50-37 with 5:48 remaining.
The Storm (11-13) would keep battling back in the final minutes as a rebound basket by South Elgin senior Adam Hodge cut the gap to 57-48 with 56.5 seconds to play.
South Elgin's Jordan Dobler hit a 3-pointer with 21 seconds left, but Libertyville's Joey Aiello hit 2 free throws with 15.1 seconds to go to seal the win.
"This win is going to help us against Antioch and then headed into the playoffs," said Letchford, who led the Wildcats with 15 points. "We did a good job overall of executing, and we were able to contain their big guy (Daniel Lopez)."
The 6-foot-9 Lopez was really shut down offensively as the Libertyville defense held Lopez to only 4 points in the contest.
But rebounding made matters even more difficult for the Storm Saturday as they were out-rebounded 28-15 overall.
"We're lacking rebounding right now from our post players, but the effort is there and we got after it defensively," said South Elgin coach Chaz Taft, whose team trailed 28-26 at halftime. "We were inconsistent on the defensive end of the floor, but Libertyville is an athletic team and all five guys can get to the rim off the bounce."
The Wildcats stormed out to an 18-8 lead after one quarter, but they were outscored 18-10 in the second quarter.
Libertyville gradually pulled away in the third quarter with Letchford (team-high 15 points), Josh Trees (13 points), Paul Aynilian (11 points), Erik Jensen (8 points), and Joey Aiello (7 points) leading a balanced offensive effort.
"We've been in so many of these types of games and it was nice to execute in the end and make our free throws when we needed to," said Libertyville coach Scott Bogumil, whose team hit 20-of-26 free throws. "They're a solid team and our junior Paul Aynilian did a really good job off the bench."
The Storm was led by Hodge with a game-high 21 points while Dobler hit double figures with 13 points.
-- John Bumbales
Cary-Grove 58, McHenry 36: Cary-Grove ( 15-10, 5-3) was able to gain a win against McHenry in a Fox Valley Conference Valley Division game. Cary-Grove was led by Mark Tometich, who had a game-high 15 points. Ben Jacquier added an additional 13 points for the Trojans.