Defense does it for Larkin in season opener

Larkin 54, Round Lake 39

There is just something different about the Larkin boys basketball team this season.

It's not the balanced offense, which had Terell John leading the way with 18 points.

Nor was it the lockdown defensive effort that limited Round Lake to only 39 points in the Royals' 54-39 victory in the opening game of the Hoops for Healing Tournament at Woodstock Monday night.

The biggest change was the celebration from John and teammate Brandon Cooks after Round Lake's Nick Lange missed a pair of free throws with 0.9 seconds left to prevent the Panthers from scoring over 40 points.

See, holding a team to under 40 points was one of many lofty goals Larkin coach Larry Hight set for his team this season. It's also a goal which will be rewarded with a pizza party, which Hight constantly reminded his team of in the game's final 2 minutes.

"That's a great way to start," Hight said. "We have a lot of very high goals and one of them was to hold a team to under 40 points. They get a pizza party. That was a great defensive game."

A large part of the defensive effort came as Larkin held Round Lake (0-1) scoreless in the final 2 minutes. The Panthers missed their final 11 shots and did not score a field goal in the game's final 5:22.

David Windham brought Round Lake to within 43-37 with 5:22 left in the game. The 6-point deficit was the lowest since Larkin opened the game up with a 16-2 advantage at the end of the first quarter.

The Royals then got baskets from Jeff Saurbaugh (6 points, 7 assists) and John (5 rebounds, 3 steals) to go back up 47-37. Windham, who led the Panthers with 20 points and 11 rebounds, nailed a pair of free throws with 2:00 left to play to come within 47-39. Larkin's defense took over from there.

"We work hard in practice," said John, who went 8 of 10 from the floor. "(Last year) we came out nervous and uptight. We already matched our win total from last season."

The Royals won just 1 game in the 2007-08 season, but that memory was erased very quickly in the first quarter Monday night.

John went 5 of 5 from the floor, with 4 assists from Saurbaugh as Larkin went up 16-2 in the first 8 minutes. After the Panthers double teamed John, Brandon Cooks did the damage finishing with 12 points and 3 steals. Ryan Smith added 10 points. The Panthers did own a 36-29 advantage on the boards with Jon Martinez contributing 9.

"We knew they had some good guards," Round Lake coach Howard Kravets said. "We got off to a horrible start. They jumped out on us from the start."