DeKalb duo too much for Royals

Larkin saw two completely different DeKalb teams Saturday night.

The first one featured speedy run-and-gun point guard Darius McNael, and the second featured 6-foot 10-inch Jordan Threloff, who pretty much owned the paint when he played.

The combination of styles eventually took its toll on the Royals, who lost 63-52 in Elgin. Despite the varied looks, the Royals (6-9) were tied at 47-47 with 3:15 left to play.

"We played good for three and a half quarters," Larkin coach Larry Hight said. "(Threloff), we couldn't handle him. He's 6-10, with a lot of weight. One of our goals was to get him in foul trouble, and we did - it just wasn't enough."

Threloff went 6-for-7 from the free-throw line as DeKalb (10-5) closed the game out on a 16-5 run in the final three minutes. He finished with 10 of his 14 points in the final period. When Threloff was out, McNeal (25 points) did the damage in the final period, going 4-of-4 from the free-throw line. After scoring 32 points in the first 3 quarters, DeKalb put up 29 in the final eight minutes.

Larkin struggled on the offensive end as well, shooting 7-of-14 in the final period. The Royals also turned the ball over 8 times in the final eight minutes after committing just 7 turnovers in the first 3 quarters.

"It was miscommunication, shots not falling, not taking a layup and shooting a 3-pointer," said Larkin forward Brando Cooks, who at 6 feet was asked to defend Threloff at times. "We can't live and die with 3-pointers."

Larkin was living by them early on. The Royals jumped out to a 17-12 first-quarter lead as Drew Simonini (12 points, 6 rebounds) and Cooks (6 assists) each nailed a pair of 3-pointers in the opening period. Ryan Smith (12 points) added a fifth 3-pointer in the opening period as Larkin shot 5-of-8 from beyond the arc.

The Royals finished the game 4-of-16 from 3-point land, with Smith going 3-of-8 in the final 3 periods.

"It was hard to shoot, hard to do anything (inside) with (Threloff) in the game," Hight said. "We he went out, we should have attacked the basket and layed off the 3s."

Larkin's lack of attacking the basket resulted in only 3 free-throw attempts, all by point guard Jeff Saurbaugh (5 points, 10 rebounds, 5 assists). DeKalb was 19-of-24 from the charity stripe, including going a combined 14-of-16 in the fourth quarter. To make matters worse, DeKalb owned a 10-5 advantage on the offensive glass in the second half. The rebounding advantage allowed the Barbs to stay within 37-34 at the end of the third quarter after 3-of-17 shooting in the period.