Smith's career-high 34 propel Larkin to big win
All the things first-year coach Deryn Carter has been instilling in the Larkin boys basketball program came to fruition and then some on Friday afternoon.
Senior Ryan Smith was on fire all day, nailing 10 3-pointers and scoring a career-high 34 points as the Royals ran past Parkview of Wisconsin 90-54 in the Hoops for Healing Tournament at Belvidere.
"We were moving the ball real well, I got open shots and I was able to knock them down, said Smith, who made 10 of 16 from beyond the arc as the Royals shot 35 of 64 for the game.
The 90 points is believed to be the most a Larkin team has scored since at least 1996.
"Today we were making shots and when shots fall it's a lot easier to play basketball," said Carter, whose team is off to a 2-1 start.
The Royals, who turned the ball over just 7 times in the game, also played some pretty staunch defense. They hounded the Vikings into 21 turnovers as senior Ramadan Adili led the way with 4 steals.
"Defensively, we're just trying to get everyone to understand what Larkin High School is going to be," said Carter, a tenacious defender himself when he played at Larkin.
With Smith hitting his first three 3-pointers, the Royals ran out to a 22-11 lead after one quarter and never looked back. By halftime, Smith had 17 of his points and Larkin led 36-20.
But unlike Wednesday's 69-43 loss to Hononegah, this time the Royals didn't let up. They tacked on an NBA-like 54-point second half and turned the game into a rout. David Korth's baseline jumper with under 20 seconds to play provided the final margin.
"That was better than Wednesday," Carter said. "We feel pretty comfortable with what we've done so far. "Ryan's a great shooter but our offense isn't geared to just one person taking all the shots. We pass to the open man and never stop moving."
Smith was also glad to put Wednesday's loss in the rear view mirror.
"We came off a bad loss against Hononegah so it was good to recover from that," he said. "We've got a real positive atmosphere. Everyone's enthusiastic and executing and that's what (Carter) wants."
Twelve Larkin players scored in the game. Adili and Drew Simonini added 11 points each and promising 6-foot-2 freshman Carlito Singleton came off the bench to score 8 points, grab 4 rebounds and dish out 3 assists.
"Carlito is going to be a big factor for us," Carter said.
Nick Melton led Parkview with 21 points, while Kyle Woodworth added 17.
Larkin will wrap up the tournament with a 1:30 p.m. game today against Round Lake.