Elgin turns the tables on Larkin for 63-55 win

At halftime of Tuesday's nonconference boys basketball game between rivals Elgin and Larkin, a female Larkin student used the public address system to ask a boy to turnabout. It wouldn't be the last time the tables would turn.

Elgin, which fell behind by as much as 49-40 with 6:03 to play on a putback by Larkin's Brent Cooks, finished the game on a 23-6 run - including a 12-0 spurt in the game's final 1:40 - to rally past the Royals 63-55 on the city's west side.

The victory was sweet payback for Elgin (5-16), which lost at home to Larkin (7-13) on Dec. 4. The Royals finished that game on a 12-0 run.

"I think a lot of us wanted the favor to be returned as a team, and that's how we got the game," said Elgin sophomore Kory Brown, who posted a game-best 17 points to go with 9 rebounds. "We were down 9 and we finished out strong."

Larkin led 55-51 with 2:04 to play after Jermaine Clements sank a pair of free throws, but Elgin's half-court trapping defense produced enough steals down the stretch to turn the game.

Elgin took the lead for good with 1:22 remaining. Brown forced the ball loose ball at midcourt, and it caromed off his foot and rolled to sophomore Dennis Moore, who was alone in the backcourt. Moore drove to the hoop and waited for contact from hustling defender Ryan Smith as he banked home the shot and drew the foul.

Moore's three-point play gave the Maroons a 56-55 advantage, their first lead since early in the third quarter.

"I thought they still had the ball, and then I turned around and it was coming my way so I just picked it up," Moore said. "I saw (Smith) running toward me and I knew he was going to try to come at me really hard, so I just tried to draw the contact and finish the basket. And I did."

"That was a big play," Larkin coach Deryn Carter said. "The only thing, I guess, Ryan could have done was not jump. He was behind (Moore), they saw a body foul and just counted it, and he made a tough shot. You have to take your hat off because that was a tough shot. It was definitely the turning point."

Larkin missed its final 4 shot attempts and Elgin grabbed the defensive rebound in each case, drew fouls and polished off the victory at the free-throw line. The Maroons sank 14-of-16 free throws in the fourth quarter, including 8 of 8 by Brown.

The victory snapped Elgin's 7-game losing streak and sent the Royals to their 10th consecutive defeat.

"We just had it in our minds that we were tired of losing," Brown said. "We felt like if we don't start now, we'll never get the chance to, so we had to pick it up fast. And that's what we did. We got back in the game and finished it out at the line."

The Maroons outscored the Royals 25-10 in the fourth quarter and outrebounded Larkin 9-2 in the final eight minutes.

"The lead just kind of got to us a little bit and we thought it was just going to come easy finishing out the game," Smith said. "When we're up (9), we have to build the lead and shove it down their throat, not just give it up at home in an atmosphere like this."

Jordan Dean scored 16 points and Moore finished with 9 for the Maroons. Smith hit three 3-pointers to post 11 points, and Jermaine Clements added 10 for the Royals.