Burlington Central trips up Larkin

Burlington Central's offense is heating up as the regular season winds down.

The Rockets scored 39 first-half points and shot 48.2 percent from the floor (27 of 56) in a 72-65 nonconference boys basketball victory over Larkin on Rocket Hill Tuesday night.

It was a blanced attack for Burlington Central (12-13). Junior Sam Klein led all scorers with 23 points to go with 8 rebounds, senior Shane Larkin demonstrated a consistent mid-range jump shot and finished with 16 points and 12 rebounds, sophomore Ray Hunnicutt scored 14 points and grabbed 5 rebounds and senior Steve Hall hit three 3-pointers en route to 12 points.

"The last couple of games our offense has been flowing really nice," Larkin said. "Even against Hampshire (a 48-47 loss), it came down to defense. I just think we're finding each other open. Our offensive sets are great."

Larkin (1-25) was led by senior shooting guard Ryan Smith, who sank 5-of-10 attempts from 3-point range. However, the Royals were unable to handle the Rockets' offensive execution in the half-court game, particularly early in the game.

"We just started off slow and we couldn't slow them down," Larkin guard Ramadan Adili said. "We weren't concentrating early. We just came out flat."

Central jumped to an 11-3 lead, powered by 3 Hunnicutt baskets, a 3-pointer by senior Zach Romando and a layup by Larkin on a nice inside feed from Klein.

The Royals evened the game at 16 at the end of a quarter, but they fell behind midway through the third quarter by as much as 47-33, courtesy of a Hall 3-pointer.

Larkin senior guard Jermaine Clements scored 7 of his 11 points during a 22-6 run that bridged the third and fourth quarters. His rising jumper in the lane pulled the Royals within 53-51 with 7:26 left, but Central pushed the lead back to 6 points and the teams traded baskets for most of the final period.

Larkin had possession and a chance to pull within 3 points, but a diving Matt McCurdy knocked the ball loose and Klein picked it up and scored a breakaway layup for a 66-59 lead with 3:09 left.

Though the Rockets hit only 6-of-14 free throws in the fourth quarter, their ability to halt Larkin's offensive penetration by sometimes employing an inverse triangle-and-two defense helped preserve the victory.

"It was in the scouting report to stay between (Clements) and the basket," Central coach Brett Porto said. "He's very, very good at penetration. That's not to say the other guys on the court are slouches at all, but he was A-No. 1 to try to stop and it was a point of emphasis to stay between your man and the basket."

Clements and Adili each finished with 11 points for the Royals. Garrett McDaniel had 9 points and 9 rebounds.