Marian Central handles Larkin

Larkin played pretty well in spurts, but a couple of ugly stretches did in the Royals in a 63-47 loss to Marian Central at the Hoops for Healing boys basketball tournament at Woodstock High School Saturday afternoon.

Leading 4-2, the Royals were outscored 11-2 to fall behind for good. Then, trailing 29-20 at halftime, the Royals gave up an 11-0 run to start the second half. Otherwise, Larkin went toe-to-toe with a tall, deep, athletic squad from Marian.

Vince Sarangaya scored 11 points to lead the Royals' balanced attack. Ian Fluhler added 8 points, including a pair of 3-pointers, and Adarion Mahone had 7 points and 9 rebounds for Larkin.

Jake Everly and Ben Krol scored 16 points apiece for Marian.

Larkin coach Deryn Carter acknowledged the Hurricanes' talent, but was disappointed with his team's inconsistency when it came to fundamentals.

"Consistency from the last two nights is a problem," said Carter. "It's disappointing in some of the things we didn't do well like boxing out, getting back on defense, things that it doesn't matter how tall or how big or how fast you are, you should just do every night."

Larkin took a 4-2 lead on a basket by Blake Grantham and was tied at 6-6, but the Hurricanes scored the next 7 points on a run extending into the second quarter. Zach Ricchuito scored 5 of the points in the run.

Marian led 29-20 at the break, but then outscored the Royals 11-0 to start the third quarter. A pair of 3-pointers by Krol fueled that run.

The Royals fought back, getting big contributions from their bench, but couldn't catch up. Brent Cooks had all 4 of his points in the second half, and Quantice Hunter and Antonio Pipes had 3 points apiece in the final 16 minutes. In all, the Royals' bench contributed 17 points.