Elgin completes Larkin sweep
Elgin point guard Arie Williams is only a sophomore, but coach Mike Sitter trusted his decision-making ability at a key juncture of the Maroons’ 51-34 victory at Larkin Thursday.
Larkin had just pulled within 31-28 of the rival Maroons on Ian Fluhler’s putback with 4:29 left in the third quarter. In an attempt to undercut the building momentum of the Royals, Williams decided for the second time in as many possessions to ice the ball against Larkin’s zone defense, which opted to sit back and not challenge.
Williams calmly held the ball near midcourt for over two minutes as the anticipation deepened. The bored Larkin student section eventually took a seat. Meanwhile, the Elgin students clapped and chanted “Arie, Arie, Arie.”
Williams finally triggered the offense with 2:19 left in the quarter but promptly turned it over. No matter, Larkin gave the ball right back via one of its 15 turnovers, and Kory Brown cashed in with a layup after Dennis Moore kept the play alive with an offensive rebound.
Brown’s basket ignited a 7-0 run as Williams and Elgin continued to slow things down, spread the floor and pick apart the Larkin defense en route to restoring its double-digit lead.
“We wanted to slow them down and get their momentum to go away because their crowd was in it,” Williams said. “I wanted to slow the game down, but I didn’t expect to be out there for two or three minutes holding the ball.”
“He has a huge basketball IQ,” Sitter said of Williams. “I trust his opinion, and I thought that was the turning point in the game. After that I felt Larkin was rushing the rest of the game. They were really pressing.”
Larkin (4-19, 0-10) made only 2-of-7 field goals in the fourth quarter, none in the game’s final 5:51.
“We don’t want it to be a track race against those guys, so them holding the ball was fine,” Larkin coach Deryn Carter said. “It was what we did on offense and immediately following that hurt us.
“We just couldn’t get over the hump. Turning the ball over too much hurt us again, so we’ll get back to work and get better at it. I think we’re getting better. It’s just a matter of if we’ll be good enough in time.”
Elgin (17-4, 7-2) outscored the Royals 16-6 in the final period to polish off the win and complete the season sweep of Larkin.
“It’s always going to be harder at their place with their fans,” said Moore, whose Maroons defeated the Royals 65-40 on Jan. 18. “It was really hyped. It was a great atmosphere. We just knew we had to come out and do what we had to do.”
The win kept the Maroons tied for first place in the River Division of the Upstate Eight Conference with St. Charles North (12-10, 7-2), which defeated Streamwood 70-48 Thursday.
St. Charles East (10-11, 6-3), which visits Chesbrough Field House tonight, dropped out of a three-way tie for first in the UEC River due to a 57-53 loss at Batavia Thursday.
Brown finished with 13 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 blocks and 2 steals and senior Jordan Dean added 13 points and 3 rebounds to pace Elgin. Junior Matt Andres scored 9 points and Moore finished with 8 points, 6 rebounds and 2 steals.
Sophomore guard Quantice Hunter led the Royals with 11 points, and he accounted for 3 of Larkin’s total of six 3-pointers in the game.
Elgin won despite shooting 20 of 45 (44 percent) from the floor and losing the rebounding battle 26-24.
“It’s not a masterpiece, but it will sell,” Sitter said. “I think Picasso said that.”