Burlington Central knocks off Larkin for 5th straight win

The Burlington Central boys basketball team wasn't at its best Tuesday night, but still earned its fifth consecutive victory.

The Rockets couldn't put away four-win Larkin until late in the fourth quarter in a 67-61 nonconference victory over the Royals in Elgin.

"We could have executed on both ends better," Central coach Brett Porto said. "I guess when it all comes down to it, we did just enough and executed just well enough to come out of here with a road win."

Larkin (4-21), which has lost nine straight, led early 6-2 before the Rockets (16-9) went on an 8-0 run, six coming on a pair of 3-pointers from Jared Moxness, to take a 10-6 lead. Central never trailed again.

The Rockets led 20-12 after the first quarter and by 9, 28-19, midway through the second. Quantice Hunter scored seven points in the final 3 minutes of the quarter and Brent Cooks hit a layup at the buzzer to get the Royals within 2, 35-33, at halftime.

"You would like to have more (consistency) come February," Larkin coach Deryn Carter said. "We have in the past couple of weeks, just not today. Hopefully, we got our bad one out of us, as for as inconsistency."

Cooks, who finished with 12 points and 7 rebounds, scored again to open the second half to tie the game, 35-35. Sam Klein and Ray Hunnicutt combined for 9 points in the quarter as the Rockets took a 49-41 lead into the fourth.

The Royals got within 3, 53-50, with 4:45 left on a Cooks basket. But Central went on an 11-0 run to open a 64-50 advantage with 1:24 remaining to put the game away.

"The win streak is huge for us," said Hunnicutt, who scored his 1,000th point Tuesday. "We wanted to finish this month undefeated, keep it going until regionals. We've got that still, but got to finish it Thursday (at Richmond-Burton with a share of Big Northern East crown on the line)."

Hunnicutt, a junior in his third varsity season, entered the game with 998 points and got his 1,000th point on a layup with 4:19 left in the first quarter. He led Central with 19 points, including 12 in the second half. Klein added 15 points and 7 rebounds. Moxness had 11 off the bench.

Hunter had 12 points for the Royals. Cam Ross added 10 points.

Jacobs 51, McHenry 40: Jacobs simply put the defensive clamps on McHenry and Warrior standout Brian Madson in the fourth quarter.

During the final 8 minutes, Jacobs held McHenry to 1 basket and 4 points and limited Madson to 2 free throws in posting a 51-40 victory in Fox Valley Conference Valley Division boys basketball play in McHenry Tuesday.

"We played great defense in the fourth quarter," said Jacobs coach Jim Hinkle. "To hold a good offensive team like McHenry to 4 points in the fourth quarter is quite an accomplishment. We did a great job on Madson in the fourth quarter. We didn't give him or their many good shots. Defense can be a constant every night and we were very good defensively tonight, especially in the fourth quarter."

McHenry seemingly had the momentum entering the fourth quarter as Madson drilled a 30-foot 3-pointer at the buzzer to pull the Warriors within 7 of the Golden Eagles (15-2, 6-3), 43-36, after 3 quarters.

"That was great execution on their part and a total breakdown on our part," said Hinkle. "We knew Madson was going to shoot the last shot and we just didn't cover him."

Jacobs quickly squashed McHenry's momentum by scoring the first 5 points of the fourth quarter.

A conventional 3-pointer by Matt Ehrhardt along with 2 free throws by Mike Peterson catapulted the Golden Eagles to a 12-point 48-36 lead with 5:48 left in the game.

Ehrhardt paced the Golden Eagles with 14 points, 10 rebounds, 5 assists and 5 steals. He scored 9 of his points in the third quarter.

"Coach always tells us if we play good defense we have a chance to win," said Ehrhardt. "We really put the defensive clamps on them in the fourth quarter. To hold them to 4 points showed we really played good defense. I was able to get some layups off the fast break."

Nick Hofman followed Ehrhardt with 11 points while Collin Richman scored 10, all in the first half.

"Our offense is run to get anybody shots," said Hinkle. "We know Nick and Mike are going to get their shots. It is nice when Matty and Collin attack aggressively on offense. I was really encouraged by their play."

Madson led McHenry with 21 points, but the senior had only 2 points in the fourth quarter. He also grabbed 11 rebounds and had 4 assists.

Dave Hess

Batavia 45, Streamwood 37: Since Batavia's loss against Illinois' top-ranked Simeon nearly three weeks ago at Batavia's Night of Hoops, center Cole Gardner has had a knack for scoring in the post for the Bulldogs. And he's doing so in a way where he gives you a little something more each night.

Posing 12 points against St. Charles East on February 10 and 16 at Geneva on February 18, Gardner's force inside coincides with the Bulldogs' current three-game win streak.

Tuesday night in Streamwood, without leading guard Jesse Coffey at home sick, was no different for Gardner, who picked up the slack and exploded for 24 points and 9 rebounds to fend off a pesky Streamwood team, 45-37 in an Upstate Eight River game.

"He did a good job of moving without the basketball," Bulldogs coach Jim Roberts said. "I thought we did a good job of getting the ball where he could hurt people and he was 6 for 7 from the free throw line so that always helps when a big man gets you free throws."

Gardner was a force, capitalizing on great passes from Elliot Vaughn (10 points, 6 rebounds) out of the high-low, which ran to perfection at times. Gardner helped Batavia grab an early 9-5 lead with 6 quick points and provided 4 of the Bulldogs' 6 in a lowly third quarter for both teams. Both combined for 7 points in the quarter and Streamwood attested for 1 point on 0 for 10 shooting although managed to just trail by 6 heading to the fourth.

After Bobby Post (12 points) tied the game at 32 on free throws with 5:23 remaining, Gardner went into overdrive. He scored 6 points in the paint, half from a 3-point-play which helped launch a 13-5 run to finish off Streamwood. Gardner put the game away when Elliot found him at the free throw line from the right block with 1:35 left to go up 7.

"The high-low usually opens everything up. I had good passes from (Vaughn) and I finished," Gardner said. "It opens things up when we can get movement like that. Helps get open shots."

Open shots were key for Streamwood (8-16, 4-7) early. The Sabres put together a 15-2 run spanning through the first and second quarters behind four 3-point shots, one by Post. Post gave Streamwood a 20-11 lead on a layup with 3:36 in the second before Roberts called timeout.

Boys basketball

Cary-Grove 38, Prairie Ridge 26: Nick Richetr had 13 points and Ryan Anderson 10 to lead the Trojans to a Fox Valley crossover win.

Men's basketball

Judson 81, Purdue-Calumet 62: Deon Thomas had 22 points to lead Judson to a win in the CCAC tournament. The Eagles play in the semifinals at Trinity Christian Thursday.

Women's basketball

Purdue-Calumet 94, Judson 81: Karen Sennette had 15 points to lead Judson, which saw its season end with this loss at the CCAC Tournament.