St. Charles East handles Larkin
St. Charles East received a season-high 56 points from its bench during Friday night’s 62-53 Upstate Eight Conference River Division victory over Larkin (4-22, 0-12) in St. Charles.
Before Saints fans start booking hotel reservations for the state tournament semifinals later next month in Peoria, however, one must be reminded that head coach Brian Clodi started a much different lineup than usual during the annual Senior Night festivities.
The end result was all that mattered for the Saints (13-13, 7-5), who climbed back to the .500 mark for just the second time this season.
“All we care about is winning,” said Clodi. “We don’t care how we do it. We just want to walk out of here with a ‘W.’”
Clinging to an 8-7 lead late in the first quarter, the Saints used a 9-0 spurt to open a 17-9 lead heading into the second period.
Sophomore Kendall Stephens, who poured in a game-high 26 points, quickly hit a 3-pointer and added a layup upon his entrance to the game at the 2-minute mark.
Meanwhile, Spencer Motley, one of seven senior players honored prior to tip-off, added 9 of his 14 points in the first quarter.
Johnny Hondlik’s three-point play and Luke Ludke’s 3-pointer fueled a 10-0 second-quarter surge that propelled the Saints to a 34-15 halftime advantage.
The Royals, who suffered their 10th straight loss, were plagued with shooting (7-for-25) and ballhandling (15 turnovers) problems throughout the first half.
“I think everyone who played in the first half had a minimum of one turnover — and we played a lot of kids (11),” said Larkin coach Deryn Carter. “That’s not conducive to playing winning basketball, especially when you’re guard-dominated.”
A 10-0 run, ignited by sophomore guard Quantice Hunter (11 points), helped pull the Royals within 11 at 36-25 midway through the third quarter.
But Stephens continued his hot hand for the Saints, as he netted 11 third-quarter points, including a trio of 3-pointers, to boost their lead to 50-30 with 1:04 left in the period.
The 6-4 sharpshooter finished 10-for-13 from the field while adding 5 rebounds, 3 steals and 3 assists. “We’ve got a guy right now who is feeling it,” Clodi said of Stephens, who has made 19-of-26 field-goal attempts the last two games. “We’ve got to do a better job of getting him more shots.”
While Stephens put together another strong game, this night belonged to the Saints’ 7 seniors — Andrew Carrano, Robert Chinn, Dan Ditusa, Imran Hasan, Matt Ray, Zach Zajicek, and Motley.“It was pretty special,” said Motley. “We got a big win on Senior Night. It got us back to .500 and gave us some momentum going into the regionals.”
St. Charles East will host DeKalb in Monday’s regional opener, while Larkin hosts Streamwood Monday night.
“I think the consistency is getting there,” said Carter. “We’re just going to try to get it there by Monday for regionals.”
Ian Fluhler led Larkin with 12 points.