Cold shooting dooms Larkin

The Larkin girls basketball team held a 5-2 lead 2 minutes into Tuesday night’s game against Harlem.

That is where the positives stopped for the Royals.

The Huskies held Larkin to only 6 field goals in the final 30 minutes as Harlem beat the Royals, 60-22, in the fifth-place game of the Burlington Central Thanksgiving Tournament.

“Offensively we were just weak today,” Larkin coach Tissanie Simmons said. “The girls weren’t attacking.”

Larkin (1-3) got a basket from Victoria Patterson and a 3-pointer from Jill Casebeer in the opening 2 minutes to take the 5-2 lead. Harlem scored the next 8 points before Abigail Alvarez hit a 3-pointer for Larkin to cut the deficit to 10-8 with 1:04 remaining in the first quarter. That was the last field goal the Royals would hit for almost 10 minutes.

Allison Driskill and Paris Patterson each hit a free throw in the second quarter as Larkin was held to just 2 points in the quarter. The Huskies took a 28-10 lead into halftime as the Royals shot just 3-for-30 (10 percent) from the floor and 2-for-16 from behind the 3-point arc in the first half.

“We have some shooters and in order for them to be confident, they need to shoot,” Simmons said. “If they are getting good looks, they need to take those opportunities. No holding back.”

Victoria Patterson ended the Royals’ field-goal drought with a basket 45 seconds into the third quarter. But Harlem scored the final 15 points of the quarter to take a 50-15 lead into the fourth. The Huskies led by as many as 42 in the fourth.

Casebeer led the Royals with 8 points and 5 rebounds. Alvarez and Victoria Patterson each added 5 points. Alvarez also had 5 rebounds, but the Royals were outrebounded 51-31. Larkin shot 8-for-60 for the game.

Kelli Ludwig’s 15 points led Harlem. Jordan Fetters added 14. Naquira Manigault and Miranda Paddock each had 9 rebounds.