Shorthanded Rosary fends off Larkin's rally
With 24 points he normally counts on sitting next to him on the bench, Rosary coach Dave Beebe's team had to find new ways to put points on the board Wednesday night in its final game of pool play at the Oswego Holiday Classic.
Taylor Gibson stepped up with 17 points and made all 6 of her fourth-quarter free throws to help Rosary hold off Larkin 55-51.
Rosary (5-7) started the game with a 9-0 lead and never trailed, but Larkin (1-10) continually made runs to within a couple points.
Leaving with the win despite missing 15-point scorer Kary Tate (appendix, due back in early January) and point guard and 9-point scorer Courtney Bila (knee, might return Saturday) took players handling bigger roles.
"All of us had to individually pick up our slack a little bit and contribute to the win," Gibson said. "We are working younger people in and that has definitely affected our game a lot and the offensive sets we are running. We've all had to make a little bit of changes, some people playing different positions they haven't played before."
Gibson banked in a 3-pointer to start the fourth quarter for a 46-35 lead, her third 3 of the game. That turned out to be Rosary's only field goal in the quarter as it missed 9 of 10 shots to finish a 29 percent shooting night (16 for 55).
Larkin capitalized with a 9-0 run highlighted by a steal and layup by Abigail Alvarez. Two free throws from Victoria Patterson brought Larkin within 46-44.
Larkin missed a pair of free throws that could have tied the game. With Rosary leading 48-46, Larkin had another possession when it missed three shots including a 3-point shot for the lead.
Rosary made 7 of 8 free throws in the final 2:37 6 by Gibson to never let Larkin get closer than 2 points.
"It was a nail-bitter," Gibson said. "We had moments of really good basketball and moments of really bad basketball and I'm glad we pulled it out."
Jill Casebeer scored 5 points late in the first quarter to bring Larkin within 12-7 after Rosary's 9-0 start. Maggie Hofmann scored Larkin's final 8 points of the second quarter to trim Rosary's halftime lead to 25-22.
Rosary's two best stretches came in the third quarter, first a 7-0 run to go up 32-24 capped by Emily Popovich's jumper. After Larkin drew within 32-28, Rosary's 8-0 burst in just a minute of action opened a 40-28 lead with Popovich scoring 4 of the points.
Madison Richmond, who slid into Bila's point guard spot, and Popovich both scored 12 points while sophomore Sydney Zaragoza came off the bench to give Rosary a lift with 7 points.
Richmond also was playing with her sister Taylor Richmond a longtime Rosary assistant on the Larkin bench in her first year as an assistant in Elgin.
"That was strange coaching against my sister," smiled Taylor Richmond.
"That was very unique," Beebe said. "She gets her kids playing hard and so does the new coach (Tissonie Simmons).
"Every time I've watched them this year they come at you. We're glad to get the win. I thought today was the best we have done looking for each other instead of playing selfish basketball. I'm proud of the kids for that."
Simmons also was proud of her team coming off a 62-41 loss to Geneva Tuesday in Upstate Eight Conference play.
"They are definitely a comeback team," Simmons said. "We have done that thus far. We played amazing defense with this group. I'm encouraged about that."
Larkin's top three scorers Hofmann (12 points), Alvarez (10) and Casebeer (9) all came off its bench.
"We are finding girls who really want to be on the floor, who really want to play," Simmons said. "If that means using the whole bench we'll use the whole bench. A lot of girls stepped up today."
Larkin will play at 1:30 p.m. Saturday in the seventh-place game while Rosary plays at 4:30 p.m. for third place against opponents that will be determined after pool play concludes Thursday.