Turnovers doom Larkin in loss to Harlan
The Larkin boys basketball team had a hot hand at the start, but the Royals found the basketball too hot to handle in the second half of Monday’s game at the 37th Annual Elgin Boys Basketball Holiday Tournament.
A 4-point halftime lead quickly became a memory as the Royals committed 17 of their 29 turnovers after intermission. The Falcons cashed in on multiple breakaways en route to a 56-38 victory.
Larkin (6-3), which dropped its third straight contest, scored 12 second-half points after leading 26-22 through two quarters.
“We turned the ball over too many times in the second half,” said Larkin junior guard Quantice Hunter, who scored 16 of his team-high 18 points in the first half. “They played harder than we did in the second half, and I wasn’t hitting my shots.”
The Royals face Rockford Guilford in the consolation bracket today at 3:45 p.m. Harlan (5-0) advances to face Neuqua Valley in the quarterfinals at 6:45 p.m.
Hunter had the hot hand early. He sank his first 5 shots, including four 3-pointers. His 2 free throws after he drew a foul on a breakaway gave Larkin its 4-point halftime lead.
Things tipped in Harlan’s favor in the second half almost immediately. The Falcons turned to 6-foot-4 senior Anthony Knight. The forward scored 5 baskets in the third quarter, mostly from the paint, and Harlan continually confounded Larkin with a full-court press that led to easy baskets. Harlan shot 16 of 24 in the second half as a result.
“We came out with more intensity in the second half,” Knight said. “And I think they had a lot of trouble with our zone press.”
“They wanted it more,” agreed Larkin senior forward Antonio Pipes. “We’ll get through this. Every team has a bad stretch. We’ll get through this.”
Larkin’s “bad stretch” has been the result of road losses at Dundee-Crown and Batavia prior to Monday’s neutral-court defeat. There has been no common thread in the losses, according to the head Royal.
“It’s been something different each game,” Larkin coach Deryn Carter said. “Against Dundee-Crown we let a 14-point lead slip away. Against Batavia it was all (6-5 forward) Cole Gardner. And Harlan is a (ranked) team out of the Red South. It’s not necessarily anything we’re not doing, it’s just that we’ve faced some quality opponents.
“We missed too many open shots today and we turned the ball over too much. That’s what (Harlan) does to you. They speed you up. That made it hard to sustain the lead we had.”
Larkin was outrebounded 29-22 and the Royals shot 5 of 18 in the second half. Quentin Ruff was Larkin’s next-leading scorer with 7 points.