Larkin blows by South Elgin

After an ugly first quarter from both teams Friday night, it was the Larkin boys basketball team that finally found its rhythm.

The Royals hit 4 3-pointers in the second quarter to open a 10-point halftime lead and then cruised to a 60-35 victory over South Elgin in an Upstate Eight Conference crossover matchup.

"It wasn't two teams necessarily playing bad," Larkin coach Deryn Carter said of the 10 combined points in the opening eight minutes. "It was two teams playing good defense."

Larkin (14-7) led 8-2 after the first quarter. The Royals went 4-for-10 in the quarter. The Storm (9-12) didn't score until 29 seconds were left in the quarter on a Matthey Downing layup. South Elgin missed it first 10 shots and committed 6 turnovers.

Quantice Hunter nailed a pair of 3-pointers and Derrick Streety scored on a free-throw line jumper with 5:37 remaining in the first half to give Larkin a 16-6 lead. Later in the quarter, Quentin Ruff also hit a pair of 3-pointers as the Royals opened a 22-10 lead with 44 seconds left in the half.

"When we get hot, it's usually real good," Hunter said. "We seem to catch fire at the same time."

The Royals went inside to Antonio Pipes to open the second half. The senior scored 6 points in the first 2½ minutes of the third quarter. A basket from Ruff with 2:55 remaining made it 34-17 Larkin.

The Storm, which lost its fourth straight, went on a 7-0 lead to cut the deficit to 34-24. But South Elgin would not get any closer.

"We have our ups and downs," Storm coach Chaz Taft said. "It's just mentally getting through that. We have to get through those parts when it's a scoring drought. That's the mental part of basketball."

Hunter led all scorers with 16 points, hitting 4 3-pointers, and grabbed 5 rebounds. Ruff had 13 points and Streety had 12. Pipes finished with 8 points and 5 rebounds. Larkin has won three in a row and six of its last seven.

Willy Gagic led the Storm with 10 points, all in the second half. Downing finished with 7 points and 8 rebounds. Jacob Maestranzi also had 7 points.