Larkin can't rattle Elgin

Elgin standout Kory Brown heard the chants from Friday's near-capacity crowd at rival Larkin, arguably the largest throng in a decade to witness a regular-season boys basketball game in the city of Elgin.

“Over-rated, over-rated,” the brimming Larkin student section howled whenever Brown stepped to the free-throw line in the first half in an effort to break his concentration.

Elgin's 6-foot-4 floor leader mustered only 5 first-half points on 1-of-7 shooting, but he was anything but shaken.

“They can think what they want to,” Brown later said of the chants. “I know how I feel about myself.”

Such confidence in his ability, coupled with an inspiring halftime talk with assistant coach Jeff Howard, ignited Brown and Elgin to a monster second half.

Brown scored 12 points in the third quarter on 5-of-6 shooting and posted 16 of his game-high 21 points after halftime to lead the visiting Maroons to a 64-51 victory over the Royals in the Upstate Eight River. He credited the halftime talk with Howard for getting his mind right.

“(Howard) told me to be the best player on the court the second half, that you have to step it up because it's your last time here playing Larkin,” Brown said. “So that's what I did. I came out real aggressive, got to the rim, got some nice two-foot jump shots and kind of took over like coach told me to do.”

Brown also grabbed 11 rebounds, blocked 5 shots and made 3 steals.

“He's the best player in our league,” Larkin coach Deryn Carter said. “He showed it tonight.”

The victory completed a season sweep for Elgin (19-3, 7-3) against Larkin (14-9, 5-6) and extended the Maroons' winning streak in the series to eight. Elgin leads the all-time series 79-40.

Brown stood out, but he had help. The Maroons were back at full strength for the first time in 7 games, thanks to the return from injury of third-year guard Dennis Moore.

Wearing a brace on his right hand, which he broke in the first meeting with Larkin on Jan. 11, Moore sank his first shot of the game, a 3-pointer. He went on to score a season-best 14 points on 4-of-5 shooting to go with 5 rebounds and 3 steals.

“That was the goal, if anything, to get back by Larkin,” said Moore, who was cleared by his doctor Thursday. “It's my senior year, the last time we'll play each other. I was trying to make sure I could play. This was a great atmosphere, best game of the season so I'm really glad I could come back for it.”

Elgin led 14-8 after a quarter, powered by 3 jump shots from junior guard Arie Williams (13 points). Larkin pulled within 26-24 at halftime, thanks to 4 points apiece in the second quarter from Antonio Pipes (8 points, 10 rebounds) and guard Quentin Ruff (11 points). However, Brown's 12-point quarter helped Elgin gain a 47-38 edge after three periods.

Larkin fell behind by 11 in the fourth quarter, but a 3-pointer by Quantice Hunter, a putback by Pipes and a coast-to-coast drive for a layup by Ruff helped pull the Royals within 53-47 with 3:35 to play with possession. However, Carter was issued a technical foul for arguing.

Brown sank both free throws for Elgin, and Williams was fouled on Elgin's ensuing possession. He split 2 free throws to make it a 9-point game with 2:06 left.

Elgin outscored Larkin 11-4 after the technical was assessed.

“I helped them out with a technical at a crucial point in the game that I can't get,” Carter said. “I apologized to my team. We could have made some plays before that to maybe change the game, but we had the ball down 6. I thought we had some momentum and I kind of killed it.”

Elgin shot 8 of 24 in the first half, 12 of 21 in the second half.

“We needed to pick it up on defense,” said Larkin sophomore Derrick Streety, who scored 11 points. “We weren't talking enough and communicating enough to get a stop, and we really needed that one stop to make a run at them. We couldn't accomplish that.”

It was the third straight victory for Elgin on the heels of consecutive losses.

“In front of a big crowd like a sectional or regional situation, to come out and perform bodes well for our future,” Elgin coach Michael Sitter said.