Bartlett downs Larkin
The Bartlett boys basketball team benefited when guard John Moss stepped up.
With the score tied 51-51 late in the fourth quarter at Larkin, Bartlett’s humble shooting guard sank 3-pointers on consecutive possessions to lift the Hawks to a 64-56 victory Thursday in an Upstate Eight Conference crossover game between fifth-place teams.
“I’ve been struggling lately, so I was just trying to be aggressive,” said Moss, who finished with 15 points on 6-of-7 shooting. “Coach told me to shoot, so I was trying to be aggressive and look for my shot.”
“The dude can shoot the ball,” Bartlett coach Jim Wolfsmith said. “We tell him to look for his shot and sometimes he’s reluctant. He’s a real team player.”
Moss pinballed a 3-pointer though the net with 2:44 remaining. His shot from the top of the arc hit the back of the rim, then the front, then the backboard, then fell through the nylon.
“That one touched every part of the rim and the backboard and went in,” Larkin coach Deryn Carter said, rolling his eyes.
“I guess they call that the shooter’s roll,” said a grinning Moss.
After Larkin (15-11) missed a 3-point attempt from the right corner with two minutes remaining, Moss stepped up again. He buried a 3-point shot from the left wing, which staked Bartlett (14-14) to a 57-51 lead with 1:35 to go.
The Royals answered with a 3-pointer when Quantice Hunter fed an open Quentin Ruff in the right corner. It was Ruff’s fifth 3-pointer of the game. He led Larkin with 17 points on 5-of-6 shooting from 3-point range.
“I felt like I had the hot hand so I just kept shooting my shot,” Ruff said. “They started following me more, but the players on my team kept getting me open.”
A Bartlett turnover against the press gave Larkin possession. Ruff penetrated, but his driving layup attempt was swatted away by Bartlett senior forward Lorenzo Mitchell.
“I tried not to foul and just get a piece of the ball and alter the shot,” Mitchell said. “I wasn’t in position to take a charge, so I had to get a piece of the ball at least.”
“My main intention was to score, but I should have dumped it off to the big man,” Ruff said. “Mistake by me.”
Marcus Aluquin gathered the rebound and pushed ahead to Jonathan Leigeber (12 points) for a fast-break layup and a 59-54 Bartlett lead with 48 seconds left. Aluquin and Matt Chaltin each sank a pair of free throws to seal the victory for the Hawks, who gained revenge for a 62-53 home loss to Larkin on Dec. 2.
“To come back in their house and beat them was nice,” said Chaltin, who scored 12 of his game-high 25 points in the first quarter.
Senior Blake Grantham scored 14 points for Larkin, which shot 25 of 51 from the field.