Larkin shoots past St. Louis Christian

The Larkin boys basketball team didn't match up well against much taller St. Louis Christian Saturday so the Royals shot over the Cougars instead.

Senior guards AJ Hunter and Keyvon Kyles each drained 3 first-half 3-pointers to stake Larkin to a 16-point halftime lead, and the Royals went into a second-half stall to protect their advantage in an eventual 52-37 victory at the Route 66 Shootout in Waynesville, Mo.

"This team plays on the national circuit and they just got their biggest guy back," Larkin coach Deryn Carter said of a St. Louis Christian lineup that includes a 7-footer flanked by teammates who stand 6-10, 6-9 and 6-8. "They're pretty good and pretty big, but we shared the ball really well and probably played the best half I've seen us play in years.

"The second half, we just slowed it down and held it to shorten up the game because we had AJ and Trelle (Mardis) guarding guys a foot taller than them."

Hunter led the Royals with 18 points on 6-of-16 shooting and had 5 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals. Kyles and junior Christian Negron each finished with 11 points. Negron also contributed 9 rebounds, 3 blocks and 2 assists for Larkin (6-4).

Grant 61, Cary-Grove 47: At the Hinkle Holiday Classic at Jacobs, Daniel Schmidt scored 19 points and Zach Beaugureau had 12 for Cary-Grove (2-7).

CL South 81, Corliss 51: Also at the Hinkle Holiday Classic, Zach Geske (20 points) and Jason Friesen (15) led the Gators to victory. Jason Smith and Matthew Meyers each added 10 points for Crystal Lake South (6-3).

CL Central 50, Westminster Christian 47: At the Marengo tournament, Scott Graziano (14 points), Ben Versluys (12) and Brad Barker (11) led Westminster (6-3).

Woodstock 74, Harvest Christian 49: Brett Cramer scored 30 points and had 5 rebounds to lead the Lions (3-9) in their loss to the top-seeded Blue Streaks at the Marengo tournament. Riley Steiner added 9 points for Harvest.