Larkin falls to Hinsdale C. in Hight's debut
Larkin's boys basketball team has to get used to a couple things this season, but hopefully for the Royals Wednesday night's outcome against Hinsdale Central won't be one of them.
The Royals dropped their season opener against the Red Devils 68-43 to kick off the Downers Grove South Thanksgiving Tournament.
"I told the guys that this is going to be a transition this season," new Larkin coach Larry Hight said. "We are not used to each other. When there is a new coach there is going to be some growing pains. It might take some time but we won't give up."
It didn't help that Central came out and started its season on fire as the Red Devils made 8 of their first 10 shots to open up an early 17-7 lead.
The hot shooting continued in the second quarter as Central went into the half with a 32-21 lead while going 14 of 29 from the field in the first half.
"We always look to shoot the ball well," Hinsdale Central coach Ed Lynch said. "I tell my guys to shoot the ball with some confidence. If a shot comes out of the flow of the offense and in a good rhythm, I give them all the green light."
Messiah Lewis gave the Royals some life on their first possession of the second half as he scored and was fouled and made the foul shot, cutting the Central lead back to single-digits.
What little life that gave Larkin didn't last long as it proceeded to go on a 5:49 scoring drought, allowing the Red Devils to open the game up big.
Central (1-0) shot 8 of 11 in the fourth quarter, finishing the game 25 of 49 from the field, reminding the Royals (0-1) they need to do the small things this season to be successful.
"All we have to do is put a hand in their face when they shoot," Lewis said. "We are not the biggest team out there, I'm not even sure if we will be bigger than anyone this year at all, but we need to really contest shots. They had too many open looks tonight."
Lewis finished with a team-high 11 points for Larkin while Cam Kinley had 6 points and 7 rebounds in the loss.
Chris Chana had a game-high 18 points while Clay Foster had 12 points and a game-high 8 rebounds for the Red Devils.