Larkin 52, Elgin 42

The final numbers are anything but pretty, but one thing the Elgin-Larkin girls basketball game at Chesbrough Field House Friday night did not lack was intensity.

Larkin fought off the pesky Maroons 52-42 in overtime in an Upstate Eight Conference opener for both teams that featured 67 turnovers, 53 fouls, 62 free-throw attempts and seven players fouling out.

"We made so many mistakes I don't know how to feel," said an exhausted Larkin coach Amy Silverman, whose team beat its crosstown rival for the 10th straight time and 11th in the last 12 meetings.

"I feel like maybe we stole one there."

Despite the loss, Elgin coach Angie Hudson was upbeat about her team's performance.

"I thought our girls played tremendous tonight," said Hudson, whose squad had to play the final 1:13 of the game with only four players due to five foul outs. "This is a win in our books. They gave me the full effort tonight and I'm proud of them."

Junior Ellen Holton scored a game-high 23 points for the Maroons (0-7, 0-1) while senior Alyssa Burns led Larkin (1-6, 1-0) with 15 points. Each fouled out in the overtime.

Larkin got key contributions from every player on the floor after their leader was whistled for her fifth foul with 3:13 left in the extra session. The Royals had just taken a 43-41 lead on a Burns basket 26 seconds earlier.

"We were just so excited and we made too many fundamental errors," said Burns. "It was difficult but we had to fight through it."

After Holton made a free throw to make it a 43-42 game with 3:13 left, Kay (7 points, 7 rebounds) converted on a conventional 3-point play to send the Royals on an 11-0 game-ending run and the win.

"Toward the end my calf started cramping up but I knew Alyssa was in foul trouble and we needed someone to be the leader," said Kay, who played the entire final 20 minutes without a break.

Larkin also got stellar second-half efforts from junior Jessica Harris (13 points, 10 rebounds), who hit 9 of 10 from the line, including 4 of 4 in the overtime. Senior Sophie Sterricker added 10 points and 13 rebounds, senior Jennifer Koch had 9 points and junior Leah Rybakowski came off the bench to provide some much needed ball-handling down the stretch.

"Jessica Harris stepped it up at the free-throw line, Leah really stepped it up and what can I say about Laura Kay? I wasn't able to get her a break that whole second half," Silverman said. "I'm really proud of how they all stepped it up when Burns went out."

Larkin shot just 16 of 57 from the floor and 19 of 41 from the line for the game but won the rebounding battle 55-46 and had fewer turnovers (37-30). Elgin shot 15-for-55 from the floor and 11 of 21 from the line.

Caris Alan and Giselle Bruskewitz (9 rebounds) added 8 points each for the Maroons.

Elgin sent the game into overtime when, down 41-38, Holton made a free throw with 9 seconds to play. Hudson then called time out and instructed Holton to miss the second free throw, get the rebound and score. Holton did and the first Elgin-Larkin game in at least 15 years to go to overtime did.

"I told Ellen to miss the shot intentionally and she did a tremendous job," Hudson said.

But in the end the Royals used Harris' free throw touch and fewer foul outs to prevail.

Friday's game was the only regular-season matchup between the two. They are both assigned to the Class 4A Larkin regional and could meet again in the postseason.