St. Charles East dominates Larkin
St. Charles East boys basketball coach Patrick Woods stressed three things to his team prior to Friday night's Upstate Eight Conference River Division battle with Larkin.
"Rebounding, taking charges and defense," said Woods. "The kids will tell you that's all we talked about."
Evidently, the Saints' players heard their coach loud and clear.
While enjoying a decisive 47-26 edge on the boards, the Saints (15-1, 7-0) also limited the Royals (12-7, 4-4) to 37 percent shooting from the field during their 71-46 triumph in St. Charles.
Senior guard Cole Gentry scored a game-high 25 points with 5 assists while leading the Saints to their 13th consecutive victory.
"Obviously, Cole is a great weapon to have," said Woods. "I was actually more impressed with our defense and our rebounding tonight. That to me is what held them off and allowed us to get going. I think our defense continues to improve."
After scoring his team's first 7 points, Gentry turned in a near-flawless second quarter with 11 points on 4 of 4 shooting from the field as the Saints built a 39-25 halftime advantage.
He did it all while shaking off the effects of a weeklong stomach virus.
"I was healthy enough to play," said Gentry, who took a few extra trips to the Saints' bench for water breaks during the contest. "Larkin doesn't care if I'm sick. I think I fed off the adrenaline of the game - that helped me.
"It wasn't just me. I didn't have to do a ton tonight."
Gentry and 6-2 senior guard Jake Asquini took care of the offensive load early as the duo combined to outscore Larkin 34-25 in the opening half.
Asquini, who scored all 16 of his points in the first half, completed a rare 4-point play with his team trailing 12-7 late in the opening period and knocked down back-to-back 3-pointers on feeds from Gentry a few moments later.
"Credit to him," Asquini said of Gentry. "He's great at making plays for the whole team. He racks up the assists."
The end of the first half typified the kind of night it was for the Saints.
Gentry dribbled through a throng of Larkin defenders and seemed to lose control of the ball before deflecting the ball to a waiting Asquini in the far corner.
Asquini beat the buzzer with his fifth 3-pointer of the half.
"I didn't move," said Asquini. "I knew he (Gentry) was going to tip it out."
After finishing the first half with a 13-4 run, the Saints picked up where they left off with a 7-2 surge to extend their lead to 46-27 early in the third quarter.
Gentry got things rolling with a 3-pointer before a layup by junior Evan DiLeonardi and offensive rebound putback by senior center Jack Bronec (8 points, 10 rebounds) capped the run.
"We try to take teams out," said Asquini. "We try to get these big runs because that really kills a team."
The Saints also received contributions from Mick Vyzral (3 points, 11 rebounds), James McQuillan (4 points, 3 assists), Jeremy Champine (4 points, 3 assists) and Cam Miller (4 points).
"We have a lot of weapons and the kids are playing well together," said Woods, whose team visits St. Charles North Saturday night.
A.J. Hunter scored a team-high 9 points for Larkin, which suffered its third straight loss for the first time since 2011-12.
"Collectively, from myself on down, we didn't do very well - which might be the understatement of the season," said Royals' coach Deryn Carter.
"I couldn't be looking forward to these next two weeks any more than I am. We have a lot of practices and a minimal amount of games. We're going to get better and we're going to get tougher."