Larkin holds off St. Charles North
Call Quentin Ruff instant offense.
The Larkin junior sparked several offensive runs and finished with a team-high 18 points as the Royals held off visiting St. Charles North 67-65 in an Upstate Eight River boys basketball game in Elgin.
“I was told to bring energy,” said Ruff, who went 6 of 8 from the floor. “I was hot in the first quarter. Coach always tell me to keep shooting.”
Although Ruff and the Royals (6-0, 1-0) managed a solid offensive night, the North Stars (2-5, 1-1) were able to keep pace.
Quantice Hunter made a pair of free throws to give Larkin a 66-57 lead with 1:12 left to play in the game.
Quickly, North forward Kyle Swanson (19 points, 8 rebounds) nailed a 3-pointer to bring the North Stars back within 66-60. A pair of Larkin turnovers on the ensuing inbound passes allowed for Quinten Payne and Kyle Nelson (19 points, 14 rebounds) to split free throws.
Forced to foul, Hunter (17 points) went to the line split 2 free throws to extend the Royals’ lead to 67-62 with 9 seconds remaining. Payne nailed a 3-pointer as time expired to give North its final margin of defeat.
Larkin coach Deryn Carter credited the play of his seniors for the win. Senior center Antonio Pipes showed up in the second half after a pair of quick fouls forced him to sit early on.
Pipes grabbed 7 rebounds in the second half and scored 4 points in the fourth quarter.
“When you have a game like that, that’s when you have to rely on your seniors,” Carter said. “Pipes, (Ian) Fluhler, (Shaq) Mosley came off the bench and was huge. They made the plays when we needed them to.”
Mosley went 3-for-3 in the second quarter to give the Royals an offensive boost and came in as defensive stopper in the second half. Overall, the Royals’ team defense was much more careful after sending the North Stars to the line 14 times in the second quarter.
Payne made the plays for the North Stars. The Loyola-bound junior finished with a game-high 23 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, 4 offensive in the second half. He, Nelson and Swanson combined to score all but 4 of North’s points.
“Deryn is doing a great job,” North coach Tom Poulin said of Larkin’s Carter. “Their primary threat is the 3-point shot and some transition stuff. We broke down and left some guys open. We weren’t consistent with our focus, which let them go on those runs and build leads.”
Larkin shot 20 of 43 in the first 3 quarters of the game. The Royals finished with 9 different players hitting a field goal, with at least 4 different players making a shot in each quarter.
“We knew they could shoot the ball real well,” Payne said. “We were trying to lock up on them. We didn’t do that.”
Carmel 47, Cary-Grove 39: Zach Taylor led the Trojans (1-6) in this nonconference loss.