Larkin pulls stunner on Plainfield E.
The Larkin boys basketball team came up with a stunning upset Saturday night, beating previously undefeated Plainfield East 70-67 at West Chicago's Railway Classic, the fourth-ranked Bengals' first loss of the season.
After finishing the first quarter with a 10-point deficit where they gave up 26 points, the Royals (11-6) bounced back in the second quarter, going on a 9-0 run capped with a basket by junior guard Quantice Hunter to tie the game at 35 with 1:18 left in the first half. The Royals would then take their first lead of the night on a tip-in from sophomore forward Drew Jones.
Hunter knew that the Royals would have to play tough against the quick Plainfield East lineup, especially after letting the Bengals (14-1) take the 10-point lead at the end of the first quarter.
"I knew that we'd be tough with the ball," said Hunter. "We've been practicing that a lot. We were attacking with the ball and getting through the pressure."
"The biggest part was handling the pressure and not turning the ball over," added Larkin senior forward Antonio Pipes.
Hunter finished with a team-high 17 points on the night, while Pipes followed with 13 points. For the Bengals, speedy senior guard Deontre Brown led the team with 19 points, while senior guard Jawan Straughter notched 16.
The Royals would keep their lead after going up 55-54 with just over 4 minutes left in the game, but the Bengals would keep it close. With Larkin up 66-65 with 20 seconds left in the game, Hunter was fouled as he grabbed the rebound from a 3-point attempt by Brown. Hunter would make both of his free-throws, and then make two more to seal the deal after getting fouled again with .4 seconds left in the game.
"We expected to win this game," said Pipes. "We played hard, we did the things that we're good at at a high enough level that we had a good chance to win this game."
"We expect to beat teams like (Plainfield East)," added Hunter. "We know if we play our game and do it well enough, we can play with a lot of good teams."