Larkin's defense shuts down Elgin

Larkin girls basketball coach Tissanie Simmons knew if her team could control the scoring of 6-foot Elgin senior Briana Hamilton Monday night, the Royals would have a good chance of advancing in the state playoffs.

The Royals did as their coach asked, and defeated Elgin 61-34 in the play-in game of the Class 4A South Elgin regional. No. 5 seed Larkin (5-22) advances to play No. 1 seed South Elgin (17-10) in the 6 p.m. semifinal on Wednesday.

"We try to instill pride in our defense," said Simmons, a tenacious defender during her playing career at Larkin and Judson University. "We stepped it up defensively tonight. We knew if we shut down Briana in any way that takes Elgin out of it."

It was Larkin's second win in three games this season against the Maroons (1-26). The only time the Royals lost to Elgin, Hamilton scored 30 points. On Monday, she led the Maroons with 16 but was also saddled with foul trouble for much of the first half.

"Without Bri we struggle offensively, that's no secret," said Elgin coach Dr. Nick Bumbales. "We had a little run early and things were going our way but when Bri came out it kind of snowballed and turnovers were the key."

Elgin led 6-3 when Hamilton (11 rebounds) had to go to the bench with her second foul with 4:33 left in the first quarter. The Royals then went on a 13-0 run to take a 16-6 lead and while Elgin did come back with an 8-0 spurt to close to within 2, 16-14, Hamilton picked up her third foul with 3:27 left in the first half and Larkin went on an 8-2 run to hit the break ahead 24-16.

The closest the Maroons would come in the second half was 5 points early in the third quarter. The Royals outscored the Maroons 37-18 in the second half.

"The second half we had to take a lot of chances and the game got out of hand a little on us," said Bumbales.

Tori Patterson led Larkin's balanced scoring with 12 points. Abby Alvarez added 9 points, while Maggie Hofmann, Paris Patterson and Jill Casebeer had 8 points each. The Royals only made 24 of 70 shots from the floor but their stifling defense helped contribute to Elgin's 40 turnovers.

"It was mostly about shutting down Briana," said Alvarez. "We didn't want her to come back like she did in the first game. We just had to play our game."

Sophomore call-up Melanie Berg added 9 points off the bench for Elgin, which was 11 of 39 shooting, and sophomore Jessica Ramirez had 7 points and 10 rebounds.

"We had six sophomores out there and that bodes well for the future," Bumbales said. "But Larkin was the better team tonight."

Now the Royals get a crack at sister U-46 school South Elgin and senior standout Becca Smith, who is 19 points from 2,000 for her career. The teams did not meet in the regular season.

"We know they're more of a challenge and that Becca's a great player," Alvarez said. "We just have to be ready."