Larkin upends Elgin again

Torie Patterson vividly remembers the last time Elgin won a girls basketball game.

As an 8th grader, Patterson watched from the stands as the Maroons ousted Larkin and Patterson’s sister Paris from IHSA postseason play. Flash forward a year and Torie Patterson transported from the stands to right in the middle of Elgin’s cross-town rivalry.

The Royals’ freshman connected on 3 free throws in the final minute of Monday’s play-in game of the Class 4A Dundee-Crown regional to hold off a late Elgin run and give Larkin a 36-33 victory — its third win over Elgin this season.

“I was just thinking that we had to win,” said Patterson, who shoots around 50 percent from the free-throw line. “We just had to win.”

The victory propels Larkin (4-23) into tonight’s regional semifinal game against No. 1 seed Cary-Grove.

Larkin led just 31-29 with 2 minutes left in the game when Patterson drew a foul to go to the free-throw line. The freshman, who drew heavy heckling from the Maroon student body, calmly sank both free throws to put the Royals back in charge at 33-29.

Elgin would again bring the game back to a 1-possession contest when Briana Hamilton (13 points, 8 rebounds) hit a jumper making it a 33-31 game with 41 ticks left on the clock.

Patterson, who finished with 13 points, 8 steals and 4 assists, again found herself at the free-throw line but this time she split the foul shots leaving Larkin up 34-31 with 37 seconds left. An Elgin miss sent Patterson back to the line with 4 seconds left, where she converted both attempts.

“She really pulled through today,” Larkin coach Alphonso Lott said. “The game got a little bit closer than we were comfortable with, but the kids kept playing.”

After trailing 22-15 through the first three quarters, Elgin (0-27) turned up the heat on Larkin in the final period. Elgin scored 18 points, led by 9 from Alex Bell, to come within 2 points twice in the final 3 minutes. Bell was also a beast on the boards grabbing all 8 of her rebounds in the second half, including nabbing her own missed free throw 3 times.

“It shows how much athleticism she has to beat everyone to those rebounds,” Elgin coach Dr. Nick Bumbales said.

The Maroons went on an 8-1 scoring run during a 1 minute, 25 second stretch during the second half, cutting a 9-point Larkin lead into a 30-27 game. Freshman guard Maggie Powers added 5 fourth-quarter points for the Maroons.