St. Charles North too tall for Larkin
The St. Charles North boys basketball team is going to have a height advantage against most teams, especially those in the Upstate Eight River Division.
Larkin had only two players in uniform taller than 6-foot Thursday and the North Stars took advantage.
STC North scored 40 points in the paint, making only 3 field goals outside the paint, en route to a 66-50 victory in Elgin.
“We knew they were undersized down low,” said 6-foot-7 North junior Kyle Nelson, who finished with 20 points, hitting 8 field goals in the paint. “We thought we could get the ball down low and use the size we have. It's our best advantage.”
North (4-5, 1-1) scored 24 of its 30 first-half points in the paint and took a 30-22 lead into halftime. Nelson had 14 points at halftime. Six-4 Josh Mikes and 6-4 Quinten Payne had 6 each at the break.
The North Stars stretched their lead to 13, 40-27, with 5:50 left in the third on a free-throw line jumper from Nelson. Then Larkin (2-7, 0-3) went on a 10-2 run to get within 5, 42-37. Quantice Hunter scored all 10 points, including a pair of 3-pointers, for the Royals.
Larkin, which has lost seven straight, trailed 44-39 when the buzzer sounded to end the third quarter, but North's Chris Conrad was fouled before the buzzer and hit a pair of free throws to start a 10-0 run to take control and a 54-39 lead. All 8 points to start the fourth came in the paint.
“We won the game just because we had bigger players and probably a little bit better athletes,” North Stars coach Tom Poulin said. “It was nothing that had anything to do with our execution or playing quality basketball.”
Larkin would not get any closer than 8 in the final 6 minutes.
The Royals' 3-point shooting kept them in the game most of the way. Larkin hit nine 3-pointers, including four from Hunter, who finished with a team-high 20 points.
“We got (the 3-pointers) in the flow of the offense,” Royals coach Deryn Carter said. “They understood early that if we were patient we were going to get those open looks. When you shot them in rhythm, they are a lot better shots then when you shoot them out of rhythm.”
Ian Fluhler and Blake Grantham each added 7 points. Grantham also had 9 rebounds.
Payne finished with 19 points and 6 rebounds for North. Mikes had 12 points and 8 rebounds. Nelson added 11 rebounds and 3 blocks to go with his 20 points.