Boatright's 44 lead East Aurora past Larkin

East Aurora sophomore guard Ryan Boatright justified the hype Thursday night.

With talented teammates Tramell Weathersby and Will Brown suspended until Monday for fighting in practice this week, the Upstate Eight Conference-leading Tomcats tightened their grip on first place thanks to a breakout performance from Boatright, who scored a career-best 44 points to lead East Aurora to an 85-68 victory over visiting Larkin.

Boatright, who gave a verbal commitment to the University of Southern California when he was in eighth grade, was the focal point of Larkin's defense but burned the Royals anyway, sinking seven 3-pointers in 11 attempts. The 5-foot-11 guard shot 16 of 21 from the floor overall and finished with 7 steals and 6 assists.

"I had to," Boatright said of carrying the scoring load. "If I didn't, we were going to lose. Everybody had to step up. I was hot. I was feeling good.

"They just weren't quick enough. It wasn't a quick team, so when I got the ball and they came to help I passed it. If they didn't, I would just put it in the air."

Boatright put it in the air early and often. He scored 17 points in the first quarter, including a 5-of-6 performance from 3-point range, staking East Aurora (16-4, 5-0) to a 26-14 lead after a quarter.

"He's so fast," said Larkin senior guard Jeff Saurbaugh, who came off the bench to lead the Royals with 14 points. "You can't give him any room on those threes. We needed to get on him. He's quick. That's his style."

Larkin (6-15, 1-6) fell behind by as many as 17 points in both the second and third quarters but fought its way back into the game. Twice in the fourth quarter the Royals shaved the deficit to 10 points. Garrett McDaniel's 2 free throws with 4:59 remaining cut the Tomcats' lead to 62-52.

However, the fourth quarter turned into a track meet. Larkin ran with the Tomcats and outscored them 32-31 in a wild final period, but they weren't able to cut into the lead any further.

"We knew it would be tough on the road against a team like that," Larkin coach Larry Hight said. "We had some moments when we came back on them. We are trying to establish our team right now. We have two new players right now (juniors Jermaine Clements and McDaniel), and we're seeing more and more. We knew this was a tough task, and I thought we held our own because they have a load of talent.

"That Boatright, we haven't got anybody to stop him. We went to a zone, but then they light it up outside and had to go man. Our press was OK, not too bad at the end. But that's a tough team to beat."

Larkin's Drew Simonini connected on three 3-pointers in the first quarter, but the Tomcats completely closed the junior guard down the rest of the game.

"I was ready and I got some good shots," Siminini said, "but I couldn't get open in the second half. I don't believe I even took a shot in the second half."

Brandon Cooks added 9 points for Larkin.