Elgin hangs on to down Larkin
Unlike Jacobs earlier in the evening, Elgin was able to come away with a third win over its U-46 rival Larkin, 47-42, in the nightcap of play-in games at the Class 4A Streamwood girls basketball regional Monday night, which gave the Maroons their first playoff win in 5 years and a date with No. 2 seed South Elgin tonight at 7:30 p.m.
But the Maroons, who beat Larkin 3 of 4 this season, had to fight off a Royals squad that wouldn’t give up like in the teams’ last meeting at Chesbrough Field House.
Elgin (9-19) blew a 4-point lead at the end of the third quarter, scored the first 12 points of the fourth and then allowed the Royals (3-25) to get within 4 with 27 seconds left.
But as Quixmia Washington tried her hardest, she and the Royals’ 3-point attempts wouldn’t fall as Larkin book ended the quarters with miss after miss. Larkin shot 4 of 20 in the last 8 minutes while Elgin did just enough to get the win. Elgin was 15 of 26 at the line hitting 9 free throws in the fourth quarter.
Kristin Tayag scored 20 points on 8 of 25 shooting for Elgin while Abby Pierre-Louis chipped in a double-double with 15 points and 12 rebounds as they both attacked the Royals’ zone after Larkin jumped out to a 15-9 lead after one quarter.
“Playing against a zone helps out a lot,” said Tayag, who scored 11 points in the first half. “We’re really good at finding the open spots on the floor. “
Washington led Larkin with a game-high 24 points and 10 rebounds. She rattled off 11 points in the first quarter but Elgin seized its first lead of the night with 2:50 remaining in the second on a Maggie Powers layup and never relinquished it. Larkin did tie it at 33 on a 7-3 flurry to end the third on shots from Washington and a 3 by Sky Evans.
But Pierre-Louis had a knack of getting to the line and sank 4 of the 6 she shot in the fourth quarter while Larkin turned it over and went cold.
“Ultimately it’s a win. In tournament play that’s what you’re looking for,” said Elgin coach Dr. Nick Bumbales, whose team led 45-33 with 4:37 to go.
Larkin coach Ruben Flores attributed the loss to their 20 turnovers, but also said: “I kind of look at it as the clock kind of ran out on us. But good job to Doc, he’s got those girls definitely going in the right direction and we’d definitely like to mimic that and get our girls going in that direction as well.”