Hoffman Estates snaps streak, extends Larkin's
The little things added up for Hoffman Estates in a streak-snapping 53-40 victory over Larkin at the Elgin Holiday Boys Basketball Tournament Tuesday morning.
The Hawks weathered leading scorer Austin Terry's first-half foul trouble to lead by 5 at halftime, then blew the game open with a 20-6 third quarter in which defense ignited the transition game.
The victory snapped a 6-game slide for the Hawks.
“I was happy to get a win, that's for sure,” Hoffman Estates coach Bill Wandro said. “Not one big thing stood out. A bunch of little things came together to get a run, and that put us up by 10 or 15. I think then it was just clock management.”
Larkin (1-10) committed 7 turnovers against Hoffman Estates (2-8) in the third quarter, due in large part to 5 steals by Hawks' junior guard Alex Bonds.
“Coach told us we needed to see the ball,” said Bonds, who finished with 9 points and a career-best 7 steals. “We haven't been doing it lately, but we finally enforced it today. It helps. Seeing the ball allows you to get steals.”
Larkin, playing without two injured guards, could not handle the pressure from Bonds and the rest of the Hawks.
“We turned it over,” Larkin coach Deryn Carter said. “We may have forgotten we were wearing white for a little while there the way we were throwing it to them. We did a good job defensively, but you've just got to take care of the ball better.
“We have to keep ourselves in the game defensively and take care of the ball offensively and hope for the best.”
Terry returned to the floor in the third quarter after sitting much of the first half. The 6-foot-2 junior closed the third quarter with 6 straight points to lift Hoffman Estates to its largest lead, 44-25. He led the Hawks with 14 points. Junior center Eric Saubert added 12 points.
The Royals pulled within 18-15 midway though the second quarter after a 3-pointer from Quantice Hunter, but they managed only 6 points in both the second and third quarters.
“I think we lost a lot of energy, effort and enthusiasm,” Larkin's Brent Cooks said. “We just lost it. Our effort dropped.”
Junior Ian Larkin led Larkin with 11 points while Cooks finished with 9 points and Hunter 8 points.
Hoffman Estates resumes tournament play against Glenbrook South today at noon. Larkin will face Dundee-Crown at 10:15 a.m.