Larkin notches another win over Elgin
Each mired in another tough season, the girls basketball teams from Larkin and Elgin still had their city rivalry game to look forward to Friday night in Larkin's gym.
And for the second time this season the Royals prevailed, downing Elgin 44-25 in an Upstate Eight Conference River Division game played before a sizable crowd.
“It's our biggest game,” said Larkin junior Jill Casebeer. “Elgin is our rival and the Elgin game is always an intense game for us.”
So, Larkin brought the intensity, especially on defense. A smothering press and a 1-3-1 zone that Elgin didn't shoot well against spelled victory for the Royals (3-14, 2-4).
“We played intense defense,” Casebeer said. “We covered for each other and helped each other out. We really started playing as a team tonight.”
“I'm not a fan of zone defense but that's what our talent allows us to do,” said Larkin coach Alphonso Lott.
The Royals broke out to a 9-0 lead and even though Elgin (0-18, 0-6) closed the gap to 5, 16-11, late in the second quarter, Larkin went on a 5-0 run to close out the period and take a 21-11 lead into halftime. Elgin never got closer in the second half.
“We really struggled,” said Elgin coach Dr. Nick Bumbales. “We got down 9-0 and then by 10 at the half and that really hurt us. I thought we played good defense at times but we didn't rebound against them as well as we did last time.”
The Maroons, who lost the earlier encounter with the Royals 42-37, committed 30 turnovers, made just 8 of 39 shots from the floor and 8 of 19 from the free-throw line.
“Larkin played good defense, we just couldn't manufacture any shots,” Bumbales said.
Larkin didn't shoot much better (16-for-58) but the Royals owned the boards 50-35 and had far less turnovers (17).
“We actually sustained our discipline the whole game and that's been our problem,” said Lott. “We've still got a lot of work ahead of us. We'll see how much we've improved when we play at St. Edward Tuesday.”
Casebeer and freshman Torie Patterson led Larkin with 8 points each. Casebeer also had 8 rebounds while Allison Driskill added 6 points and 6 rebounds for the Royals.
Junior Briana Hamilton led Elgin with 9 points and 6 rebounds.
“It's always tough to lose to your rival,” said Bumbales, whose team beat Larkin twice last year. “We'll just have to gear up because we'll see the again in the state tournament.”
Bartlett 78, Metea Valley 40: Kristin Conniff had 16 points and 5 steals and Jacki Gulczynski added 13 points, 7 rebounds and 3 steals as Bartlett (19-1, 6-0) rolled to an Upstate Eight Valley Division win in Naperville. Christina Carlson added 10 points and 3 steals and Janessa Baker had 9 points and 5 assists for the Hawks.