advertisement

Larkin falls to Sycamore

With only seven players in uniform, Larkin’s girls basketball team was a bit undermanned to begin with Saturday.

The Royals then dug themselves a big first-half hole. They tried to dig their way out of it in the second half but came up short, falling 45-37 to Sycamore at the Central Thanksgiving Tournament in Burlington.

Larkin trailed 29-13 at the break before outscoring the Spartans 24-16 in the final 16 minutes. Victoria Patterson led the comeback, scoring 12 of her game-high 17 points in the second half.

Marlee Kyles added 8 points and Haley Casebeer had 6 off the bench for Larkin (0-3), which also lost to Crystal Lake Central later in the day.

“We historically start out slow, and we pick up the intensity in the second half,” said Larkin coach Ruben Flores.

Saturday was no exception as the Spartans raced out to leads of 14-3 and 21-7. Lauren Goff fueled Sycamore’s hot start, scoring 10 points in the first quarter before finishing with 12.

Taiya Hopkins had 13 points and 12 rebounds for Sycamore.

Larkin missed the scoring of Quixmia Washington, who sat out the game after rolling her ankle in the season opener.

Once the Royals solved the Spartans’ high screens, they got rolling defensively, and that fueled the offense.

“We didn’t figure out that high screen that they had,” Flores said. “We practiced that because we had seen that earlier when they played (Crystal Lake) Central. The girls just weren’t fighting through. In the second half, we made that adjustment and fought through. And we hung tough with them.”

After trailing by 16 at the break, the Royals came out hot to start the second half. Patterson scored in the lane. After a Sycamore bucket, Casebeer scored off a pass from Kyles. Patterson answered a Spartan score with a basket and a free throw to make it 33-22.

The Royals got as close as 43-37 on a Casebeer jumper but could get no closer. The Royals were forced to foul and Sycamore’s Bailey Gilbert made 2 free throws for the final margin.

Article Comments
Guidelines: Keep it civil and on topic; no profanity, vulgarity, slurs or personal attacks. People who harass others or joke about tragedies will be blocked. If a comment violates these standards or our terms of service, click the "flag" link in the lower-right corner of the comment box. To find our more, read our FAQ.