Guards come up big for Larkin
Most of the hype lately surrounding the Larkin boys basketball team has centered around the post players, but on Wednesday night it was the Royals' little guys who were making the big difference.
The guards combined for 40 points in leading Larkin to a 60-40 win at Streamwood in the Upstate Eight River opener for both teams.
Junior Keyvon Kyles scored a game-high 16 points, including four 3-pointers. AJ Hunter came of the bench to add 11 points.
"Our bigs are getting a lot of attention right now as well they should, but our guards can be pretty good, too," Larkin coach Deryn Carter said. "I like to think we have a nice balance. Most nights we are going to have play from the inside out, but I think our guards showed tonight that they are good enough that they can carry us sometimes."
Kyles had three 3-pointers in the first quarter as Larkin built a 20-10 lead.
"Coach is always telling me don't be afraid to shoot," Kyles said. "It's just a matter of getting some confidence. Once I hit the first one I felt good and just let it fly. We feel we have a lot of talent on this team inside and at the guards. We just need to keep coming together and building chemistry."
Kyles added another 3-pointer and a layup in the second quarter as the Royals extended their advantage to 32-17.
"Keyvon is a good player," Carter said. "Last year on the varsity he didn't see much time behind two all-conference guards, but he learned a lot going up against those guys in practice. He's starting to show what he can do and tonight was kind of his coming out party."
Christian Negron had 7 points and 11 rebounds for the Royals.
The Royals (4-1, 1-0) were able to bounce back from a 28-point loss to Rockford Auburn over the weekend.
"We know we are far from a finished product," Carter said. "I think that loss taught us some lessons and shed some light on things we need to improve on. The kids deserve a lot of credit. They got right to work in practice on Monday and Tuesday."
Larkin has a big weekend coming up with back-to-back games against highly touted St. Charles East on Friday and Class 3A top-ranked Morgan Park Saturday in the Mac Irvin Diabetes Classic at Larkin.
"We are certainly going to be tested by both," said Carter. "But we are looking forward to the challenge."
Streamwood shot just 14-of-44 (32 percent) from the field and 8-of-23 (35 percent) from the free throw line.
Brendon Marton had 16 points to lead the Sabres (0-5, 0-1) and Cole Seger added 11.
"I saw a lot of good things out there tonight," said Streamwood coach Paul Kowalyszyn. "I thought we played very well on defense. Cole Seger did a great job on Negron. We know we are still a work in progress. We lost by 20, but 6 or 7 months ago it would have been 35 or 40. So I think we are really taking steps forward."