Larkin gains valuable experience in loss to Morgan Park
Larkin may have suffered a loss on Saturday night, but the Royals sure gained some valuable experience against one of the top teams in the state and one of the top college recruits in the country.
For the most part the Royals held their own against visiting Morgan Park, the defending Class 3A state champion, before the Mustangs were able to pull away late for a 71-58 win in the final game of the Mac Irvin Diabetes Classic at Larkin.
"I know it's a loss on the scoreboard, but I couldn't be any more proud of the way our kids played," Larkin coach Deryn Carter said. "That is a great team we faced and we stayed right with them for a long time. We forced them to go to their third or fourth options on defense to stop us. That is saying something against a team like that. It was a great experience and we took a big big step forward tonight."
Highly recruited Marcus Lovett proved to be as good as advertised, scoring 32 points to lead the Mustangs. Christian Negron led the Royals with 15 points and 16 rebounds.
Larkin (4-3) got off to a great start. Tanner Gardon hit a pair of 3-pointers in the first quarter and the Royals led 18-13. Eventually though Lovett, a transfer from California, began to take over.
The 5-foot-11 point guard scored 13 points in the second quarter as the Mustangs (2-0) pulled ahead 35-30 by halftime.
"I just do whatever I can to help the team," Lovett said. "I just started getting in the flow."
Lovett continued to wow the crowd in the second half with some spectacular buckets on drives to the basket.
"It was an honor to play against him," said Larkin junior guard Keyvon Kyles, who had 11 points. "He is a great player. I thought we played him tough. We contested all of his shots and made him work hard for his points. He just made some great shots."
The Mustangs' defensive pressure finally started to get to the Royals in the second half. Larkin turned the ball over 13 times in the third quarter and was outscored 18-10. The Royals fell behind 59-43 midway through the fourth quarter before going on an 8-0 run to pull to within 59-51 but could get no closer.
"You never want to lose, but we feel blessed to have the opportunity to play against them," Kyles said. "Coach was telling us that is the best team Larkin has played in at least 6 years and we played them hard. We are not coming out of here sad. We gained some confidence knowing we can play against a team like that."
AJ Hunter had a couple 3-pointers in the fourth quarter and finished with 11 points for the Royals, who host Elgin next Friday night.