Crystal Lake South nips Larkin
Crystal Lake South senior guard Alex Reich proved in Tuesday's 55-52 victory over Larkin that you don't have to be the tallest player on the basketball court to affect the outcome of a high school game.
While trying to protect a 1-point lead, CL South's 5-foot-8 reserve guard was tied up on the press by 6-6 division-I prospect Christian Negron with 13 seconds left and the possession arrow favoring Larkin.
Seconds later Reich was guarding the inbound pass along the baseline when Larkin triggered the ball behind him to a cutting Negron. Reich turned and stripped the ball from Negron as he went up to attempt what would have been the go-ahead layup.
"(Negron) is the best player on their team and he's going D-I and all that, but anytime a post gets the ball inside and they bring it down low I'm going to try to steal from them because I'm not going to get it up top," Reich said. "When it's down low I can do it."
Consistent throughout a physical nonconference game, the officials allowed for some contact on the play, which had gone according to Larkin's plan until Reich's strip.
"That's exactly what we wanted. We called the play and we did a great job of executing it," Larkin coach Deryn Carter said. "I don't know. I know Christian's a tough kid. He doesn't complain much and he gave me a look like, hey, maybe there was something out of my control that stopped me from scoring. I don't know. I'd have to watch it on film, but (Reich) got in there and got his hand on the ball and made a great play."
Reich's steal and ensuing free throws served as redemption not only for the late turnover against Negron and the Larkin press but for the free throws he missed late in last Friday's triple-overtime loss to McHenry.
"He's the smallest guy on the court but he's got the biggest heart," CL South coach Matt LePage said. "I think our whole team knows it and they respond to him and that's why he's out there, to make plays like that against their guy."
Playing without suspended starting guard Charles Sanders, whose status for Friday's matchup at Upstate Eight River-leading St. Charles East is "undetermined", according to Carter, Larkin (12-6) fell behind in the second quarter and did not regain the lead until Trelle Mardis sank both free throws with 4:50 remaining in the game.
The lead switched hands four times over the next two minutes until junior Zach Geske drained the fourth of his 3-pointers to cap a game-high 18-point performance. CL South (11-5) led 53-50 after Tyler Baker canned 2 free throws with 31.5 seconds to play, but Negron scored on a reverse layup with 17.2 seconds left, setting the stage for the final sequence.
The Gators won despite committing 21 turnovers to Larkin's 14, partly because senior Wes Buckner's 13 rebounds helped CL South win the rebounding battle 33-29.
Larkin, which averaged 68.4 points in 5 games to win the Jacobs Tournament in December, has since averaged 48.5 points in losses to Geneva and CL South. The Royals shot 19 of 54 from the field (35 percent), 3 of 14 from 3-point range (21 percent).
The Gators shot 35 percent from the field (17 o 49) but they sank 7 of their 15 attempts from beyond the arc.
"All facets of the game, whether it's rebounding, offense, defense, we weren't good enough today and we weren't good enough last Saturday," Carter said. "We've got some things to correct but I know we will. We have to stay together and fight through a little adversity, but every team that wants to be good has to do that. We'll get that done."
Baker finished with 13 points and Kyle Bartusch added 10 points, 8 rebounds and 4 assists for the Gators.