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Larkin holds off Batavia

Batavia got off to a quick start against Upstate Eight River Conference rival Larkin but the Royals answered with run of their own to take the lead and, once they took the lead, they never relinquished it.

The Bulldogs battled all night chasing the Royals but Larkin was up to the task every time and eventually came away with the 59-50 victory.

Batavia (15-13, 5-8) jumped out to a 7-2 lead early in the first quarter behind senior big man Chasen Peez. Peez scored 9 of his 15 points in the first quarter but Larkin (17-8, 8-5), after a quick timeout by coach Deryn Carter, finished the quarter with a 14-3 burst sparked by a couple of dunks from sophomore Christian Negron, who finished with a game-high 18 points.

Larkin guard AJ Hunter scored six straight points in the last minute of the quarter, including a 3-pointer at the buzzer to give Larkin a 16-10 lead after the first quarter.

"I told them to relax, they had some emotion because it was their Senior Night," Carter said. "Let's just take a deep breath and, after a slow start, our defense really sat down and got some stops and we got some transition buckets so overall, we're happy."

Larkin built its lead to double digits in the third quarter behind Negron and guard Charles Sanders but Jacob Roberts kept the Bulldogs close with a couple of baskets in the quarter. Brett Bowman came in and gave Batavia a spark with two steals and a layup that cut the Larkin lead to 42-38 late in the third quarter.

Batavia seemed to have momentum on its side midway through the final period but Negron came up with a huge blocked shot, one of half a dozen he had on the night, that led to a 3-pointer at the other end by Keyvon Kyles and Sanders got a steal on the inbounds pass and finished with a layup that pushed the lead back to double digits, 53-42, in the blink of an eye.

"We tell guys that when Christian is guarding someone, kind of stay out of his way," said Carter. "Because it's tough for a high school kid to get a shot off over him because of his length and athleticism and he made some big blocks that really helped us."

Still Batavia had one more run in them as Canaan Coffey hit his third 3-pointer of the game and a Roberts steal and layup made it 53-47 with 2:08 to play. Bowman took a charge and again momentum seemed to be swinging the Bulldogs' way but, again, Negron was there on the defensive end with a blocked shot and from that point on the Royals were able to put the game away from the free-throw line.

"Our guards do a great job of pressuring the ball and every once in a while someone will sneak through there and I'm the last line of defense," said Negron. "They hung around but we were able to stay together and get the defensive stops that we needed."

"I thought we played well," said Batavia coach Jim Nazos. "I thought we held our composure when they tried to double us. We made our runs. We just couldn't get over the top."

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