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Dickson, Warren home in on a victory against Larkin

The importance of being the host girls basketball team for the Blue Devils Classic is not lost on Warren sophomore Kaylen Dickson and her teammates.

Playing in the final game of pool play Tuesday night, Dickson made sure her Devils would be in prime position to take home the tournament title for the first time in at least four years.

"It's a big goal for us to win the title in our own tournament," Dickson said. "It's something we haven't done here in a while and it is something we all want to bring back to Warren."

Dickson started off hot, scoring 10 of her game best 17 points in the first quarter as the Devils improved to 3-0 in the tournament with a 38-29 win over Larkin. Larkin finished 2-1 in pool play.

Warren (7-7 overall) will face Wheeling at 4:30 pm Wednesday.

The Royals competed without top scorer Marlee Kyles who was sidelined with the flu will take on Phillips at 3 p.m. Kyles should be healthy enough to play Wednesday, according to coach Steve Knapp.

"When we found out she wasn't feeling well I told her to take it easy since we knew we were in the championship bracket already," Knapp said. "Regardless, I am very pleased with how our girls responded tonight without her. We got better every quarter and scored 29 points, which is something that we haven't shown we can do without Marlee."

Larkin (5-9 overall), dug itself a deep hole early on. The Royals failed to score a point in the first quarter and didn't net a field goal until 5:32 remained in the first half on a bucket by Layla Wisser.

Coupled with the struggling Larkin offense was a stifling Warren defense that forced 13 first-quarter turnovers in an 11-0 opening quarter for Warren.

"We knew we were playing a team that was well-coached, gritty, that plays hard so you know they aren't just going to go away," Warren coach John Stanczykiewicz said. "Once we got up 11-0, 13-0 I thought we relaxed some and lost our focus."

Larkin battled back to pull within 20-10 at the half and got as close as 20-15 early in the third before Dickson and the Warren offense got back into rhythm.

"I think sometimes our minds were going a little faster than our bodies could react," Stanczykiewicz said. "I thought we settled down and made plays when we needed to there at the end."

When Dickson wasn't scoring, she was finding her teammates cutting to the basket. Her favorite target was freshman Dana Lundtviet. Lundtviet was a key to the offense in the second half; she scored all but 2 of her 11 points after halftime.

Dickson also contributed 6 rebounds, 5 steals and three blocks for the winners. Sarah El Rahmany picked up the scoring slack for the Royals with 10 points.

Deerfield 46, Carmel 41: Deerfield picked up its first win in the tournament by downing the Corsairs. The Warriors outscored the Corsairs 15-4 in the third quarter to take over after Carmel held a 1-point advantage at halftime.

Margot Sylvan led all scorers with 11 points for Deerfield. Daija Pruitt and Dani Delozier had 10 points apiece to lead Carmel.

Carmel will play Lake Forest at noon Wednesday, with Deerfield to follow at 1:30 p.m. against Grayslake Central.

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