advertisement

Larkin comes up short against Rockford Auburn

ROCKFORD - Larkin's comeback came up just a little bit short.

The Royals' boys basketball team nearly erased a 20-point halftime deficit to Auburn, getting within 1 point. But the rally ran out of steam and the Knights pulled away for a 76-67 win in the 205 Tipoff Classic at Auburn Friday afternoon.

The Knights held a 51-31 advantage at halftime thanks to their long-range shooting. They converted 8 straight from beyond the arc at one point and the Royals (1-2) just couldn't keep up. But after the break, the Royals' defense stiffened, and they began knocking down a few shots of their own. They hit the hosts with runs of 10-2 to start the second half, and 20-5 later on.

Kashmir Ivy and Pierre Black drained 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions, Anthony Lynch got a steal and drove for a layup, Kindrell Morris nailed a jumper and, all of a sudden, Larkin was within a point at 64-63. But the Royals couldn't get over the hump.

"We showed a lot more heart in that quarter, and we feel like we wanted it more than them in that quarter," said Ivy, the Royals' only returning senior. "That's why we dove for balls and played defense a little bit harder than in the first half."

On their next 3 possessions, they missed a pair of 3s, missed the front end of a 1-and-1, and turned it over. The Knights eventually stretched the lead back to 10 points, and the Royals never recovered.

"I thought we had two possessions where we took two shots that were not necessarily selfish, but were like, 'I'll hit that big shot,' " said Larkin coach Deryn Carter. "We took two 3-pointers that were quick."

Lynch finished with 20 points for the Royals, Ivy added 15, Jalen Shaw 14 and Morris 10. Ivy, Lynch, and Shaw each grabbed 6 rebounds.

"We're real young, and part of being young is that they think that when you make adjustments, you forget about who you are," Carter said. "We're a pressure team, we want to play fast. When we talk about containing, we just go away from all that other stuff. They've got to understand that the adjustments we make are little. It's growing pains for sure."

Tenoah Tatum had 17 points and 8 rebounds for Auburn. Terry Ford and Justin Robinson added 16 and 15 points, respectively.

"I think they did a good job of pressuring, but in the second half we did a good job of pressuring, too," Lynch said. "They like to play fast. We all knew that, so we just had to calm down a little bit."

Article Comments
Guidelines: Keep it civil and on topic; no profanity, vulgarity, slurs or personal attacks. People who harass others or joke about tragedies will be blocked. If a comment violates these standards or our terms of service, click the "flag" link in the lower-right corner of the comment box. To find our more, read our FAQ.