With Larkin's Kyles sidelined, Harvest Christian rolls to win
Harvest Christian's girls basketball team came into Wednesday's Elgin City Classic game expecting to challenge a Larkin team that features the Fox Valley area's leading scorer, Arizona recruit Marlee Kyles.
It didn't happen.
Kyles, who is averaging 30 points per game, suffered a concussion in practice on Saturday and is now under state-mandated concussion protocol, meaning she needs to be symptom free for five consecutive days - and through Wednesday she still had symptoms.
With Kyles watching from the bench, Larkin had a tough night handling Harvest's pressure defense and the Lions, ranked No. 10 in Class 1A, came away with a 62-37 win at Elgin High's Chesbrough Field House.
"It didn't really matter," said Lions' senior Alyssa Iverson, who scored a game-high 23 points to go with 5 assists and 6 steals. "Our team came in with the same mindset - to be aggressive and do what we need to do to win, regardless if the D-I player is playing or not."
Harvest's defense was clearly the factor in the game. The Lions (14-3) harassed Larkin (8-10) into 34 turnovers in a foul-plagued game that featured 45 fouls and 68 free throw attempts.
"We focus on defense and when we're at a height disadvantage we use our speed to get transition baskets," Iverson said.
"In the half-court we were fine but they beat us by the press," said Larkin coach Steve Knapp.
Larkin trailed just 22-19 after a basket by senior Shawniece Colen-Douglas with 2:02 left in the first half but Harvest went on a 14-0 run over the next 3-plus minutes to take a 34-19 lead after a free throw from junior Isamar Garcia (14 points) with 6:45 left in the third quarter. Larkin couldn't get closer than 11 the rest of the way.
Senior Katie Kaldenberger added 8 points and 7 rebounds for the Lions, who shot 21 of 57 from the field for the night. Sophomore Gracie Ozburn added 7 points and sophomore Jenn Kasper had 8 rebounds.
Knapp was encouraged with the play of Royals' freshmen Brianna Young (13 points, 10 rebounds) and Aaliyah Dixon (10 points, 8 rebounds), who will each see more playing time with Kyles out.
"This gives us a clear eye on what the future is for our program and tonight shows us what we need to work on," said Knapp, whose team was just 10 of 44 shooting but did win the rebound battle 47-43.
As for Kyles, Larkin's all-time leading scorer, she is patiently going through the concussion protocol and hoping to return to action as soon as possible. She has 1,800 career points and depending on how long she's out, still has a shot at 2,000.
"Each day is better but the symptoms are still there," said Kyles, who is seen every day by the Larkin training staff, which uses a state-prescribed system to evaluate her.
"I've had a very healthy four years at Larkin so I can't really complain. It would be great to get back and get 2,000 points but the bigger picture right now is going to Arizona healthy."