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Larkin moves on to regional final

Larkin's Jalen Shaw was held without a basket through the first 3 quarters on Wednesday night, but the 6-foot-10 junior sure made up for it in the fourth quarter.

Shaw had 10 points and 6 rebounds in the final quarter alone to help the host and fifth-seeded Royals hold off a furious comeback by third-seeded Prairie Ridge as the Larkin boys basketball team held on for a 50-39 win in the Class 4A regional semifinals. The Royals (16-14) advance to play Bartlett in Friday night's regional championship game.

Shaw finished with 12 points and 11 rebounds. No points were bigger than his 3-point play with 2:04 left in the game. Prairie Ridge was on a 12-0 run and had cut a 14-point deficit down to 40-38 when Shaw answered back.

With the pressure mounting Anthony Lynch drove the lane and dished the ball to Shaw, who went up strong for a layup. He was fouled on the play and converted the free throw to extend the Royals' lead to 43-38 all but killing the Wolves' rally.

"They are a good defensive team," Shaw said. "But you break down a defense like that by moving the ball and rotating and that's what we did. I just tried to use the motivation from the crowd and teammates and my coaches. It was awesome to get the win."

Shaw made 3 of 4 free throws down the stretch and Kashmir Ivy added a bucket and a free throw to help seal the win.

"(Jalen) is growing up a lot," Larkin coach Deryn Carter said. "He has become one of the best juniors in the area. They are really good with their trapping defense, so when we were able to beat it we wanted to get the ball inside to Jalen as quick as we could."

Lynch finished with 12 points for the Royals.

"I was a little nervous when they got that close," Lynch said. "But I had confidence in my team we could hold them off. We were definitely looking to get Jalen the ball. How can you miss him. He did a great job of finishing. He's a big-time player."

Other than the run in the fourth quarter the Royals shut down the Prairie Ridge offense. The Wolves shot just 14 of 52 (27 percent) from the field, including only 2 of 16 from beyond the arc.

"We are taking a lot of pride in the way we are playing defense," Carter said. "We have been really good in the half court by talking and helping out. We took the gas off the pedal there for a little while in the fourth quarter and that was my fault as a coach for letting that happen. But we told them even when we got out the flow on offense that we have to get back to playing defense."

Mathew Hoyland had 10 points to lead the Wolves in scoring.

Images: Larkin vs. Prairie Ridge, boys 4A regional semifinal basketball

  Larkin's Prairie Ridge's Wednesday at the boys basketball regional tournament game in Elgin. John Starks/jstarks@dailyherald.com
  Larkin's Kindrel Morris scores despite the pressure from Prairie Ridge's James Queen Wednesday at the boys basketball regional tournament game in Elgin. John Starks/jstarks@dailyherald.com
  Larkin's Anthony Lynch looks for a teammate as Prairie Ridge's Trevor Potter dives for the ball Wednesday at the boys basketball regional tournament game in Elgin. John Starks/jstarks@dailyherald.com
  Larkin's Kindrel Morris, Max Wiskirchen, Kashmir Ivy, Isaiah Talley and Pierre Black relax after defeating Prairie Ridge Wednesday at the boys basketball regional tournament game in Elgin. John Starks/jstarks@dailyherald.com
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