Seniors lead Streamwood over Larkin
On Senior Night, it was only fitting that several seniors had big nights.
Maddi Exline put up 21 points, Andrea Bracy had 14 points and 9 rebounds, and Becky Roncone grabbed 12 rebounds as Streamwood's girls' basketball squad pulled away from Larkin for a 53-33 win in Upstate Eight River action in Streamwood.
Sophomore guard Mandy Mien contributed 14 points, 11 rebounds and 3 assists for the Sabres, who won their fourth straight.
"It was exciting because we've played together for so long," said Exline. "We just wanted a win to end it with a bang and that's what we did today."
The Sabres were missing a fourth senior starter, injured guard Monica Brown, but others picked up the slack.
"We played really good team ball," said Streamwood coach George Rozner. "It started a little slow, but there's always a lot of emotion on Senior Night. You never know how they're going to start."
The Sabres' resurgence starts with defense, Exline said.
"It all starts on defense. We're starting to play better defense and we're starting to hit the clutch shots that we were missing before, so it's just coming together for us now."
Streamwood led 9-8 late in the first quarter. Bracy's 3-pointer started a 15-3 run that covered most of the second period and gave the Sabres a double-digit halftime lead. They continued to pull away in the third quarter, outscoring the Royals, 15-3.
It was a frustrating night for Larkin, which didn't make a 2-point basket until the fourth quarter. Leading scorer Brianna Young got in early foul trouble and never got untracked.
Aaliyah Dixon made 3 first-half 3-pointers to keep the Royals close. She finished with 13 points and added 10 rebounds. Haley Bohne chipped in 8 points.
"Slow starts - we've had a lot of them," said Larkin coach Steve Knapp. "We find ways to make it harder on ourselves to score sometimes."
Streamwood dominated the backboards with a 40-29 advantage - 14 of those came in the third quarter. Mien had 6 points, 5 rebounds, 2 steals and 2 assists in that period as Streamwood held Larkin without a field goal.
Five of the Royals' 9 field goals were 3-pointers.