Bartlett downs Larkin to remain unbeaten in UEC

Kelton McEwen shook his head in mild frustration.

A few seconds earlier, the Bartlett freshman guard swished a pivotal 3-pointer just in front of the Hawks' bench. The 3-pointer, though, was waved off due to a foul on a teammate.

That was about the only thing that went wrong for McEwen against Larkin on Saturday afternoon.

McEwen buried three 3-pointers for 16 points in a 70-64 triumph over the Royals in Upstate Eight Conference boys basketball play.

Seven-foot-2 junior center Conrad Luczynski led the way with a strong effort on offense and defense, compiling a team-high 20 points to go with 14 rebounds and 5 blocks. Ian Smith hit four 3-pointers for 14 points and Clark Lewis chipped in with 9 points for the Hawks (8-2, 6-0).

"I thought we did a great job against a really good team," Bartlett coach Jim Wolfsmith said. "Larkin has been playing really good ball. They are so good defensively."

McEwen drained two 3s in a 34-second span late in the first quarter to give the Hawks a cushion at 33-23 that Larkin never could recover from. Smith buried two key 3s in the fourth to slow down a late charge by the Royals.

"Kelton can play," Wolfsmith said. "He's never too big for the moment, and just plays his role and defends really well on the ball and really mature for a freshman. He plays a really smart game."

The Royals (4-3, 4-2) cut the deficit to 61-60 with 3:32 left, but managed just 3 points the rest of the game. Damari Wheeler-Thomas scored a game-high 27 points and Fernando Perez had 15 for the Royals.

"We just didn't make enough winning plays, but their guards played really well and made some shots," Larkin coach Deryn Carter said. "We knew we couldn't do much with (Luczynski), but the freshman guard got us. We wanted to limit their perimeter shots. Wheeler-Thomas did a lot of good things today for us."

The Hawks managed a big home conference win without four seniors, who opted out in order to prepare for the football season, which included three starters. The new-look Hawks, aside from the towering Luczynski, don't have much size or another true inside player. But they can shoot the ball, as evidenced by their 11 3s against the Royals. Luczynski sealed the victory by hitting 4 free throws in the final 38 seconds.

"The guys we lost were veterans but also a lot of our size and strength outside of Conrad," Wolfsmith said. "We went from a team being really tall to not very tall at all. Conrad played really well in the post. He did a good job controlling the ball and passing it. He did a good job."