Shaw, Larkin dominate Lake Park

Larkin's boys basketball team followed somewhat familiar script Friday: let an opponent with a weaker record hang around for awhile then, with Jalen Shaw dominant at both ends, open up the game after intermission.

The Royals turned a 7-point halftime lead into a 65-50 win against Lake Park in nonconference action in Elgin.

Shaw finished with 17 points, 9 blocks, 4 rebounds and 2 assists. Anthony Lynch added 15 points and 6 boards for the Royals (7-2).

Larkin broke the game open with a 17-6 run in the third quarter to go up 45-29. The Royals were starting to pull away in the first half, leading 26-15, but lost the momentum as the Lancers scored the last 4 points of the half.

"I was real disappointed with the way we finished the half," said Larkin coach Deryn Carter. "I thought we took three uncharacteristically bad shots. And sometimes a bad shot is not 'we don't think you can make it and we don't have confidence in you,' but it's the time and the score. We were up 13, we had them on the ropes, and there was a 6-point swing there."

Carter knows the Royals won't have as much margin for error next week in the Proviso West tournament.

"A 6-point swing could put the game out of reach with some of the teams we're going to try to play next week," he said.

Shaw did a little of everything, hitting a couple of jumpers and threading some nice passes to open teammates. He knows he needs to help his team in the short term while also preparing to play at the next level.

"You've got to help your teammates as much as you can," he said. "Being on the next level, you've got to do everything. Big men are starting to shoot nowadays, they're starting to dribble. You've got to do everything in the book."

The Lancers were able to stay in the game in large part by dominating the backboards. They outrebounded the taller Royals 35-20.

Isaac Moore had 8 points to go along with 8 rebounds for Lake Park (2-6). Thomas Zakic added 8 points and 5 boards off the bench before fouling out.

Kindrel Morris and Larenzo Coney added 7 points apiece for Larkin. Pierre Black hit a pair of 3-pointers to spark a 10-0 second-quarter run with Shaw on the bench after picking up his second foul. Isaiah Talley also scored 6 points for the Royals.

Larkin led by as much as 65-41 before Lake Park's reserves finished the game on a 9-0 run.