Larkin storms back to down Streamwood
Trailing Streamwood by 9 points in the third quarter, Larkin's boys basketball team just stayed the course. And created a few turnovers. The result was amazing - the Royals closed the game on a 39-13 run and walked away with a 66-49 win Friday night.
Anthony Lynch scored 25 points, Jalen Shaw added 24 plus 9 rebounds, and Kindrel Morris added 5 points, 5 rebounds, 7 steals, and 3 assists for the Royals.
The Sabres (7-11, 0-6) led most of the first half and extended the advantage to 36-27 on a bucket by Brendon Marton in the third quarter. But Larkin outscored the home team 17-4 to close out the period. Lynch scored 10 points during the quarter.
Shaw took over in the fourth, scoring 12 of the Royals' 27 points.
Streamwood led 30-25 at the half after holding Larkin to 33 percent shooting in the Upstate Eight River matchup.
"The first half looked worse score-wise than what it actually was," said Larkin coach Deryn Carter. "We were getting a lot of stuff offensively we wanted to get. We gave up 30 points, which was probably too much but they were hitting shots. We didn't come into the locker room and try to scrap anything; it was just a matter of just kind of keeping the course."
"We have a lot of seniors on this team," said Lynch. "We've been in this position before so we just regrouped and got it together."
Part of the problem early on was guys being too unselfish.
"A couple of guys inside the zone got a little more aggressive looking for their shot," Carter said. "They were trying to be too playmake-y in the first half, catching the ball and looking around when the play is theirs."
Keenon Cole had 13 points and 14 rebounds for Streamwood. Lamont Cole added 9 points, and Nikola Sinik finished with 7.
"The story of the game was their pressure finally got to us," said Streamwood coach Paul Kowalyszyn. "They created turnovers and when you turn the ball over against Larkin, those convert into dunks and layups and those are what really ended up hurting us. And then they've got some talented players, too. You know they're going to score."
Larkin's pressure forced 27 turnovers, many of which turned into easy baskets at the other end.
It wasn't all bad for Streamwood, as the Sabres handled the Royals (10-4, 6-0) well for about 30 minutes.
"We were up 9 against a really good team," Kowalyszyn said. "The end wasn't very good, but the kids, even though we lost, I think we probably got a little bit better tonight."