Larkin outlasts Batavia in 3 OTs
It was déjà vu at Larkin High School on Wednesday night.
For the second time in a two week span the Royals' boys basketball team pulled out a last-second win over Batavia in Upstate Eight River Division action, this time in triple overtime 67-65 on senior night in the regular season finale.
Senior Anthony Lynch, who had a team-high 21 points, scored on a driving layup with 5.2 seconds left in the third overtime period for the go-ahead basket. Batavia's final shot at the buzzer rimmed out.
"We just kept battling," Lynch said. "I felt like I had given up a couple chances to take it to the basket earlier, so when the lane opened up that last time I had to take care of business. There's no better feeling than winning on senior night. This gives us some momentum and now we have to get ready for the playoffs."
Fellow senior guard Kindrel Morris also came up big for the Royals. Morris scored 16 points with 10 of those coming in overtime, including 6 free throws in the third overtime. Morris also had 4 steals in the overtimes. Lynch and Morris took over after center Jalen Shaw fouled out at the end of the first overtime.
"That's exactly what you need your two senior guards to do in that situation," Larkin coach Deryn Carter said. "They really stepped up with Jalen out and made some big plays. The other thing that really made the difference was our defense. We played at a top level and that's what really allowed us to win."
Shaw finished with 19 points, 9 rebounds, and 4 blocks,
It was a much needed win heading into the postseason for the Royals (19-8, 11-1) after they had dropped their last 2 games.
"I'm proud of the way they fought," Carter said. "We fought through some adversity after Jalen fouled out and we battled a really tough team. It was a good job and a big win."
It looked like the Royals would avoid the theatrics this time around when they took their biggest lead of the game 45-37 with 2:17 left to play in regulation. However, the Bulldogs rallied back with a pair of 3-pointers from Jayden Johnson and a layup from Eric Peterson with 45 seconds left to tie the game at 45-45. Both teams came up empty on their final two possessions of regulation to force overtime,
The Bulldogs (21-8, 7-5) rallied back in the first two overtime periods after falling behind. Kyle Lefevre hit 3 free throws with less than a second left in the first overtime to tie the score at 55-55. LeFevre again tied the game in the second overtime 59-59 on a pull up jumper in the lane with 50 seconds left.
Johnson finished with 23 points to lead Batavia in scoring. Lefevre had 15 points.
Before the game there was a moment of silence for longtime Elgin Area School District U46 administrator and Elgin super fan Dave Covey, who passed away on Sunday.