Glenbard South rallies past Larkin in second half

Little was working for the Glenbard South boys basketball team for the first two quarters and change at Larkin on Tuesday.

Then, suddenly, it all worked.

The Raiders overcame a 10-point, third-quarter deficit to win 51-46 in the Upstate Eight by playing better defense and executing their offensive sets.

Larkin had connected on 6 of 17 attempts from 3-point range through the game's first 22 minutes, but the Royals - a squad that relies on the 3-point shot - missed 9 of 10 from beyond the arc in a drought that bridged the third and fourth quarters. They made only 2 of 13 field goal attempts in the final period.

"Defensively, I thought we picked up," Glenbard South coach Wade Hardtke said. "I thought we were pretty complacent in the first half, letting them get to the rim an awful lot. In the second half we did a much better job. Unfortunately, we didn't really wake up until we were down 10. That was what got our attention."

Raiders senior forward Cole Hardtke sat for long periods in the first half due to foul trouble but scored 7 of his team-high 12 points in the fourth quarter. His bucket in the low post off a Tavion Keith lob pass with 6:57 to play gave Glenbard South (19-5, 12-3) its first lead since the second quarter, 40-39.

"We slowed it down and played our game down the stretch," said Cole Hardtke, who grabbed 9 rebounds. "We like running quick sets to get quick buckets and I personally love those plays. The up and down (screens), those are my favorites. It feels right."

Little felt right in the late stages for Larkin (10-18, 7-9), which dropped its fourth straight game. The Royals were outscored 14-4 in the fourth quarter until Pierre Black sank a meaningless 3-pointer at the final buzzer.

"We stopped getting stops," Larkin coach Deryn Carter said. "Too many easy buckets. They started pounding it inside, beating us off the dribble. If you get a couple of stops, you can withstand some missed shots. Disappointing, up 10. It's another game we were up double figures in the second half and lost. We'll see if we can figure it out in the next week and a half."

Tommy Powers, a 6-foot-3 senior forward, scored 11 points off the bench for the Raiders, junior guard Nick Plaso finished with 9 points and senior guard Kevin Enright added 8 points, 4 rebounds and 2 assists.

Black sank four 3-pointers in 10 attempts to finish with 12 points, junior Jashon Johnson-Neals scored 12 points and added 5 rebounds and senior Victor Perez had 10 points for Larkin.