Pick your poison with the St. Francis boys basketball team. They can score in transition, as they did in the first quarter Friday, racing out to a 17-8 lead over rival Wheaton Academy with a hatful of easy layups — 7 of them, as a matter of fact.

The Royals were ranked ninth in the most recent Associated Press Class 4A poll and eighth by one of the Chicago daily newspapers. Deryn Carter’s group was 16-1 overall and 7-0 in Upstate Eight play after wins against Elgin and East Aurora.Of note in those two conference games, Larkin broke the all-time record for largest margin of victory in the Larkin-Elgin crosstown series. Carter also believes the Royals are off to the best start in school history, as well as the owners of the most consecutive wins in a single season in school history.

Nojus Indrusaitis didn’t need an introduction to the other star on the court Monday morning.Indrusaitis, Lemont’s 6-foot-4 sophomore and a Division I prospect, played AAU with Timothy Christian’s Ben VanderWal, a Furman recruit, over the summer at Breakaway Basketball.The two are part of a star-studded top half of the bracket at the 47th Jack Tosh Holiday Classic at York. Should Lemont advance, Indrusaitis could match up with standouts Cameron Christie of Rolling Meadows and Asa Thomas of Lake Forest, two of Illinois’ top juniors, and Gonzaga recruit Braden Huff of No. 1-ranked Glenbard West. That’s just fine with Indrusaitis.

Scouting Fox area boys basketball holiday tournaments

The IC Catholic Prep boys basketball team entered their home tilt with St. Edward on Tuesday night having missed their prior two games due to separate opponent COVID-19 cancellations.Knights coach T.J. Tyrrell would have preferred his team to play those contests, but since it couldn’t, he made the best of it, with extra practice.Practice makes perfect, so to speak. ICCP parlayed those extra reps into a 57-48 victory over the Green Wave.

Things have been trending upward and then some for the Huntley boys basketball team this season. Coach Will Benson’s squad was 8-1 overall to start the week and 4-0 in Fox Valley Conference play. That lone loss was a 1-point setback to Batavia on a last-second drained 3-pointer.

Heading into the fourth quarter, Naperville North’s young basketball team was in need of a senior moment, and that’s when senior guard Zeke Williams stepped up and delivered on Saturday night. Visiting Wheaton Academy had just scored the final six points of the third quarter to close to within 39-36, but Williams scored twice inside and then knocked down a 3-pointer for eight points in the first two minutes of the final quarter. That burst helped power the Huskies (3-5) to a 61-49 non-conference win, and the Naperville North veteran finished his evening with game highs of 22 points and 10 rebounds.

Brendan Yarusso was the key element for St. Francis’ Metro Suburban Conference victory over St. Edward. The senior reacted to the Green Wave’s defense by scoring 29 points — 22 in a decisive third quarter.

Wheaton Warrenville South’s Tyler Fawcett scored 14 of his game-high 17 points in the first half as he and the Tigers got the better of Timothy Christian star Ben VanderWal in a 54-35 victory Wednesday at Fenton’s Chuck Mitchell Tournament.

Here’s a look at the boys basketball season in the Metro Suburban