Boys Basketball: Larkin goes on 19-point run after timeout, cruises

Updated: November 21, 2011 11:14PM

Larkin sat on the verge of a scoring avalanche in the second quarter of Monday’s opener against the host school in Woodstock’s Hoops for Healing Tournament.

The Royals just needed to remove one proverbial stone before the landslide could start — stopping a simple pass Woodstock was making. After that the path cleared for a 69-29 romp past the Blue Streaks in the season opener.

“We started well with the effort, but defensively we were not doing some of the things we had been doing all year in practice,” Larkin coach Deryn Carter said. “I called a quick timeout — I called that full timeout — and after I spent 10 seconds talking, it was more a case of the guys just realizing that’s not what Larkin basketball is, that’s not what we want it to be. They responded.”

The Royals led only 17-15 when Carter called that timeout 2-1/2 minutes into the second quarter. Afterward, Larkin outscored the Blue Streaks 52-14. They went on a 19-0 run over the four minutes following the timeout, with five different players scoring.

“They (Woodstock) kept passing it around the perimeter and coach wanted us to steal that pass with pressure, and we started pressuring the ball,” Larkin junior guard Quantice Hunter said. “It started causing turnovers and it led to our offense.”

The Royals started running the floor in the transition game, hitting 3-pointers and dominated inside behind senior 6-foot-5 post player Antonio Pipes.

Larkin hit six first-half 3-pointers in 14 attempts, made nine treys for the game, and Pipes finished with eight points and nine rebounds while holding Woodstock 6-foot-6 sophomore big man Damian Stoneking to two points on the night.

“We want to be a transition team, so we’ve got to get some stuff offensively off our defense,” Carter said. “I’d love to say that (timeout) was about Xs and Os that our coaching staff did, but it only was talking about one pass (Woodstock) was making and our guys responded defensively.”

Larkin held Woodstock to 16 percent from the field (10 of 62), and 19 percent in the first half (7 of 36).

The Royals had 14 points from junior guard Quentin Ruff off the bench and 10 from Hunter. Ruff had four 3-pointers and Hunter and Ian Fluhler two each.

Reserve big man Daniel McFadden came on for 12 points, including four during the second-quarter 19-0 run. Drew Jones had eight rebounds to go with four points and Larkin dominated the boards 49-37. Four players hit 3-pointers for the Royals

A total of 11 Royals scored in the rout, which got out of hand in the third quarter after Woodstock went in at halftime trailing 36-19.

“Our guys are trying, I would not say change Larkin basketball, but bring Larkin back to what Larkin was when I was young and our coaching staff was young, the way we remember it,” Carter said. “Larkin is a winning basketball program and we’re just trying to bring it back.”

Jordan Turner scored eight points to lead Woodstock.

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