Boys Basketball: Larkin holds off Romeoville

Updated: December 21, 2011 7:13PM

It wasn’t the way a coach would like to see his team finish off a win, but coming off a four-win season last year, Larkin boys basketball coach Deryn Carter will take it.

The Royals posted a 55-49 win over Romeoville to reach the consolation finals against Rockford East at the Elgin Holiday Tournament Wednesday. The Royals, who have already doubled last year’s win total with an 8-3 record, face the E-Rabs at 3:45 p.m. Thursday.

But Larkin hit only 11-for-20 from the free-throw line in the fourth quarter. Take out Quantice Hunter’s 6-for-6 performance, and it’s a ghastly 5-for-14 from the line for the rest of the team.

Carter, however, wasn’t upset after the game.

“What we told them, and it’s always learning, was that we left the missed free throws at the free throw line and we continued to defend,” Carter said. “We didn’t give up easy baskets we didn’t do unintelligent things at the defensive end to compound our missed free throws. That’s what we can pull out of this game. If we can understand that we need to leave offense on offense and defense on defense and not let them negatively affect one another, that’s good.”

Larkin jumped out to a 12-4 lead in the first quarter, but a 13-2 Romeoville run gave the Spartans an 18-16 lead. It was back-and-forth from there with neither team leading by more than six points until the fourth quarter.

Romeoville’s Nate Washington (game-high 22 points) scored three points to start the fourth, cutting the Larkin lead to only 38-36. But Larkin held the Spartans scoreless over the next few minutes, methodically putting together a 9-0 run. But the Royals missed a chance to slam the door shut, missing five free throws during the run.

“Very frustrating, seeing that we practice free throws all the time,” said Larkin guard Derrick Streety, who led the Royals with 14 points, but was only 6-of-12 from the stripe. “We pretty much focused on defense. That was the most important part. We didn’t let the free throws affect us. We were just trying to stop them from going on a run.”

Hunter’s two free throws in the final minute pushed the lead to 53-45 and Romeoville didn’t have time for another comeback at that point.

After falling to Harlan in the tournament opener Monday, the Royals have a chance to run through the back draw to take 10th place and carry the momentum into the new year.

“We knew early that we had a tough draw,” Carter said. “We told our guys that our first-round opponent was like a semifinal opponent and we just weren’t ready for it. Hopefully we can prove with a win tomorrow that we are one of the top teams in the tournament. That’s what we’re looking to do”

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