Streamwood forward Brendon Marton excited the home crowd Friday night with his team’s first points against Larkin on a slam dunk over 6-foot-10 Jalen Shaw.
Larkin guard Anthony Lynch quickly repaid the Sabres with a steal and a one-hand slam that unleashed a torrent of energy. It carried the Royals to a 78-53 victory in both teams’ Upstate Eight River opener.
“I was feeling it a little bit in pregame, and I was thinking like, if I’m open, I’m going to try it,” Lynch said.
Lynch, a 6-2 junior, did more than dunk. He finished with a game-high 20 points to go with seven rebounds and three assists.
The Royals (4-2, 1-0) won for the third straight time while dealing the Sabres (1-4, 0-1) their fourth straight loss.
“It looked like what we were working on in practice just kind of carried over,” Larkin coach Deryn Carter said. “We’re just trying to slowly add things.
“We’re so young and inexperienced, you can’t throw it all at them at once. The big thing right now is just trying to get them to play hard.”
Lynch transferred from South Elgin and has quickly fit in, averaging 16.8 points while supplying an all-around game.
“The more we play, the better we are getting — the group together — and I’m getting more comfortable just playing with the guys,” Lynch said.
Carter called Lynch an easy fit because the entire team lacks experience.
“We’ve got three guys returning,” Carter said. “It would be one thing if we had 11 guys returning and three guys new and we had to have Anthony jump up to speed, but he’s learning right along with the other guys.
“He’s a high-character kid. He works hard.”
Lynch scored 11 points in the first quarter and added an assist, a steal and a block. The Royals’ intense defense forced 10 turnovers in the quarter, leading to 11 points.
Larkin went up 23-3 after just 6:30.
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“I think it was our energy — our energy when we first started the game,” Lynch said. “We played hard, got stops and forced turnovers.”
Sophomore Pierre Black came off the bench to drain three of his four 3-pointers in the first half. Black, who finished with 13 points, was 3-for-6 on 3-pointers in the first half as Larkin seized a 43-18 halftime lead.
“I’m just happy they’re finding me on the court, that they trust me to shoot,” Black said. “Even if I keep missing, I still will hit them. Coach always tells me, ‘Keep shooting, keep shooting.’ “
Streamwood received a team-high 18 points and 12 rebounds from Lamont Cole. Martin ended up with 10 points and five rebounds.
Keenan Cole contributed eight points and nine rebounds, but the Sabres were without three players for “not meeting team expectations,” according to coach Paul Kowalyszyn.
“This is going to sound crazy, but this is going to make us a better team because guys got put into situations they’ve never been in before as far as their responsibilities,” Kowalyszyn said. “Like Jason Manalansan, he usually doesn’t handle the ball very much. (Friday) he had to handle it and be tough with it.
“That’s going to make us a little tougher down the road.”
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