Smith's 34 paces hot-shooting Royals
BELVIDERE -- First-year Larkin boys basketball coach Deryn Carter calls it the four E's: energy, effort, enthusiasm and execution. All four were on display Friday afternoon in Belvidere at the Hoops for Healing Tournament as the Royals put together one of the most dominating performances in recent memory, beating Parkview 90-54.
Ryan Smith executed to near perfection. The 6-foot-2 senior guard knocked down 10 3-pointers en route to a game and career-high 34 points. Smith hit five 3's in the first half and five in the second half. He finished 10 of 17 from beyond the arc and 12 of 21 from the field.
"Today was a good day," Smith said. "It was just kinda one of those (days) where you know if you put it up, it's going in."
Smith wasn't the only one hitting shots. The Royals (2-1) went 35 of 66 (53 percent) from the field with 10 of those baskets coming during a 28-point third quarter.
"Today we were making shots," Carter said. "When shots fall, it's a little easier to play basketball."
Against a man-to-man defense in the first half, Smith carved up the Vikings for 17 points. He did more of the same in the second half, scoring 17 points on 6 of 8 shooting against a zone.
"The second half they went to zone, which makes it a little easier to shoot," said Smith, who sat on the bench for the final five minutes of the game. "We were moving the ball real well and I got open shots and just knocked them down."
Larkin hit a total of 15 3-pointers. Fellow senior Drew Simonini hit three 3's for 12 points. Ramadan Adili had 11 points with one 3-pointer. Brent Cooks also knocked down a triple.
Much of Larkin's shooting success can be attributed to its ball movement. The Royals were constantly looking for the open man, never settling for a low-percentage shot. When no shot was there, the Royals didn't hesitate to drive to the hoop.
"Ryan's a great shooter and we've got some other very, very good shooters also," Carter said. "Our offense isn't geared to get one guy shots. It's a lot tougher for defenses to guard when you're moving the ball and moving your body and whoever's open can shoot the jump shot. That's kind of one of our offensive philosophies."
Overshadowed by its shooting was Larkin's man-to-man defense. The Royals forced Parkview (1-2), out of Wisconsin's Rock Valley Conference, into 12 first-half turnovers to take a 36-20 lead into halftime.
Larkin freshman Carlito Singleton came off the bench in the second half and provided an immediate lift. At 6-2, Singleton had eight points with two steals, three rebounds and a blocked shot. On a breakaway in the third quarter, he also went for the only dunk of the game, but the ball clanked off the back of the rim.
"He's gonna be a big factor for us. A violation of team policy, he had to sit for the first half," Carter said. "But he came in ready to play and accepted his responsibility for getting the punishment and it showed. He played well in the second half. He'll be a regular-rotation guy."
Larkin finishes up tournament play with a game against Round Lake at Woodstock High at 1:30 p.m. Saturday.
Larkin 90, Parkview 54
Larkin (2-1)
Singleton 4 0-0 8, Adili 5 0-0 11, Lee 2 1-3 5, Simonini 4 1-1 12, Smith 12 0-0 34, McDaniel 0 2-2 2, Wahl 1 0-0 2, Whitehead 1 0-0 2, Cooks 1 0-0 3, Rice 1 0-0 2, Korth 2 1-2 5, Anderson 2 0-0 4. Totals 35 5-8 90.
Parkview (1-2)
Isenberger 4 0-0 10, Wichser 1 2-2 4, Naatz 1 0-1 2, Melton 5 10-11 20, Woodworth 7 3-4 17. Totals 18 15-18 54
Parkview 11 9 17 17 - 54
Larkin 22 14 28 26 – 90
3-Point Goals -- Larkin (15): Smith 10, Simonini 3, Cooks, Adili. Parkview (2): Isenberger 2
