Dec. 27--Advancing to the second round temporarily became a secondary concern for Larkin on Saturday morning.
First, the Royals had to make sure they could fit the ball through the hoop.
"Quite honestly, I was thinking, 'In 55 years I wonder if a team has gone a whole quarter without scoring,'" Larkin coach Deryn Carter said. "'Because we might do it.'"
Larkin finally scored with 28 seconds left in the first quarter but trailed all morning before overcoming an eight-point deficit in the final four-and-a-half minutes to steal a 56-52 victory from Hillcrest in the first round of the Proviso West Holiday Tournament in Hillside.
A.J. Hunter scored 17 points, and Christian Negron (12 points, nine rebounds, three blocked shots) shook off a mostly frustrating 31 minutes, 48 seconds to give Larkin its first lead of the second half on a three-point play with 11.2 seconds left.
The go-ahead layup came just seconds after Negron, who battled foul trouble all game, missed an opportunity to give Larkin the lead with just one defender between the 6-foot-7 junior and the basket.
"I missed the first one," Negron said. "I did not see the guy at the free-throw line and then I tried to avoid the charge. That would have been my fifth foul.
"Thankfully we got the rebound, and A.J. made a great unselfish play, passed it to me, and thankfully I was able to finish. It is a big win. It is the Proviso West Holiday Tournament and it means a lot to Larkin basketball."
Negron and Larkin (7-4) will take on No. 6 St. Joseph and 6-foot-11 standout Nick Rakocevic in the quarterfinals at 8:30 p.m. Monday.
Marcus Garrett scored a game-high 19 points for Hillcrest (7-3), which shot just 2-of-13 from the free-throw line.
Bogan 68, Proviso West 32: James Jones scored 21 points, and Marcus Cole added 17, eight rebounds and four assists for No. 9 Bogan (8-2). Liddell Davis had 15 points and 10 rebounds for Proviso West (2-4). The Bengals will take on Cathedral Catholic (Calif.) in the quarterfinals.
Cathedral Catholic 58 , New Trier 54: 7-footer Brandon McCoy had 23 points, nine rebounds and five blocked shots in the victory. Tino Malnati had 16 points and five assists for New Trier (5-7).
Morgan Park 81, Providence-St. Mel 39: Charlie Moore scored 27 points and added eight steals as No. 1 Morgan Park forced 34 turnovers in a dominant first-round victory. Sophomore Ayo Dosunmu had 16 points and three steals for the Mustangs (7-1), who will take on Proviso East in the quarterfinals.
Proviso East 86, Uplift 69: The road gets tough now for Proviso East, but the Pirates (4-3) proved worthy of a quarterfinal game against Morgan Park with an impressive showing. Antonio Williams had 27 points, seven rebounds, five steals and four assists in the victory. Tyler Chisom added 15 points, seven rebounds and two blocks and Tajuan Johnson had 14 points and four steals. Davarion Jacobs scored 21 points, and Toraze Dobbs added 19 points and eight rebounds for Uplift (6-4).
St. Joseph 53, Dunbar 37: Rakocevic had 16 points, 15 rebounds and eight blocks to power St. Joseph (10-0). Joffari Brown scored 10 points, and Lavon Thomas added six points, 11 rebounds and two blocks. Sir Melvin Lamb scored 10 points for Dunbar (3-6).
Mike Helfgot is a freelance reporter for the Chicago Tribune.
