Kyles, Larkin roll past Elgin

Larkin’s Marlee Kyles scores between three Elgin defenders during Thursday’s game at Larkin. (Rick West/rwest@dailyherald.com)

Larkin’s Haley Bohne gets fouled by Elgin’s Ibilola Quadri during Thursday’s game at Larkin. (Rick West/rwest@dailyherald.com)

Elgin’s Gabrielle Pierre Louis got free for a breakaway but Larkin’s Brianna Young hustled back to stop the layup during Thursday’s game at Larkin. (Rick West/rwest@dailyherald.com)

Larkin’s Haley Casebeer scores on a putback over Elgin’s Dajha Cooper during Thursday’s game at Larkin. (Rick West/rwest@dailyherald.com)

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By Scott Miller (Daily Herald Correspondent)

Larkin’s Marlee Kyles can beat a team a lot of different ways and the senior guard used about every weapon in her extensive arsenal on Thursday night to lead the host Royals to a 57-28 win over rival Elgin in Upstate Eight River Division girls basketball action.

Kyles scored a game-high 28 points and did it in just about every way possible. She scored 4 baskets on drives to the hoop, twice she scored on transition buckets off steals, knocked down a pair of 3-pointers, drilled 3 medium range jumpers, and added a couple free throws.

Kyles also had 9 rebounds, 5 assists, and 3 steals. Not to mention she did all that in 3 quarters.

“She is such a special player,” Larkin coach Steve Knapp said. “The big thing tonight is she was able to stay out of foul trouble. That’s one of the first times all year she’s been able to do that. Whenever she is on the floor she can make a lot things happen. She did a great job of keeping everyone involved while still doing all that scoring.”

The Arizona recruit wasted no time as she scored 11 points in the first quarter to propel the Royals to a 20-9 lead.

“I was so excited to play all day,” Kyles said. “I couldn’t sit still. It’s always exciting to play against Elgin. We started the game pressing. We usually don’t press like that, but I think it really helped to get us off to a fast start. We created a lot of scoring opportunities and maximized them.”

Surprisingly scoring is not the favorite part of the game for Kyles.

“I really love rebounding,” Kyles said. “Probably because I’m so short. So it feels great when I’m able to get in there against taller girls and out jump them for the ball.”

The Royals (5-4, 1-2) extended the lead to 35-19 by halftime and were never threatened in the second half.

Haley Bohne added 8 points, including a 3-pointer, for the Royals.

“Obviously Marlee had a great game, but the other girls did a great job too,” Knapp said. “We had Haley knock down a big 3 and the freshman Brianna Young had some really good minutes and had a nice layup on a drive. With this being a rivalry game everybody was really into it and they wanted to make a good showing in front of all these fans.”

The Maroons (2-6, 0-4) struggled offensively shooting just 8-of-29 (28 percent) from the field. Defensively they had their hands full with trying to slow down Kyles.

“Kyles is a tough player to stop,” Elgin coach Dr. Nick Bumbales said. “I thought the girls that were on her did a nice job, but it takes more

than one person to stop her. I don’t think we did a very good of helping on her. She is going to beat a defender a lot, but you need to have other players step up to stop her and we didn’t do that. Larkin played really well and deserved to win.”

Kylie Graves led the Maroons with 7 points and Kamiya Harvey added 6.