Larkin boys basketball coach Deryn Carter has a little Lovie Smith in him when it comes to rivalries.

When Smith, the Illinois football coach, was hired to lead the Chicago Bears in 2004, he made a point of saying his top priority was to beat the rival Green Bay Packers.

A Super Bowl title? That would be nice, too.

Carter, a 1,000-point scorer for the Royals in the late 1990s, feels similarly about playing rival Elgin, which visits Larkin for the first of two Upstate Eight River clashes Thursday at 7 p.m.

The Royals spent time talking things over as a team long after Tuesday’s 52-43 loss to St. Charles East, their third straight defeat.

“I told those guys I don’t care how long it takes them to get out of the locker room, but leave this loss here because it doesn’t mean anything compared to Thursday,” Carter said. “It’s going to be a battle. Maybe they’ll zone us. It’s just going to be a fight. I think we have to play hard for 32 minutes, which we didn’t necessarily do (Tuesday).”

Elgin (5-2, 1-1) is off to a good start, though not hitting on all cylinders quite yet. While it is a positive development to get important contributions from players like junior guard Trevon Morris, who came off the bench Friday to lead the Maroons with 11 points in an overtime loss to St. Charles East, and from senior guard Tim Wolf, who added 10 points, including an important 3-pointer in the extra session, the offense has been inconsistent.

Elgin’s top two players — 6-foot-8 senior post Courtese Cooper and senior guard Reggie Cole (6-0) — have yet to hit their stride offensively, according to coach Mike Sitter. Cole was limited to 8 points in the loss to St. Charles East. Cooper finished with 7 points in that game, though he produced 15 rebounds, a typical total for the returning all-area big man.

“I guess I’m happy with everything except my best players,” Sitter said of his team’s start. “I’m a little disappointed so far in Courtese and Reggie. They haven’t played very well so far, but all our role players are playing out of their minds. So it’s gotten to be a weird little mix.”

Sitter said Cooper at times could find himself matched up against Larkin 6-foot-10 junior Jalen Shaw, who on Tuesday finished with 15 points, 7 rebounds and 2 blocks. Elgin’s coach said don’t look for that matchup all game long because each team will want to keep its only true big man out of foul trouble.

Both crews like to run the court. Larkin attacks with junior point guard Kindrel Morris and senior guard Kashmir Ivy, the latter of whom led the Royals Tuesday with 17 points, including three 3-pointers in 6 tries.

The Maroons thrive in transition due to multiple adept ballhandlers and the hustle of Cooper, who runs the court well at 6-foot-8. Larkin presents a challenge the Maroons have yet to face.

“I think 95 percent of the time when we walk on the court we’re the most athletic team,” Sitter said. “ That’s not the case when we step on the court against Larkin. They’re going to be a little more athletic than us, so we’re going to have to take care of the ball, we have to set good screens, we have to move away from the ball, we have to box out and handle their pressure. If we do those things, we’ll be all right.”

We’re all in this together: Upstate Eight River games between Geneva and Larkin in recent years have been some of the most competitive, intense matchups the league has to offer, but the rivalry aspect was set aside before last Friday’s game in light of a more important matter.

Inspired by a recent feature story about Geneva manager Kevin Warfel published in a local newspaper, Larkin boys basketball coach Deryn Carter and his staff presented Warfel with a check for an undisclosed amount to help with medical costs related to his heart condition.

Warfel, born with a congenital heart defect and in need of a transplant, was moved to tears.

“Wow,” the 25-year-old said after the game. “That was very unexpected and very nice of them. I wasn’t expecting that at all.”

Carter said it was a matter of keeping things in the proper perspective.

“This is a game. We’re playing a game out here,” Larkin’s coach said. “There are things that are much bigger, so much more important. Just trying to send a good gesture. My heart goes out to him. He’s going to be in our prayers and, hopefully, everything works out for him.”

After Geneva escaped with a 59-56 win, coach Phil Ralston stopped Carter in the postgame handshake line to express his appreciation.

“Extremely classy,” Ralston said. “I went out of my way to thank coach Carter and his staff for that. That was very nice for them to recognize that.

“Kevin is a very nice young man. All he’s ever wanted to do is try to help out our football and our basketball programs and he’s had his struggles. We’re just hoping and praying that things are going to work out OK for him. I look at him as a young buck, right? He’s 25. Someone his age shouldn’t have to be dealing with that.”