MY FIRST FEATURE ARTICLE!!!

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Saints storm back to knock off Larkin
By Adam Bartolo Daily Herald Correspondent
Posted Wednesday, January 26, 2005

St. Charles East rallied from 16 points down to defeat Larkin 54-48 in an Upstate Eight Conference makeup game Tuesday in St. Charles.

The Saints (5-13, 3-5) trailed for over three quarters until 5:20 remained, when Cole Livermore swished a 3-pointer from the left wing and the home crowd fans erupted as the Saints took a 42-41 lead.

On the Saints' next possession, Livermore swished another bomb from the same spot, and the crowd got even louder.

"Both times I was open," Livermore said. "I made the first and I had good confidence the second one would go in."

The Royals (10-10, 3-5) got off to a hot start, using their speed, hustle and teamwork to take the quick lead. Dayvon Ellis had 10 points and Andre Clark scored 12 in the first half. They led 27-11 in the second quarter, and appeared they would coast to a win.

Slowly, the Saints began to rally. Mike Bertrand scored 12 of his 16 points in the first half. Matt Pierce, who was shut out in the first half, scored 5 points in the third quarter to ignite the Saints' offense.

"They got a little bit of confidence and they ran with it," Larkin coach Joe Kain said.

As the game progressed, the Saints played smarter. With four minutes remaining, they killed two minutes off the clock with their "four corners" keep-away passes, which limited Larkin offensive possessions, and got the crowd more and more excited.

"We took care of the ball when we needed to," Saints coach Brian Clodi said.

St. Charles East also did a great job at the foul line down the stretch, making 14 of 17.

Meanwhile, the Royals' frustration began to show with missed shots and failing to grab rebounds. Larkin did not make a field goal in the fourth quarter until Ellis' layup with three minutes left.

The Royals shot 2-for-12 from the field in the fourth quarter.

"The guys all wanted to make something happen, but we got out of flow of our offense," Kain said. "When we do that, we're not very good. We have got to play a complete game on both sides of the floor."

Livermore finished with 12 points and a team-high 7 rebounds. Ellis had 19 points and 9 rebounds for Larkin.