CHARLOTTESVILLE — Trailing by eight points midway through the second quarter, the Eastern Hancock Royals went on a run.
A quick six-point streak cut the deficit to two. The Class 2A Royals weren’t intimidated by falling behind against a Class 4A opponent Monday night, as they hosted visiting Pendleton Heights in the first girls basketball game between the teams since 1983.
For one half, the Royals were right there. They stayed with the visitors.
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The Arabians quickly put the game out of reach in the third quarter, though, outscoring the Royals 20-0 in the frame as part of a 24-point run. Eastern Hancock fell at home, 63-41.
“I liked our grit. I liked the fight we showed in the first half,” Eastern Hancock coach Shari Doud said. “I know Pendleton Heights made some adjustments. We probably caught them off guard — I don’t know if they expected us to be as competitive as we were in the first half. I don’t know if we woke up a sleeping giant in the first half or what, but they sure came out and just really took it at us and we couldn’t respond.”
Once the Royals got the lead down to 27-25, the Arabians took complete control on both ends of the floor, holding Eastern Hancock off the board for almost 11 minutes from the end of the first half to early in the fourth quarter.
The Arabians used smothering defense to hold the Royals scoreless through the entire third quarter, piling up steals and contesting every shot the hosts managed.
Pendleton Heights finished the game with 14 steals and held Eastern Hancock to 14 of 42 shooting, or 33 percent.
Eastern Hancock was 10 of 21 shooting in the first half, but made just four of 21 attempts in the second half.
“I saw a lot of good ball movement. I felt like defensively we were great on the help side,” Doud said of the first half. “We were facing a more athletic team than we are, but I felt like our kids worked cohesively on both ends of the floor. I was very pleased with their ability to execute the gameplan the first half. Then we go into the locker room and it changed after that.”
The Royals were led by Jocelyn Duncan, who scored nine points in the defeat. Jenna Smith had seven, Aly Spaulding and Haley Best had six each, Chloe O’Neal and Bella Witte had four, Delaney Collins had three and Skyla Smith had two. Smith led the Royals with six rebounds.
The Arabians were led by Kailyn Graham, the team’s leading scorer coming into the contest. She had 18 points and six rebounds for the visitors. Kylie Davis was the only other double-digit scorer, with 14.
“I was pleased with us, that we competed for as long as we did,” Doud said. “Wish we could have stretched it out into the fourth quarter, but we learn from things. It’s time to look ahead. We’ve got to put this one behind us, because there’s more important games ahead.”
The Royals close their season with home games tonight against Randolph Southern and Thursday against Tri. They open sectional play Tuesday at Shenandoah against Irvington Prep Academy.
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Pendleton Heights 63, Eastern Hancock 41
PH;15;18;20;10;—;63
EH;12;15;0;14;—;41
Pendleton Heights (14-9): Kailyn Graham 6 4-4 18, Aubree Dwiggins 3 0-4 6, Megan Mills 4 0-0 9, Kylie Davis 5 1-1 14, Leonie Wilson 2 0-0 4, Niyah Loomis 4 0-0 8, Kylea Lloyd 2 0-0 4, Brynn Teague 0 0-0 0. Totals: 26 5-9 63.
Eastern Hancock (10-10): Jocelyn Duncan 3 1-2 9, Haley Best 2 0-0 6, Jenna Smith 3 1-1 7, Bella Witte 2 0-0 4, Aly Spaulding 1 3-6 6, Chloe O’Neal 2 0-0 4, Caroline Stapleton 0 0-0 0, Skyla Smith 0 2-2 2, Delaney Collins 1 1-1 3, Lili Hunt 0 0-0 0. Totals: 14 8-12 41.
3-point goals: Pendleton Heights 6 (Davis 3, Graham 2, Mills), Eastern Hancock 5 (Best 2, Duncan 2, Spaulding). Rebounds: Pendleton Heights 27 (Graham 6, Wilson 5, Davis 4, Loomis 4, Dwiggins 4, Mills 3, Lloyd), Eastern Hancock 21 (Smith 6, Best 4, Witte 4, Spaulding 3, S. Smith 2, Duncan, Hunt)
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