For the Daily Reporter
CHARLOTTESVILLE — It was senior night at Eastern Hancock, but the future was on display Friday night.
Multiple underclassmen starred in the game as the Royals seniors and starters ensured the game was well in hand early, in a 101-28 victory.
“In a game like this, it’s easy for guys to not play the game the right way,” Royals coach Aaron Spaulding said afterwards. “But I was happy that our ball movement was so good tonight. Things go well when you do that, and tonight the shots just went in.”
Boy did they ever. The Royals set a school record with 21 made 3-pointers as a team. And freshman Landon O’Neal set the individual school record with nine made 3-pointers. Late in the third quarter, after he made his third in a two-minute stretch, O’Neal looked at the bench in seeming disbelief.
“Landon is a great shooter and we knew that coming into the year,” Spaulding said. “But he’s continued to improve in such a way that he’s really helping out our big guys on the inside by forcing defenses to stretch out to him.”
Subbing liberally, the Royals shots just kept falling. Nine different players hit a three as Eastern Hancock was approaching 100 points. During this stretch, Spaulding individually subbed out each senior so they could have their own ovation from the crowd.
“This group of guys (Peyton Gray, Brady Stephens, Skyler Schrope, Cameron Denis) has been really fun to be around,” Spaulding said. “Peyton has really become a skilled big man … Brady has really impressed with his first year of real varsity playing time … Skyler has done a great job running things for 32 minutes a game … And I’m sure Cameron isn’t playing as much as he’d like to, but all things considered he’s impressed me the most with how much better he’s gotten.”
The victory allowed the Royals to clinch a top-three finish in the Mid-Eastern Conference, with a visit to Class 2A No. 2 and potential sectional foe Shenandoah next Tuesday for a chance at a top-two finish, following last year’s conference title.
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Eastern Hancock 101, Union (Modoc) 28
MHS;10;2;8;8;-;28
EH;30;27;17;27;-;101
Union (3-13, 0-6 MEC) – Fowler 7 2-3 16, Ellis 2 4-6 8, Losey 1 0-1 2, Oliver 1 0-2 2, Barnes 0 0-2 0. Totals: 11 6-14 28.
Eastern Hancock (11-9, 6-2 MEC) – O’Neal 11 1-2 32, Gray 6 1-1 13, Rainbolt 4 0-0 10, Starrett 3 1-2 10, Arnold 3 1-1 9, Schrope 2 1-2 7, Stephens 2 0-0 5, Shultz 2 0-0 4, Denis 1 0-0 3, Smith 1 0-0 3, Wise 1 0-0 3, White 1 0-0 2. Totals: 37 5-8 101.
3-pointers: Eastern Hancock 21 (O’Neal 9, Starrett 3, Arnold, Rainbolt 2, Denis, Schrope, Smith, Stephens, Wise 1), Union 0.
Rebounds: Eastern Hancock 31 (Gray 9, Starrett, Stephens 4, White, Wise 3, Arnold, Schrope, Smith 2, O’Neal, Rainbolt 1), Union 9 (Ellis, Fowler 3, Barnes 2, Guffey 1).
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