CHARLOTTESVILLE — The goal for the Eastern Hancock Royals on Friday night was to get back on track. Only one problem, the Lapel Bulldogs had other ideas.
Looking to halt their two-game losing streak, the Class 2A Royals (6-7) started out slow and struggled to match the visiting 2A Bulldogs’ height advantage, falling once again 58-37.
Eastern Hancock sophomore Cyrus Burton scored a team-high 14 points with four rebound, but the Bulldogs broke two early first-half ties behind a 13-3 run to take control.
“We just got to get there and work hard. I know that we’re trying, but against good teams like Lapel and Shenandoah, we got to give credit where credit is due, but we just weren’t there tonight,” Burton said. “We need to be ready. And that’s on all of us.”
Against top-ranked 2A Shenandoah last Saturday, the Royals fell behind 26-21 by halftime, but they outscored the Raiders 23-19 in the second half to lose 49-40.
A similar pattern held true against Lapel (10-7).
The Royals missed their first six shot attempts from the field and faced a 26-18 deficit by halftime. Down 9-0 to start the game, Landon O’Neal, who had nine points, and Burton led an 11-2 run to tie the score 11-11 heading into the second quarter.
Burton deadlocked the game 13-all early in the second quarter, but Lapel’s bigs created problems the rest of the way, particularly on the defensive glass.
The Bulldogs out-rebound Eastern Hancock 33-19 overall, including 27 defensive boards for Lapel, which created multiple second-chance shots.
“Yeah, they were bigger than us, but 99 percent of the teams we play will be bigger than us, so this is just part of it. The last three games we’ve played were against three really good teams,” EH head coach Aaron Spaulding said.
“We play stretches of really good basketball, and then we play stretches where we don’t. We just got to become more consistent.”
The Bulldogs scored 11 points or more in each quarter, and used an 11-2 run to open the second half to build a 17-point lead.
Kolby Bullard, who stands 5-foot-11, posted a game-high 16 points, while 6-5 Bryce Carpenter had 10 points and nine rebounds. Carson Huber, a 5-8 point guard, had 10 points and nine assists. Cole Alexander, a 6-2 forward, had six rebounds — all defensive — and four points off the bench.
Caden Eicks, a 6-5 junior, added four points and four rebounds.
“No matter how good the team is, it doesn’t matter. We just have to go out there and play,” said Burton, a 6-2 forward. “I think we did that on Saturday (against Shenandoah), but I don’t think we did that tonight. I think, if we would have, we could have walked out with the W. We just have to bring it.”
Inexperience continues to hinder the Royals, who have four sophomores in the starting lineup with one senior in 6-2 Brady Smith. Their first three players off the bench are freshmen and one junior in Cameron Wise.
But, they’re learning, especially after the past three losses that started against Monroe Central, 60-47, on the road Jan. 24.
“When you’re young that’s just what you have to do. We have to keep getting better and hopefully by the end of the year, with some of these better teams, we can compete and we can give ourselves a chance to win,” Spaulding said.
“We’re getting better competing against good teams, but we’re just not quite there yet to be able to give ourselves a good chance to win it.”
The Royals turn right around and travel to Union County tonight as they look to end their losing streak at three games against the 5-10 Patriots.
