Eastern Hancock’s Landon O’Neal (21) puts up a jumper over Shenandoah’s Kaden McCollough (22) during the Class 2A Sectional 41 championship game on Saturday, March 6, 2021.
CHARLOTTESVILLE — The Class 2A Eastern Hancock boys basketball team snapped its two-game losing streak with a 58-49 home victory over rival Shenandoah on Saturday.
The Royals lost at 2A No. 4 Monroe Central on Friday night, 58-56, which dropped them to 3-2 in the Mid-Eastern Conference.
Their victory on Saturday improved the Royals’ season record to 9-4 and 4-2 in the MEC.
The Royals trailed Shenandoah 28-25 at halftime after being locked in a 12-12 tie following the first quarter. In the second half, the Royals outscored the Raiders 30-24 to pull away.
Jacob Spaulding had a team-high 23 points in the comeback victory, converting 9 of 12 attempts from the field and 3 of 5 shots from 3-point range.
Landon O’Neal had 16 points, including a pair of treys. Silas Spaulding had six points. Edric Miller chipped in six and Cyrus Burton had four.
Cole Rainbolt recorded a team-best nine rebounds with two assists. Miller and Burton had four rebounds apiece. Miller dished out three assists.
Against Monroe Central, the Royals led 30-26 at halftime, but the unbeaten Golden Bears roared back in the second half, 32-26, to narrowly escape.
O’Neal paced EH with 17 points on 7 of 12 shooting and two 3-pointers. Jacob Spaulding finished with 16 points.
Silas Spaulding, Rainbolt and Grant Gray each had five points. Miller had six points.
Burton led the team with four rebounds. Miller and Gray each hauled in three.
The Royals travel to Lapel on Friday night.
Dragons win fourth straight
The New Palestine boys basketball team sank Franklin, 63-58, on Saturday, extending the Dragons’ winning streak to four straight games.
The Dragons are now 11-4 on the season after their second straight weekend sweep. The Dragons are also 7-0 on their home court.
Steele Brasfield and Blaine Nunnally had big starts for the Dragons, each scoring seven first-quarter points to push the Dragons to a 19-16 lead after one. Ian Stephens added five points.
In the second quarter, the Dragons tallied 21 points to build a double-digit lead. Brasfield hit two 3-pointers and scored eight in the frame while Ben Slagley tallied seven points.
Franklin came back with a 24-point third quarter to cut the Dragons’ lead to 54-50. Slagley scored seven points in the frame to keep the Dragons in the lead.
In the fourth, Brasfield hit a big shot early and the Dragons got multiple stops while leading 58-55. Ian Stephens corralled a rebound and hit two free throws to push the lead to 60-55. After another defensive stop, Blaine Nunnally drilled two foul shots to make it a three-possession game and put it away.
Brasfield scored 20 points to lead the Dragons. Blaine Nunnally and Slagley added 14 points each. Stephens scored nine points. Damon Hockett added four and Eian Roudebush two.
Cougars win second consecutive
The Greenfield-Central boys basketball team won its second straight game Saturday over host Shelbyville, 62-44, to improve to 6-6 overall on the season and 2-2 in the Hoosier Heritage Conference.
The visiting Cougars broke an 11-all tie after the first quarter behind a 21-point second and never looked back. A 19-point third quarter solidified their lead, as G-C junior Dylan Moles posted a game-high 23 points.
Moles converted 9 of 12 attempts from the field and buried a pair of 3-pointers with four rebounds, three assists and three steals.
Joey Roland had 10 points, followed by Rashawn Street’s nine and Braylon Mullins’ six. Street added four rebounds. Tyler Kerkhof had four boards, while Mullins hauled in five. Street dished out two assists.
Rune Carpenter-Jones had five points, two rebounds and two assists. Owen Anderson chipped in five points and a rebound.
The Cougars travel to HHC foe Pendleton Heights on Friday.
Marauders’ streak moves to six
The Mt. Vernon boys basketball team defeated visiting Hamilton Southeastern, 65-61, Saturday to push its winning streak to six straight.
Marauders’ senior Amhad Jarrard scored a team-high 26 points on 10 of 13 shooting to keep pace with HSE’s Sam Jacobs, who had a game-high 28 points.
Jarrard went 2-for-2 from 3-point range and 8 of 11 from the free-throw line. He finished with five rebounds, five assists and two steals.
Armon Jararrd had nine points, went 2-for-4 from long range and added three rebounds, two assists and three steals.
Cooper Galli (4-for-4 free throws) had eight points. Eli Bridenthal (6-for-6 free throws) provided nine points. Razhaun Wells (3-for-4 free throws) chipped in seven points. Avery Williams (2-for-2 free throws) finished with six points.
Galli secured four rebounds with two assists, while Bridenthal had a team-best seven rebounds and two assists. Wells posted two boards with two assists and a steal.
The Marauders put their winning streak on the line at Connersville on Friday.
Girls Basketball
Dragons fall to Irish
The New Palestine girls basketball team fell short on Saturday in a 57-37 loss at Cathedral.
The Dragons fell behind 24-5 after a quarter and 39-18 at halftime before outscoring the Irish in the second half.
Alaina Miller led the Dragons with 11 points. She tallied three in the opening frame.
In the second quarter, the Dragons had contributions from several players, as Rachel Kelley and Vivian Miller scored four points each, Taylor Kelley added a basket and Isabella Gizzi a three-point play.
The Dragons held Cathedral to five points in the final frame.
In addition to Alaina Miller’s 11 points, Rachel Kelley scored nine, Vivian Miller a career-high-tying eight. Isabella Gizzi scored five points. Allie Blum and Taylor Kelley tallied two each.
The Dragons are now 11-9 on the season.
Swimming & Diving
Dragons boys win WC invite
The New Palestine boys swimming and diving team won the 17-team Warren Central Invitational Saturday, while the Dragons girls finished second.
The boys tallied 340 points to beat Cardinal Ritter (333), Muncie Burris (265) and Warren Central, as well as the remainder of the field. The girls tallied 223 points to finish second to Warren Central (435). The Dragons finished just ahead of Martinsville (216) and Muncie Burris (210).
Quincy Shirk, Chase Martin, Ben Miesse and Dontae Thompson won the 200-yard freestyle relay in 1 minute, 35.69 seconds, giving the Dragons their event victory.
Dawson Lynch, Aidan Kingery, Liam Fuller and Thompson were second in the 200 medley relay. Thompson was also second in the 100 free.
Leading the Dragons girls was the quartet of Sullie Leavell, Kyleigh Turner, Chloe Siler and Katelyn Trimpe, who finished second in both the 200 free relay and 400 free relay.
The Dragons girls are next in action in the sectional next week at New Palestine High School. The boys are next in action Tuesday, Jan. 31 at Greenwood in a three-way meet with Roncalli.
