Eastern Hancock’s Landon O’Neal goes between two Pendleton Heights players during their game on Tuesday, Feb. 22, 2022. (Tom Russo | Daily Reporter)
CHARLOTTESVILLE — On the 22nd day of the second month of the 22nd year in the new millennium, the Class 2A No. 10 Eastern Hancock Royals relied on a crooked number Tuesday night to get the job done.
Limited to a mere two 3-pointers per quarter leading up until the fourth, the host Royals (16-5) dropped in a trio during the final eight minutes for nine overall against the visiting 4A Pendleton Heights Arabians (7-15) and seized a 59-48 victory.
The win marked Eastern Hancock’s third straight and eighth in its last nine contests.
Senior Landon O’Neal scored a game-high 20 points for the Royals, followed by 11 clutch points from junior Grant Gray, who buried each of his buckets in the fourth quarter, including two 3-pointers.
“It’s really our strong suit when we can get the three going. When we really get it going, we’re definitely at our best,” O’Neal said. “We got the win tonight.”
Nothing proved easy, however, as both teams went back and forth through the first three quarters with six ties and momentum shifts throughout before the Royals converted back-to-back 3-pointers early in the fourth.
Silas Spaulding, who finished with five points, buried the first triple to increase Eastern Hancock’s narrow 42-39 lead after the third quarter. A handful of seconds later, Jacob Spaulding found Gray wide open in transition behind the arc to push the advantage to 48-39 with 5 minutes, 25 seconds left.
Gray’s first 3-pointer put the Royals up 42-37 and his third bucket — in the post — off an assist from Silas Spaulding put the his team in control, 50-40, with 4:46 remaining.
“The first half we were having trouble finding open shots. We were taking some forced shots and contested jumpers,” Jacob Spaulding said. “I thought whenever we started to move and started to drive, we were able to find that open shooter and really get a better percentage shot that way.”
The Arabians went to a full-court press to disrupt the Royals’ half-court offense, but the hosts utilized their team speed to overcome the obstacle with Jacob Spaulding delivering by dishing out six assists. Silas Spaulding had three.
“It definitely helps that we can take people off the dribble and use our quickness to get around them because we don’t really have many big guys on our team, so it really helps that we can drive, penetrate and kick for wide-open threes,” O’Neal said.
O’Neal had 10 points in the first half and another 10 in the second, hitting 6 of 8 from the foul line, including 3 of 4 in the fourth.
The Royals went 14 of 18 from the foul line and capitalized on 7 of 8 in the final frame. All seven fell through the hoop during Eastern Hancock’s late-quarter 9-0 run to turn a 52-46 lead into an 11-point win.
“We talked all year long. We have to find ways to win when we’re not shooting great. We didn’t shoot the ball real well in the first half, but we had a nice little lead. Pendleton came out and got a little something going and got a little bit of a lead, but we kept plugging away,” Eastern Hancock head coach Aaron Spaulding said. “We got some stops, and finally the basket opened up a little bit and we were able to hit some shots.”
Brayden Kanitz had a team-high 18 points for the Arabians. Jamison Dunham had 15 points. Josiah Gustin finished with six points and 12 rebounds.
The Royals scored 27 points off 3-pointers and had 15 points off their bench compared to Pendleton’s zero. The Royals were 40.9 percent from behind the arc and went 9-for-19 in two-point attempts, while the Arabians were 2 of 12 from 3-point range.
“Our kids all hit one (3-pointer) that got us some separation. It was a really good team win. It was a good game for us heading into the sectional because they just beat up Shenandoah last week,” Aaron Spaulding said. “They’re a good team, and I was really happy with our effort tonight.”
Eastern Hancock 59, Pendleton Heights 48
Pendleton Heights;15;6;16;11;—;48
Eastern Hancock;15;10;14;20;—;59
Pendleton Heights (7-15): Jamison Dunham 6 1-1 15, Caden Sims 0 0-0 0, Luke Candiano 2 3-6 7, Aaron Cookston 0 0-0 0, Brayden Kanitz 9 0-0 18, Ethan Ross 1 0-0 2, Josiah Gustin 3 0-0 6. Totals: 21 4-7 48.
Eastern Hancock (16-5): Silas Spaulding 1 2-2 5, Jacob Spaulding 2 4-4 9, Cole Rainbolt 3 0-0 8, Landon O’Neal 6 6-8 20, Edric Miller 0 2-4 2, Grant Gray 4 0-0 11, Cyrus Burton 2 0-0 4. Totals: 18 14-18 59.
3-point goals: Pendleton Heights 2 (Dunham 2); Eastern Hancock 9 (Silas Spaulding 1, Jacob Spaulding 1, Rainbolt 2, O’Neal 2, Gray 3)
