HAGERSTOWN — Eastern Hancock won the school’s sixth boys basketball sectional title, and first since 2008, with a 61-48 victory over Northeastern in the Class 2A Sectional 41 tournament at Robert E. Clark Gymnasium, Saturday.
Ranked No. 9 in Class 2A, the Royals had a double-digit lead most of the night, then staved off a late rally from the 11th-ranked Knights.
The Royals forced 13 first-half turnovers — nine in the first quarter — and shot well from the perimeter to lead 28-13 at halftime.
They led by as much as 23, 36-13, in the third quarter before Northeastern began putting up a fight. The Knights cut it to seven points on two occasions in the fourth quarter.
Eastern Hancock senior Landon O’Neal led all scorers with 28 points. He had 14 in the fourth period, including 10 of 12 at the free-throw line.
“This is awesome. I’ve been looking forward to this my whole life,” said O’Neal. “This is everything we’ve worked for.
“We’re going to keep playing. We’re not done yet, for sure. We’ve got a lot more basketball to play.”
Silas Spaulding finished with 13 and Jacob Spaulding had 11.
Raedhyn Foust led the Knights with 22.
The Royals improved to 20-5 on the season and will play in the first of two regional semifinal games at 10 a.m. next Saturday at Greenfield-Central High School. Eastern Hancock will take on Southmont (19-6), a 65-48 winner over Parke Heritage in the South Putnam Sectional (No. 43).
The other semifinal game will have Triton Central (13-11) taking on University (15-9).
Northeastern finished its season 19-6.
See more photos from the game and read more about Eastern Hancock’s sectional championship victory in Tuesday’s edition of The Daily Reporter.
Eastern Hancock 61, Northeastern 48
Northeastern;7;6;16;19;—;48
Eastern Hancock;15;13;12;21;—;61
Northeastern (19-6): Payton Lumpkin 6 2-3 14, Grant Luebbe 1 0-0 3, Raedhyn Foust 7 7-11 22, Benjamin Deitsch 1 0-0 3, Wesley Hunt 0 0-0 0, Carson Terrell 1 0-0 2, Keaton Mikesell 0 2-2 2, Karsen Scarrette 0 0-0 0, Caleb Harmon 1 0-0 2, Michael Henry 0 0-0 0, Nolan Drake 0 0-0 0, Landon Scarrette 0 0-0 0. Totals: 17 11-16 48.
Eastern Hancock (20-5): Landon O’Neal 7 12-15 28, Cole Rainbolt 0 1-2 1, Edric Miller 0 4-6 4, Silas Spaulding 4 3-3 13, Jacob Spaulding 4 0-0 11, Cyrus Burton 0 1-2 1, Grant Gray 1 0-0 3, Zach Arnold 0 0-0 0, Isaac Lewis 0 0-0 0, Jayden Stine 0 0-0 0, Kayden Ruble 0 0-0 0, Luke Morris 0 0-0 0. Totals: 16 21-28 61.
3-point goals: Northeastern 3 (Luebbe, Foust, Deitsch); Eastern Hancock 8 (J. Spaulding 3, S. Spaulding 2, O’ Neal, Gray)
