GREENFIELD — When the bell rang — or rather buzzer sounded —Eastern Hancock answered it with a flurry of blows that culminated into the school’s second boys basketball regional championship in history.
Trailing 31-25 to University at halftime of the IHSAA Class 2A Regional 11 title game at Greenfield-Central High School’s Dellen Automotive Gymnasium Saturday, the Royals had quite a fight on their hands if they were going to win the tournament for the first time since 2003.
They got the corner — or rather locker room — pep talk they needed.
Eastern Hancock (22-5) went on to defeat University 54-47 and advance to Saturday’s Class 2A south semistate to face Clarksville Providence (19-6), at 6 p.m., in Seymour High School’s Lloyd E. Scott Gymnasium.
“I thought the first half we were playing on our heels a little bit and really weren’t getting after it,” Eastern Hancock head coach Aaron Spaulding said. “When we started this tournament, we said we’re either going to win the state or we are going to go down swinging. I said, ‘Right now, we’re not swinging.’ We came out swinging.”
Silas Spaulding scored just 15 seconds into the quarter. Landon O’Neal followed with a fade-away jumper in the lane. Jacob Spaulding scored on a drive to the bucket.
The Royals scored the first six points of the second half and held the Trailblazers scoreless for the first three minutes.
The halftime deficit had been flipped to a 32-31 lead. University regained advantage briefly before the Royals scored the next seven.
O’Neal hit another jumper, then scored on a driving layup.
Jacob Spaulding’s second 3-pointer of the game put an exclamation point on the Royals’ comeback.
It was a 13-2 run to start the second half. University would not regain the lead this time.
“When we first got into (the halftime locker room), they were kind of stone-faced and I think we were playing too tense for the moment,” coach Spaulding, who was coach of the 2003, too, said. “Once we talked about going down swinging, I felt their attitudes changed and they came out ready to play.”
The Royals hit six of their first seven shots and made 80 percent (8-for-10) of their third-quarter attempts.
After down five at half, they were up five heading into the final quarter.
O’Neal hit a 3 to beat the third-quarter buzzer to make it 44-39.
It looked like the final shot of the period was going to come on a post move from senior Cyrus Burton, but he was tripped as he turned to the basket. As he was falling to the floor, with the final seconds ticking off the clock, he dished the ball out to the school’s all-time 3-pointer leader, who calmly drained No. 245 (No. 246 would come just a little bit later).
“We came out throwin’ some haymakers,” O’Neal said on the response to the coach’s challenge. “We just came out throwing the hardest punches we can. To bring that energy really helped us.”
“He sat us down. He wasn’t mad at all. He just said, ‘How much do you want it? How much do you want to win this thing?” Jacob Spaulding said of his father’s halftime talk. “He said we were going to go out fighting or we’re going to win this thing.
“I think that clicked in all of our heads. We all have the same mindset. We all love basketball and it all clicked from there. I think a lot of energy came in the second half and that’s why we got rolling.”
University was hitting all its shots in the first half. The Trailblazers made 78 percent (7 of 9) from the field and led 17-12 at the end of the first quarter. It didn’t tail off much in the second, hitting 67 percent on 6 of 9 tries.
Sophomore sharp-shooter Sabien Cain had 11 first half points, including 3 of 4 from 3-point range.
The Trailblazers scored just 16 second-half points, eight in each period. The shooting cooled off to 30 percent (6 of 20) in the final two quarters.
Eastern Hancock missed only three second-half field goal attempts and four shots total.
After going 8 of 10 in the third quarter, the Royals, playing keep-away with the basketball much of the final quarter, hit 2 of 3 from the field and 5 of 6 at the charity stripe.
They were eating up clock and finishing with free throws or wide open shots.
Each made bucket felt like it was going to bring down the roof in a gym packed full of fans, predominantly of folks that made the short drive from Charlottesville.
Down the stretch, the Spaulding twins were the primary ball-handlers. After one possession had lasted over one minute, Silas Spaulding was able to find Burton all alone for an easy lay-in to give the Royals a 46-41 lead with 4:52 to go.
Two more minutes of regulation time was erased before the next points, and it was a knockout punch to the Blazers hopes of making a comeback.
From the baseline in front of the Royals student section, O’Neal hit a 3-pointer for a 49-41 lead with 2:45 remaining.
O’Neal finished with a game-high 24 points. He had nine in the third-quarter. He was 5 of 6 from the field in the second half and hit both of his 3-point tries.
“Three minutes into the third quarter, I knew we were going to step up and get it done,” senior Cole Rainbolt said. “I trust everybody on that floor that when they take a shot, they’re going to hit it.”
He added with a phrase made popular by the host school’s boys basketball team, known for its energetic style of play.
“We had to bring the energy in the second half. It was the regional championship. We had to ‘Bring the Juice.’ It’s Greenfield-Central’s house,” Rainbolt, respectful of the Cougars program, said.
“The first half we were just playing to stay in the game,” Silas Spaulding said. “I felt at halftime, my dad, challenged us and asked us how bad we wanted it. He said you can either go down swinging or win the game.
“We came out in the second half on a mission. We were down (five) and we came out and we’re up eight. All the momentum was ours and I think we wanted it more. We have all dreamt of this. I felt like we were comatose in the first half. We realized this was our moment and we had a chance to win.”
Following O’Neal, Jacob Spaulding scored 17. Edric Miller added six points and Silas Spaulding had five. Burton had the other two Royals points.
Cain led the Blazers with 16. Larry Pierce added 10. University ends its season 16-10. Eastern Hancock handed the Carmel prep school its only loss against a Class 2A team. They were 8-0 prior to the regional title game.
Along with winning the program’s second regional, the Royals set a record for single-season wins. They had been tied with the 1975-76 team that went 21-3.
Class 2A Regional 11 Championship
Eastern Hancock 54, University 47
Eastern Hancock;12;14;18;10;—;54
University;17;14;8;8;—;47
EASTERN HANCOCK (22-5): Landon O’Neal 9 3-4 24, Cole Rainbolt 0 0-0 0, Edric Miller 1 3-4 6, Silas Spaulding 2 1-2 5, Jacob Spaulding 6 3-3 17, Cyrus Burton 1 0-0 2, Grant Gray 0 0-0 0. Totals: 19 10-13 54.
UNIVERSITY (16-10): Sabien Cain 6 0-1 16, Larry Pierce 5 0-2 10, Andre Ozlowski 0 0-0 0, Robert Russell 2 0-0 5, Seth Hogg 2 0-0 6, Kahmi Bracey 2 0-0 6, Steven Scott 1 0-0 2, Nate Jeffery 1 0-0 2, Jackson Bledsoe 0 0-0 0. Totals: 19 0-3 47.
3-point goals: Eastern Hancock 6 (O’Neal 3, J. Spaulding 2, Miller); University 9 (Cain 4, Hogg 2, Bracey 2, Russell)
