Edric Miller led Eastern Hancock with 18 points in Friday’s game at Wapahani.
The Daily Reporter File Photo
By Brady Extin | Daily Reporter
SELMA — For a few short seconds, Eastern Hancock’s Edric Miller looked to be the hero of the Royals’ Friday night Top-10 Class 2A and Mid-Eastern Conference boys basketball battle at Wapahani.
The Raiders’ Isaac Andrews had other plans.
A Miller layup and the free throw put the Royals ahead 51-50 with just eight seconds remaining, but it was Andrews hitting a layup at the buzzer to knock off the Royals 52-51.
“The kids fought hard all night, but we just couldn’t get it done,” Eastern Hancock head coach Aaron Spaulding said. “I wish I had the final play back, but you can’t get it back, so it’s difficult.”
Off of the made free throw, the Royals pressured the Raiders the entire length of the floor.
“I wish I could have that last possession back because I probably would’ve guarded straight up man,” Spaulding said. “We were trying to get them to waste some time bringing it up, but they got in on the run a bit, and they got their best player downhill, and he just hit a shot. They made a play, and it’s just really disappointing.”
Both teams entered the game ranked in the Top 10 in Class 2A — Wapahani No. 5 and Eastern Hancock No. 9 — and both undefeated in conference play. With the win, the Raiders grabbed sole possession of first place in the MEC.
“That game had big conference implications, and we missed a three at the buzzer to tie it last year, so it’s just really disappointing,” Spaulding said.
As they have all year long, the Royals relied heavily on the 3-ball.
After starting off 0-for-4 from 3, and 0-for-6 from the field in the opening few minutes, they fell into an early 7-0 hole.
But eventually the long ball began to fall.
Five first-half 3-pointers led to a Royals’ 14-6 run to end the first quarter and fueled a 27-21 halftime lead.
On the night, the Royals knocked down nine triples.
While The Royals found success from deep, the Raiders attacked the Eastern Hancock defense at the rim.
After being held to 21 first-half points, they exploded for 19 third quarter points, sparked by Nathan Nelson’s success down low.
After only scoring one basket in the opening half, the Raiders made a point of finding their big man, and he answered. He put home three third-quarter layups and helped free up space for the Raiders’ shooters, who knocked down a trio of deep balls.
Nelson led the Raiders with 14 points.
“They’ve got [Aiden] Franks and Andrews that you have to deal with so much, so you’ve got to over help,” Spaulding said. “A couple of times we were a little bit late on our rotations. We were trying to switch up defenses to keep them off balance, and for the most part we did a pretty good job.”
Andrews, and Franks, the Raiders’ two leading scorers, were limited by the Eastern Hancock defense. Averaging 20.2 and 19.1 points per game respectively, the duo was held to just 15 combined points.
After the early 7-0 Wapahani lead, the Royals held the lead until the 3:40 mark of the closing quarter, where they fell behind 48-46.
From there, the Raiders ran clock and forced the Royals’ to begin fouling. Two missed free throws by the Raiders in the final minute gave the Royals, and Miller, the opportunity to take the lead.
“We took the lead, and they had to make a play. They missed some free throws and got on their heels a bit instead of their toes, and gave us a chance,” Spaulding said. “They just made a play.”
Miller led the Royals with 18 points. He was followed by Jacob Spaulding with 14 and Silas Spaulding with 13.
Eastern Hancock returns to action Friday, Jan, 13 at home against Union County.
Wapahani 52, Eastern Hancock 51
Eastern Hancock;14;13;16;8; — ;51
Wapahani;13;8;19;12; — ;52
Eastern Hancock (8-4, 3-1): Jacob Spaulding 5 0-0 14, Silas Spaulding 5 0-0 13, Edric Miller 5 7-7 18, Grant Gray 1 0-0 2, Kayden Ruble 0 0-0 0, Luke Morris 1 1-2 4, Caiden Willis 0 0-0 0. Totals: 17 8-9 51.
Wapahani (9-1, 3-0): Isaac Andrews 4 0-1 8, Aiden Franks 3 0-1 7, Nathan Nelson 6 2-3 14, Camden Bell 2 0-0 5, Nick Cook 2 0-0 6, Nate Luce 3 0-0 9, Joe Foster 1 1-1 3. Totals: 21 3-6 52.
3-point goals: Eastern Hancock 9 (J. Spaulding 4, S. Spaulding 3, Morris 1, Miller 1), Wapahani 7 (Luce 3, Cook 2, Bell 1, Franks 1)
