CHARLOTTESVILLE — Coaches often talk about how proud they are of their players.
After Tuesday’s dominant first-round win over Irvington Preparatory Academy in the Class 2A Sectional 42 boys basketball tournament, two players talked about how proud they are of their coach, who happens to be their father.
In a 75-25 victory over IPA, Eastern Hancock head coach Aaron Spaulding recorded his 300th career win as a head coach, all at Eastern Hancock. In 24 seasons, the coach is 300-247.
Twin sons, seniors Jacob Spaulding and Silas Spaulding were Tuesday’s top scorers. Jacob scored a game-high 19 points, including 17 in the first half. He hit 8 of 12 shots from the field and made 3 of 6 from 3-point range. Silas finished with 18. He missed only one of his eight field-goal tries. He made all four of his 3-point attempts.
“Before the season, I was trying to figure out if it was even possible,” Silas said of being on the team for his dad’s 300th win. “I was part of No. 250 (as a sophomore). It’s special to me, growing up seeing my dad coach To be part of two milestones is double-special.
“He’s so humble about it. He doesn’t really care (about the number), he’s just all about winning. Three-hundred wins are a lot of wins and he loves winning. I’m just proud him, he’s stuck with it for so long. I don’t know if there are any other active coaches that have 300 wins all at one school. He’s probably one of the few and I’m just proud of him for it.”
There was little doubt Tuesday that No. 300 was just 32 minutes away.
The Royals scored the game’s first 23 points, which included five of their 12 3-pointers. Silas had a pair and Jacob, Edric Miller and Grant Gray each had one.
By 1:32 of the second quarter, the Royals led 49-12, after a Jacob Spaulding trey, to begin running-clock timing rules.
“It feels great to be (part of No. 300),” Jacob said. “My sophomore year we got No. 250, so it’s pretty cool to be part of two milestones … Looking back when I was younger and to now, he’s had a lot of loyalty to this program. He’s coached for 24 years, and to get 300 (wins) that’s awesome.”
The twins, who began playing varsity basketball at the beginning of their freshman seasons have been a part of 72 wins. They’ve been starters since they were sophomores. Last year’s team won 22 games and reached the South Semi-State. This year’s team improved to 19-6 with Tuesday’s win. They also won 19 in 2020-21.
“It’s hard to win that many ballgames in three years, so it’s awesome to be part of something special these last three seasons, especially with my dad” Jacob added.
“I know it was really important to (Jacob and Silas) that it happened while they were here,” coach Spaulding said. “There’s been a lot of great kids over the years, not just the ones now, but over the years. It means I’ve managed to stick around long enough to coach them. It’s been a lot of fun. It’s a good accomplish for the whole program.”
Four Royals scored in double figures in Tuesday’s win. Following the Spauldings, Miller and Gray, both seniors, finished with 14 and 11, respectively. Eight different Royals scored and seven different players hit 3-pointers.
The Royals want to add to the total. Tuesday’s win puts them in a Friday semifinal game against Indianapolis Scecina (15-6). It will be the second of two semis scheduled at Eastern Hancock High School.
Triton Central (16-6) and Indianapolis Riverside (9-10) play at 6 p.m. with the Royals and Crusaders to follow.
“Not just my twins, but a lot of these kids I’ve coached when (they were in elementary school),” coach Spaulding said. “Last year and this year with all of the accomplishments … It’s a lot of fun and hopefully we can keep this going for as long as we can. Our goal is to do it one more week longer than we did last year.”
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Eastern Hancock 75, IPA 25
Irvington Prep;6;8;5;6;—;25
Eastern Hancock;29;22;16;8;—;75
Irvington Preparatory Academy (4-20): KJ Rankin 4 1-2 10, Case Johnson 1 0-0 3, Chris Blackwell 3 0-5 7, Owen Kriech 0 0-0 0, DeShawn Jones 1 0-0 2, Braiden Meredeth 1 0-0 3, Jayden Heard 0 0-0 0, Corbyn Eaton 0 0-0 0, AJ Barnes 0 0-0 0, Zeb Games 0 0-0 0. Totals: 10 1-7 25.
Eastern Hancock (19-6): Edric Miller 6 1-2 14, Grant Gray 5 0-0 11, Kayden Ruble 1 0-0 2, Silas Spaulding 7 0-0 18, Jacob Spaulding 8 0-0 19, Caiden Willis 1 0-2 3, Jayden Stine 0 0-0 0, Charlie Halcomb 1 0-0 2, Luke Schilling 1 0-0 3, Garrett Shaw 1 0-0 3, Eli Manship 0 0-0 0, Chase Stewart 0 0-0 0. Totals: 31 1-4 75.
3-point goals: IPA 4 (Rankin,Johnson, Blackwell, Meredeth); Eastern Hancock 12 (S. Spaulding 4, J. Spaulding 3, Miller, Gray, Willis, Schilling, Shaw)
