CHARLOTTESVILLE — After a stretch of tough, hard-fought games, the Eastern Hancock girls basketball team got a bit of a breather on Friday night.
At home, the Royals defeated rival Knightstown 70-16.
“It was a nice game for a lot of kids that split JV and varsity to get some time on the floor and get some experience,” Eastern Hancock head coach Shari Doud said. “I really liked the balance that we had tonight. Everybody that played did good things.”
Leading the Royals to the stress-free win was a swarming defensive effort, and a red-hot start offensively.
Fourteen first-quarter turnovers forced by the Eastern Hancock defense led to a 30-0 lead after one. And by halftime, the Royals pushed the lead to 46-7.
The Eastern Hancock defense forced 24 turnovers.
Sammie Bolding led the first-half charge with 21 points.
“We were on fire to begin with. The kids got control of the game immediately,” Doud said. “Regardless of the score we still want to run our offense and play hard defensively. There are things that you can do to be respectful to the other team, but there are also things that we need to work on and practice, and we were able to do some of those things today.”
An eight-point third quarter by freshman Kenzie Koch pushed the lead to 63-10 before the non-starters closed out the win.
Bolding led all scorers with 21, and Koch added 19. Brooklyn Willis pulled down five rebounds and dished out a pair of assists to go along with a five-point effort.
The Royals will look to stay unbeaten Tuesday when they travel to Wes-Del.
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Eastern Hanock 70, Knightstown 16
Knightstown;0;7;3;6;—;16
Eastern Hancock;30;16;17;7;—;70
Knightstown (5-7): Lilly Drew 0 2-2 2, Taylor Reagan 2 1-2 3, Anna Roberson 0 0-0 0, Lexi Thomas 0 0-0 0, Destiny McGlothin 0 0-0 0, Halleigh Lacey 2 0-0 4, Jaycie Cole 0 3-4 2. Totals: 4 7-10 16.
Eastern Hancock (12-0): Kenzie Koch 8 3-4 19, Ruby White 3 0-0 6, Sammie Bolding 8 0-0 21, Makenzie O’Neal 4 0-0 8, Brooklyn Willis 2 1-1 5, Sydney Springman 0 2-2 2, Bella Sotelo 2 2-2 6, Kiersten Judd 1 0-0 2, Clara Wallace 0 0-0 0, Lainee Parker 0 1-2 1. Totals: 28 9-11 70.
3-point goals: Knightstown 1 (Reagan); Eastern Hancock 5 (Bolding 5).
