Eastern Hancock’s Landon O’Neal looks to pass against Southmont late in the second half of the Class 2A Regional 11 semifinal on Saturday, March 12, 2022.
Tom Russo | Daily Reporter
HANCOCK COUNTY — With the Regional 11 championship game still in question late Saturday night, Eastern Hancock senior Landon O’Neal turned to the Class 2A Royals’ sixth man for a boost in the fourth quarter.
Up 46-41 over University inside Greenfield-Central’s Dellen Automotive Gymnasium, O’Neal set his feet, stared down the rim and, as he’s been known for in his four-year Royals’ career, delivered a dagger from 19.75 feet.
A quiet hush fell over the crammed student section behind him as he released his shot. O’Neal didn’t drop his shooting hand until the ball singed the net with 2 minutes, 45 seconds left on the clock.
That’s when the momentary pin-drop silence transmuted into explosive applause that reverberated from the Riley Rock Block, the players’ families, friends, neighbors and countless Royals’ supporters, who watched attentively, as O’Neal glanced at the frenzied crowd and waved three fingers in the air.
One bucket. Just another clutch moment for O’Neal that gave Eastern Hancock an insurmountable 49-41 lead.
“We were lacking some energy, playing a little flat,” O’Neal said following Eastern Hancock’s 54-47 regional championship victory. “I just tried to come out with as much energy as possible to really get us going.”
O’Neal’s zeal was echoed through his productivity and efficiency.
With 10 points in the first half and the Royals down 31-26 at halftime, O’Neal cranked up the intensity through the final 16 minutes, knocking down his first three shot attempts and his final four of the second half — a pair of 3s and two free throws.
His game-high 24 points on 9 of 14 shooting put the Royals in control of their own state tournament destiny with four shots falling through the hoop during Eastern Hancock’s 13-2 run to open the third quarter.
His third of three 3s in the game hammered down the final nail, exactly what the Royals needed, increasing his program career-leading 3-point total to 247, while ballooning his career-point total to 1,472 (second-best in boys basketball history).
“The crowd is a part of the game, too. They come to every game and support us every game. Just getting them going more really helps us,” O’Neal remarked on his 3-point, in-game celebration with the fans. “I like to get energetic, you know.”
The Royals and O’Neal would later cut down the same nylon target that he snapped with pinpoint accuracy to help secure the team’s first regional title in 19 years.
“This is special. This is really special. To be in the final four is a big achievement, but we know we have more work to do, and we’re going to go win this whole thing,” O’Neal said.
A semistate championship would be a first for the program, if the ninth-ranked Royals can win their 10th straight game when they face Providence (19-6) this Saturday at 6 p.m. inside Seymour’s Lloyd E. Scott Gymnasium. A trip to the IHSAA State Finals on March 26 at Indianapolis’ Gainbridge Fieldhouse would put the players’ names in the history books forever.
“To finish out my career strong has been awesome, but we have more basketball to play, and I would not want to play basketball with anybody else,” O’Neal said. “These are my best friends, and I just love playing with them.”
Basketball is in O’Neal’s blood, naturally.
As the grandson of former Eastern Hancock standout Richard O’Neal, who finished with 1,123 career points from 1974-76, O’Neal’s father, Ryan, also suited up for the Royals as a student-athlete.
O’Neal’s great-grandfather, Gene “Tink” O’Neal, who played at Eden High School until 1946 (later consolidated into Hancock Central and Greenfield-Central), is known for being Hancock County’s first 1,000-point career scorer.
Landon O’Neal’s grandfather was part of the Royals’ boys basketball program when they won sectional in 1974, and Gene “Tink” O’Neal led the Flyers to two sectional titles in 1945-46.
As a legacy player at not only Eastern Hancock, but in the county, Landon O’Neal doesn’t avoid his family’s past. He carries the weight of his namesake like a feather.
“He just takes it all in stride. He plays his game,” Landon’s mother Jaime O’Neal said. “It’s wonderful. His great-grandpa played at Eden. His grandpa played at Eastern, and his dad played at Eastern. It’s amazing to see him and the team do what they’re doing. I love it when he’s having fun. I love it.”
Being with his family makes it all the more memorable, Landon O’Neal emphasizes. Not just his immediate family in the stands either.
The Royals basketball team is his extended family with a majority of the Eastern Hancock varsity roster, particularly the 10 juniors and seniors, having played together since kindergarten and the first grade.
As kids, the now upperclassmen, went unbeaten as a youth team coached by Eastern Hancock varsity coaching mainstay Aaron Spaulding, who has been mentoring the Royals boys basketball team for 23 seasons.
“That’s the great thing about this team. They have a wonderful bond,” Jaime O’Neal said. “They’re great friends and you can tell on the court. Aaron has literally coached Landon since he was 5. That’s a blessing because how many kids can say that.”
How many can say they’re a regional champion in the O’Neal household?
“It’s awesome. I have bragging rights,” Landon O’Neal joked.
He’s also on the verge of potentially cementing himself further in the school’s record books with every game awaiting the Royals.
After his regional-title game performance, O’Neal is now 46 points from tying Addison True (1,494 in 2015-18) as the program’s all-time career-scoring leader. He is currently the career 3-point leader (247), 10th on the all-time career free-throws made list (173) — only three from tying Pete Hubert (1974-76) — and second in all-time field goals made (514). Hubert still owns the field goals made career record at 517.
O’Neal’s 14.8 points per game career average ranks him eighth all time in Royals history, two spots behind his grandfather, Richard O’Neal (16.04 ppg), and he’s tied with friend and senior teammate Cole Rainbolt for most-career games played (98).
“I’ve been playing basketball with Cole since I was (a kid) in AAU and school ball and summer ball. We’ve traveled all over with each other. Our chemistry is really good. We almost know what each other is going to do before we do it,” O’Neal said.
When it entails getting buckets, Rainbolt knows what O’Neal can do.
His 14 second-half points against University increased his season total to 445, which is seventh-best by any Royals’ player in a single campaign (eight shy of True’s 453 in 2018). O’Neal’s 74 3-pointers made this year is five short of tying Derek Harmon’s 79 in 2003. His 162 field goals made in 2022 puts him at ninth best for a single season.
“I know he’s going to shoot his shot, and 10 out of 10 times he’s going to make that shot. I have all the trust in the world with that kid,” Rainbolt said.
“From day one, we’ve always been playing together. We’ve had that bond, and we know how each other plays. We have a love for the game and a love for the brotherhood we have around the game. That’s just awesome when you have your brothers on the court. We love each other on and off the court as well.”
That chemistry is what drives O’Neal and the team’s unselfishness, which shows up when one or more are struggling to do the same themselves.
In the Royals’ 63-47 regional semifinal victory Saturday morning, O’Neal was limited to eight points, but it didn’t derail the team’s run. Instead, the Royals relied on their cohesiveness to keep their special season going.
“He hit some big shots (in the finals). This morning he didn’t shoot it overly well, and we had some other kids step up. It’s like he says, we don’t care who hits the shots. All that matters is that we get enough to go in to beat the other team,” Spaulding said.
“Landon has one of those personalities. He’s a confident kid and he doesn’t really let anything get to him. He’s not afraid of big moments. He’s the kind of guy who can miss 10 in a row, and he thinks the next four are going in. He just has that mindset that you need. He’s been great for us for four years. Hopefully, we can keep it going for a couple more games.”
SEMISTATE TICKETS AVAILABLE
Tickets for Saturday’s semistate championship game between Class 2A No. 9 Eastern Hancock and Providence are available to purchase through the Eastern Hancock High School athletics website. Semistate tickets are only being sold digitally with no cash purchases at Lloyd E. Scott Gymnasium the day of the game. Tickets for the event must be presented using a mobile device via the GoFan app or the gofan.co mobile website. The cost per person is $10. An instructional video on how to purchase digital tickets is available to view on the EHHS athletics website.
