FAIRLAND — In the biggest game of the year, Eastern Hancock went to its biggest player.
Royals’ 6-foot-1 junior center Ruby White had all 15 of her team-high points in the second half to help lead the Eastern Hancock girls’ basketball team to a 49-44 opening round victory over Triton Central in Class 2A Sectional 42 at Triton Central High School Tuesday.
White had 10 of her 15 points and six of her nine rebounds in the final quarter.
“Incredible,” Eastern Hancock head coach Shari Doud said of White’s play. “The second half was what catapulted us to the win. Had we not had her on the floor, we wouldn’t be walking away with this victory. The thing that makes it special, the kids knew that. They kept feeding her the ball, feeding her the ball. This group of kids shows a lot of trust in each other. Ruby was able to cash in.”
The Royals improved to 20-3, the program’s first-ever 20-win season and will meet Irvington Prep at 7:30 p.m. Friday in the second of two semifinal games. Friday’s opening game at Triton Central will have Scecina taking on Riverside.
Eastern Hancock will need to win two more games to hoist a sectional championship trophy for the first time since 2017, but most believe that title was secured with the victory over the host Tigers.
The Royals came in ranked No. 8 in Class 2A. Triton Central was No. 11 and had won 16 of its last 17 games. The Tigers end their season 18-5.
The other three teams remaining in the sectional have a combined total of 14 wins, 11 of those are from Scecina, which lost by 39 points to Triton Central in December.
Eastern Hancock and Triton Central have met in five straight sectional tournaments and seven of the last eight. The Royals beat the Tigers 66-65 in triple overtime last year before falling in the 2022 title game to Heritage Christian, now playing in Class 3A.
Prior to last year’s classic, the Tigers had ended the Royals’ season three straight years.
“(Triton Central has) always been a great team and we’ve always really had it out for them and have always faced them in the sectional, or at least have during my high school career,” White said. “The stakes were high and we knew that and we really wanted to win. We wanted it a little more.”
The five-point difference equaled the largest of the game. The Royals led by five points six times.
Triton Central’s biggest lead was three. It led 38-35 with 4:42 to go in the game.
White answered with a bucket on an offensive rebound. On the next trip, Emma Bolding hit a jumper from her favorite spot, the left baseline. It was assisted by her sister Sammie Bolding. It gave the Royals a 39-38 lead with 3:53 to go.
The Royals upped their run to 6-0 on a White 15-footer. On the defensive end, White got a piece of a 3-point attempt from Triton Central’s Brooklyn Bailey.
Following a timeout, Eastern Hancock went to White again. At the free-throw line, the tall junior showed her ball-handling skills, driving to the bucket to give the Royals a 43-38 lead and completing an 8-0 run.
“I just tried to stay in the game, but I felt like I was there when we needed it,” White said. “We really stuck it out when we needed to.”
“I think trust is a huge thing,” White added, talking about her team’s inside-outside approach that led to some perimeter jumpers from Stapleton and the Bolding sisters. “That’s something we have on this team. I can trust (them) to put that shot up and know that it’s going to go in. And, I think they can trust me, too,. if they’re going to give it to me in the post.”
Triton Central still had its chances.
With the score 47-44 an under one minute remaining, the Tigers fouled Eastern Hancock senior point guard Grace Stapleton. The 76-percent free-throw shooter twice missed front ends of 1-and-bonus free throws, but not a third. Stapleton hit a pair from the charity stripe with 2.9 seconds to go to close it out.
Following White, Emma Bolding scored 11 points. Stapleton had nine and Sammie Bolding scored eight.
“She is a different kid over the last five or six games,” Doud added on the play of her junior center. “She’s asserting herself hard to the basket, knowing when it’s there, knowing when to kick (it out), and playing very confident basketball at a terrific time.
“There aren’t a lot of girls basketball teams can say they have a player like Ruby, a 6-foot-1 versatile player. With some good guard play it makes for a pretty special team.”
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Eastern Hancock 49, Triton Central 44
Eastern Hancock;13;7;13;16;—;49
Triton Central;11;8;10;15;—;44
Eastern Hancock (20-3): Emma Bolding 4 3-4 11, Makenzie O’Neal 0 0-0 0, Ruby White 7 1-2 15, Grace Stapleton 2 3-6 9, Sammie Bolding 2 2-2 8, Brooklyn Willis 1 0-0 2, Ellie Meyer 2 0-0 4, Sydney Springman 0 0-0 0. Totals: 18 9-14 49.
Triton Central (18-5): Lizzie Graham 1 2-2 4, Maryrose Felling 6 3-3 15, Brooklyn Bailey 4 4-5 13, Kennedy Brown 0 0-0 0, Hallie Schweitzer 5 2-2 12, Hailey Harris 0 0-0 0, Riley Ross 0 0-0 0. Totals: 16 11-12 44.
3-point goals: Eastern Hancock 4 (S. Bolding 2, Stapleton 2); Triton Central 1 (Bailey)
