NEW CASTLE — It was played like a tournament game, which is exactly what Eastern Hancock head coach Aaron Spaulding wanted.
The long-time Royals head coach, with hopes of making a long Class 2A tournament run — like his club did a year ago to the Class 2A semi-state — beefed up his schedule so the team would be better tested during postseason tournament time.
They have four Class 4A teams on their schedule and three from Class 3A, including Thursday’s opponent New Castle, in a year where teams in their Mid-Eastern Conference, other than No. 2 Wapahani, are on a bit of a down cycle.
To emphasize that, the Royals will finish second to Wapahani in the conference. They beat third-place Blue River Valley by 32 points on Tuesday.
At New Castle Fieldhouse, the largest high school gymnasium in the world (7, 829 capacity), the Royals lost to the Trojans 35-34.
Trojan senior Gavin Welch hit a 3-pointer with 31 seconds remaining for the game’s 14th and final lead change.
Eastern Hancock senior Edric Miller’s mid-range jumper in the lane in the final seconds was off target and the Royals’ six-game winning streak was halted with the one-point decision.
“We made our schedule tough so we could have these types of battles,” Spaulding said. “I told them this was good for us. We’re going to be in a situation, hopefully, here in a couple of three weeks and we’re going to do better next time.”
There were 11 lead changes in the second half as the team’s traded one- and two-point advantages. A Jacob Spaulding 3-pointer with 2:20 remaining gave the Royals their final lead, 34-32.
With 40.9 seconds remaining, Jacob Spaulding committed his fifth foul. He left with a game-high 18 points.
New Castle’s Tyson Lewis rebounded Miller’s miss and was immediately fouled with 1.2 seconds to go. He missed the front-end of a one-and-bonus free throw and the Royals grabbed the rebound.
After a timeout and having to go the length of the floor with .9 seconds remaining, Eastern Hancock’s in-bound pass was deflected by the 6-foot-6 Welch to end the game.
“They guarded well and we didn’t handle their physicality on the perimeter as well as I would have liked,” coach Spaulding added. “We have to get better. I told them in the locker room this game is going to make us better for the tournament.”
New Castle had a five-point lead, 12-7, early in the second quarter. It was the biggest lead either team would have. The Royals answered it with a 12-3 run to end the first half. All 12 points came on 3-pointers.
Jacob Spaulding hit a 3 to cut it to 12-10 with 3:55 remaining until halftime. Miller hit the next trey. It gave Eastern a 13-12 lead just 90 seconds later. The lead grew to four when Silas Spaulding connected from long range. Miller hit another 3-pointer with the second-quarter clock winding down for a 19-15 halftime lead.
Lewis scored on a three-point play on the first possession of the second half. Welch added a rebound bucket to give the lead back to the Trojans, 20-19, with 6:45 left in the third.
The teams traded leads the rest of the way.
“They were physical with us on the perimeter. They play a tough schedule and they’re used to playing that way,” coach Spaulding said.
“A lot of our opponents, we don’t see things like that. We don’t get to practice against that as much, that’s why these games are important for us. I told them it was really similar to the game against Providence in the semi-state game (where Providence won 41-33), low scoring, you have to really work for every good shot. We don’t see that but a few times a year so those games are really good for us.”
Miller had 10 points for the Royals. Welch led the Trojans with 12. Colin Taylor had nine.
The Royals are 15-6 on the season and host Senior Night tonight against Union (Modoc). New Castle improved to 11-10.
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New Castle 35, Eastern Hancock 34
Eastern Hancock;7;12;7;8;—;34
New Castle;7;8;12;8;—;35
Eastern Hancock (15-6): Edric Miller 3 2-3 10, Grant Gray 0 0-0 0, Kayden Ruble 1 0-1 2, Silas Spaulding 1 1-2 4, Jacob Spaulding 7 0-0 18, Luke Morris 0 0-2 0. Totals: 12 3-8 34.
New Castle (11-10): Tyson Lewis 1 1-2 3, Colin Taylor 3 0-0 9, Gavin Welch 5 0-0 12, Ethan Hinton 3 0-0 6, Quintin Boatright 0 0-0 0, Clay Butler 1 0-0 2, Cole Johnson 1 0-0 3, Landon Thompson 0 0-0 0. Totals: 14 1-2 35.
3-point goals: Eastern Hancock 7 (J. Spaulding 4, Miller 2, S. Spaulding); New Castle 6 (Taylor 3, Welch 2, Johnson)
