FAIRLAND — Winning three games in a week to be crowned sectional champions is never easy.
When you win an emotional game over the favorites — and host school — in Friday night’s semifinal to avenge a 20-point loss from earlier in the year, it makes Saturday’s championship even tougher than it already is.
Eastern Hancock learned that firsthand.
On Saturday at Triton Central High School, the Royals (14-11) fell 43-35 to Irvington Prep (16-9) in the Class 2A Sectional 42 championship.
“I don’t want to take credit away from [Irvington Prep], but maybe the week did wear on us a little bit. We had to play really well to beat Scecina and then had to get back up to play a really good Triton Central team and avenge a 20-point loss,” Eastern Hancock head coach Brett Bechtel said. “That was a very emotional win and that was something I was concerned about. I was worried about this one being an emotional letdown.”
With the nerves of a championship game weighing on both teams, scoring was tough to come by in the opening half.
A Royals offensive rebound and Caiden Willis layup tied things at 4-4 with just under three minutes to play in the opening quarter, but Irvington Prep closed out the quarter on an 8-3 run.
Gideon Ohuabunwa scored three straight baskets for the Ravens to put them up 10-4, and after a Caden Powers 3-pointer brought the Royals back within three, Irvington Prep’s Major Davis capped off the opening period with a layup just before the buzzer.
Davis, the Ravens 6-6 center, scored all five of the team’s points in the second quarter, but two more Powers treys and a Luke Morris free throw kept the Royals down just 17-14 entering halftime.
The Ravens center caused more issues for the Royals in the third quarter. He scored the team’s opening five points of the half and caused problems for the Eastern Hancock offense.
He helped limit leading scorer Kayden Ruble (14.2 points per game) to two points and made it difficult for the Royals to play their inside-out offense.
“He [Davis] was really, really good tonight. He can physically match up with Kayden. Kayden couldn’t get an angle and couldn’t really go through him,” Bechtel said. “It was one of those nights where this group just struggles to score. We had some open looks, but I think we were 4 of 22 inside of the arc.”
Charlie Halcomb and Luke Schilling 3-pointers brought the Royals back within two late in the third quarter, but by the end of the period, the Ravens had pushed the lead back to 29-23.
“Every time we could get it to two or we would take a one-point lead they always had an answer. We could never seize the momentum. I looked at the bench twice and said ‘they always have an answer,’” Bechtel said. “Whether it was a shot in the paint or a 3, they always answered back. They did a good job of not letting us get momentum all night.”
The Royals best stretch of the night offensively came midway through the fourth quarter.
Down 32-26 they reeled off seven straight points to take their first lead of the night.
Willis kicked off the run, and then five consecutive points by Morris put the Royals ahead 33-32 with 3:40 left on the clock.
But as they had done all night, Irvington Prep answered with an 11-2 run to end the game.
An Eastern Hancock turnover leading to an Ohuabunwa layup put the Ravens back ahead, a Davis basket made it a four-point game, and to close things out Irvington Prep was a perfect 7 of 7 from the free-throw line down the stretch.
“We just couldn’t get over the hump. We’d get a stop defensively and then come down and miss a shot, or we’d turn it over. We just couldn’t capitalize on the plays being made on the defensive end, or we couldn’t get three, four stops in a row which we’re used to doing,” Bechtel said. “It’s a typical sectional championship game where things slow down and it’s physical. It just wasn’t our night.”
As a team, Eastern Hancock shot 26% from the field and just 18% on two-point shots. The 35 points were the lowest since a 48-28 loss to Triton Central on Jan. 27 and was only the third time all season they were held below 40 points.
Morris and Powers each scored nine for the Royals, while the Ravens were led by Ohuabunwa with 17 points and Davis with 16.
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Irvington Prep 43, Eastern Hancock 35
Eastern Hancock;7;7;9;12; —35
Irvington Prep;12;5;12;14; —43
Eastern Hancock (14-11): Kayden Ruble 0 2-2 2, Caiden Willis 2 1-2 5, Luke Morris 3 2-3 9, Charlie Halcomb 1 2-2 5, Luke Schilling 1 2-3 5, Caden Powers 3 0-0 9, Garrett Shaw 0 0-0 0, Eli Manship 0 0-0 0. Totals: 10 9-12 35.
Irvington Prep (16-9): Major Davis 6 2-2 16, Gideon Ohuabunwa 7 2-2 17, Jahmere Evans 0 0-0 0, Jimmy Fancher Jr. 2 2-2 7, Elijah Cole 1 1-1 3, Brayden Meredith 0 0-0 0, Kase Johnson 0 0-0 0. Totals: 16 7-7 43.
3-point goals: Eastern Hancock 6 (Powers 3, Halcomb, Morris, Schilling); Irvington Prep 4 (Davis 2, Fancher Jr., Ohuabunwa).
