Eastern Hancock’s Kenzie Koch drives the baseline against Knightstown.
Mike Brown | For the Daily Reporter
CHARLOTTESVILLE — The past few seasons have been some of the best in Eastern Hancock girls basketball history.
Back-to-back semi-state appearances and a 48-6 record over the last two years highlight just some of the accomplishments.
Entering the 2024-25 season, the Royals hope continued success is there, but to do so, they’ll have to get it done with a new look.
The team’s head coach for all of that success, Shari Doud, retired at the end of last year after going 137-61 over eight seasons. Under her tenure, the Royals won conference, sectional and regional titles each of the last two seasons.
Along with her departure, the Royals graduated one of the strongest senior classes in school history, including four of the team’s five starters from last year.
Stepping in to lead the new-look Royals is former head coach Lindsey Shaw.
Shaw was the Eastern Hancock head coach from 2007-2011 and has been a teacher for 17 years at the school.
“The transition has been really good. I don’t think it could’ve gone any smoother than it did,” Shaw said. “They’re buying in and working hard which is about all you can ask for this early in the game.”
Helping make the transition easier, is the return of standout sophomore guard Kenzie Koch.
After a stellar freshman campaign, Koch was named to the Indiana Basketball Coaches Association Underclassmen Small School All-State team, was selected All-Mid-Eastern Conference, and was chosen to be a part of the Indiana All-Stars “Futures Games” over the summer.
“Her game has developed really well this summer,” Shaw said. “Being county player [of the year] and doing as well as she did, she’s still worked hard and has improved in a lot of areas in the offseason.”
Koch averaged 18.4 points, 4.6 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 2.8 steals per game in her first year of high school basketball playing alongside a bunch of seniors.
Now with those seniors gone, Koch enters the year as the player with the most varsity experience on the Royals roster.
“She’s stepping into that leadership role too. That can be hard as a sophomore, but the girls really respect her game and how she plays,” Shaw said. “I don’t think it’s necessarily a bad thing to have a sophomore be in that leadership spot when you look at what she does in the offseason. She plays at a very competitive level in her AAU season, so she’s bringing that experience as well. We have some seniors that are helping fill those roles as well.”
The graduation of Ruby White, Sammie Bolding, Brooklyn Willis, Makenzie O’Neal and Sydney Springman not only puts a bigger emphasis on Koch, it also leaves the Royals with ample playing time to be filled by new players.
Willis, White, Bolding and O’Neal all started for the Royals last season, while Springman was the first player off the bench.
The five combined to average 38.4 points, led by Bolding’s 13.6 per game.
White was the team’s top post player, averaging 10.6 points, 5.6 rebounds and 1.8 blocks per game.
Filling those shoes and rounding out the starting roster around Koch will be Ellie Meyer, Camryn Andrus, Bella Sotelo and Kiersten Judd.
“The message has been, it’s your turn. We’ve had several girls that have been patiently waiting for this time,” Shaw said. “That was a really good senior class that coach Doud had, so now we’ve just been talking about how it’s your turn now. I think we’re going to surprise some people.”
Meyer, a two-time track and field state finalist and key player on the Royals volleyball team, saw some varsity time each of the last two seasons, but will now be thrust into a much bigger role.
The 5-11 senior appeared in 17 games and averaged 2.7 points and 2.4 rebounds per game.
Andrus, another one of the team’s three seniors, played in 24 games last year and averaged 2.5 points.
“Ellie will be huge for us. She’s going to bring some experience and athleticism,” Shaw said. “Camryn has been waiting for her turn. She’s probably the hardest worker in the gym on both ends of the court along with Kenzie and has been developing her game this offseason.”
The final two starters, Sotelo — a state-placer in the hurdles as a freshman in last year’s track and field state finals — and Judd played both junior varsity and varsity last season, appearing in 21 and 20 games at the top level, respectively. In the team’s scrimmage last week, Sotelo, a sophomore guard, scored 19 points.
“Bella brings a lot of speed and athleticism and will give us an edge,” Shaw said. “Kiersten is another one that has been patiently waiting, and I think she’s going to surprise some people.”
Off the bench first for the Royals will be senior Lainee Parker and junior Addisyn Trackwell.
“We just want to enjoy the journey and trust the process. All of the girls on this team are very active in things outside of basketball. We’ve only had a handful of practices with everyone there, so we just want to be patient,” Shaw said. “We have plenty of time to get where we want to be by February.”
Eastern Hancock opens the season Nov. 5 at home against Wes-Del.
–
2024-25 Eastern Hancock girls basketball schedule
Date;Opponent;Time
Nov. 5;vs. Wes-Del;7 p.m.
Nov. 7;vs. Morristown;7:30 p.m.
Nov. 9;at Rushville;7:30 p.m.
Nov. 16;vs. Triton Central;7:30 p.m.
Nov. 19;vs. Union;7:30 p.m.
Nov. 21;at Cowan;7:30 p.m.
Nov. 26;vs. Shenandoah;7:30 p.m.
Nov. 30;at Wapahani;1:30 p.m.
Dec. 10;at North Decatur;7:30 p.m.
Dec. 14;at Cathedral;2:30 p.m.
Dec. 17;vs. Lapel;7:30 p.m.
Dec 20;at Knightstown;6 p.m.
Dec. 27;at Sheridan Holiday Tourney;12 p.m.
Jan. 4;vs. Monroe Central;1:30 p.m.
Jan. 8;at Blue River Valley;6 p.m.
Jan. 11;vs. Union County;7:30 p.m.
Jan. 14;vs. New Castle;7:30 p.m.
Jan. 18;at Waldron;12:30 p.m.
Jan. 23;at Daleville;7 p.m.
Jan. 28;vs. Randolph Southern;7:30 p.m.
Jan. 30;at Tri;7:30 p.m.
–
2024-25 Eastern Hancock girls basketball roster
No;Name;Grade;Height
1;McKenzie Koch;10;5-9
2;Bella Sotelo;10;5-6
4;Lainee Parker;12;5-11
5;Addisyn Trackwell ;11;5-9
11;Stephanie Sotelo;12;5-5
14;Kiersten Judd;11;5-11
21;Clara Wallace;10;5-5
22;Ellie Meyer;12;5-11
23;Camryn Andrus;12;5-7
32;Heidi Meyer;10;5-10
34;Kaitlyn Lowes;12;5-10
