Friday preview

Friday night, the CCSN crew heads to Royal country -- Eastern Hancock -- to see the first intra-county clash of the year, as the Royals face New Palestine.

Hancock County basketball has definitely been in an "up" cycle -- last seen in the early 2000s -- with one team ranked in the top five after two very impressive wins (Mt. Vernon), one that is defending a sectional championship (New Palestine) and one that is one basket away from being back-to-back sectional champs (Eastern Hancock). Greenfield-Central is in the midst of a rebuilding cycle, but nearly pulled off an OT win over Whiteland last Friday night.

The Royals are a very underrated 2A team -- and usually have been, as they play a fairly brutal schedule, especially on the front end. Last week's 2-0 start and back-to-back wins over Centerville and Frankton was the Royals' first since the 2002-03 season -- a year that ended with a regional championship. Aaron Spaulding's teams are generally known for having excellent 3-point shooting and solid post play. Dustin Smith poured in a school-record 7 3s and scored 27 points in the victory over Centerville on opening night. Zach Kissick then had a big game against Frankton, scoring 17 points. On the inside, 6-8, 300+-pound post Devin Tharpe is one rebound shy of back-to-back double-doubles. He's averaging in double-figures in both scoring and rebounding.

Meanwhile, the Dragons are in the midst of a similarly brutal stretch early in the year, playing four consecutive road games to open the season, before next week's home opener against rival Greenfield-Central (which will be our Dec. 11 Game of the Week broadcast). NP spoiled Dean Foster's debut at Jennings County with a 39-38 win on Wednesday before falling to New Castle on Saturday. NP is deep and quick -- racking up huge steals totals with a tight defense. Pat Feeney -- whose name we called a lot intercepting passes in football -- has 4.0 steals per game. Senior David Anderson has been the top scorer, with a 17-point game to his credit. Nathan Penley scored nine points to lead the Dragons on Saturday night. Trevor Baker and Andrew McClatchey were also key rotation players on the sectional-winning team last season, while outside bombers Nick Huntsman and Taylor Rainey played a big role late in the year last season, and now are full-time varsity performers, which gives coach Adam Barton a lot of options.

There was a time when the bigger area schools could circle a game against Eastern Hancock as a breather. That's not the case anymore -- NP beat EH on a 30-foot shot by Steve Kottlowski at the buzzer last season, and while the Dragons have won more than 20 in a row against the Royals, many of the games have been ultra-close (although last year's was the closest). The Royals do have multiple wins against both Mt. Vernon and Greenfield-Central in this decade, and they were exactly one point in regulation away from winning both county tourney games last year.

It should be a great game. Chris Lambert and I are looking forward to bringing it to you. Airtime is 7:10 p.m. Friday from Eastern Hancock High School. LISTEN HERE!

Elsewhere, it's a big weekend for Hancock County & HHC schools
EH visits Southwestern (Shelby) on Saturday.
NP heads to Rushville on Saturday night for each team's first HHC game.
Greenfield-Central (0-2) has a double-weekend at home, facing New Castle and Southport.
3A #4 Mt. Vernon (2-0) has another tough test against Hamilton Southeastern. HSE then turns around to face Pendleton Heights on Saturday.
Shelbyville opened the Tom Beach era 2-0, with Columbus North visiting Friday night.
After a 58-35 loss to Pendleton Heights in its opener, Delta meets Cowan on Friday and Muncie South on Saturday.
Dan Carmony's Rushville squad (0-1) meets arch-rival Connersville before facing the Dragons on Saturday.

As far as the WRAC:
Knightstown (2-0) visits Union County on Friday and Wapahani Saturday. Lapel (1-1) hosts Madison-Grant Saturday, while Shenandoah (1-1) is at Alexandria.