Hagerstown head coach Tyler Stotler is not into moral victories, but he was encouraged by the Tigers’ effort on Friday, Feb. 27, in a 59-52 loss in a game at Eastern Hancock. The Tigers have been forced to retool both their offense and defensive schemes after losing their leading scorer to a season-ending injury on Feb. 17.
As heavy underdogs entering the game, the Tigers battled to the end. With 1:25 remaining in regulation, the game was tied at 51-51. With 39 seconds to play, the Royals were only leading 53-52 before closing the game out from the free-throw line.
The game was closely contested throughout. The teams were tied at 14-14 at the end of the first quarter and were still tied at 19-19 halfway through the second quarter before Landyn Loring scored 10 consecutive points to propel the Royals to a 29-19 halftime lead.
The Tigers fought back. Jonny Howard scored near the end of the third quarter to cut the Tiger deficit to 36-35 entering the fourth quarter. Twenty seconds into the fourth quarter, Kaden Hall hit a three-pointer to give the Tigers their first lead of the second half at 38-36.
The Royals retook the lead before Howard scored back-to-back baskets to tie the game at 45-45. With 2:40 remaining, Isaac Schmitz delivered a conventional three-point play to give the Tigers their last lead of the game.
Howard led the Tigers with 18 points and Schmitz scored 17 points. Loring led the Royals and all game scorers with 20 points. Caden Powers scored 11 points and Zach Stephens scored 10 points.
Coach Stotler referred to the game as “the best game we have played in a long time.”
Eastern Hancock (13-9) 14 15 7 21 57
Hagerstown (12-9) 14 5 16 17 52
Eastern Hancock (57)
Powers 11, Caleb Retherford 3, Brennon Trueblood 6, Loring 20, Eli Manship 1, Stephens 10, Luke Lewis 0, Luke Manship 6
Hagerstown (52)
Graham Vinson 0, Schmitz 17, Braydon Sanders 0, Lincoln Small 7, Kaden Hall 8, Ben Hokey 0, Howard 18, Elijah French 2
A version of this article appeared in the March 4 2026 print edition of the Western Wayne News.