Boys basketball: Landon Roop’s hot stretch helps Hinckley-Big Rock top Leland

Royals pick up fifth win in sixth games to open season

Hinckley-Big Rock coach Seth Sanderson (right) talks to players including Martine Ledbetter (left) and Landon Roop (center) during the Royals' 72-17 win against Leland on Friday, December 2, 2022.

HINCKLEY – Landon Roop scored nine points in less than 90 seconds, kicking off a stretch of 35 straight points for Hinckley-Big Rock in a 72-17 win against Leland in the Little 10 opener for both teams.

It was a dominant stretch for the junior guard as part of a strong start to the season for the Royals (5-1, 1-0).

“Really, the defensive end pushed it,” Roop said. “We got some offense from teammates stealing and pitching it ahead, easy layups.”

The defense stifled the Panthers (0-7, 0-1) who committed 41 turnovers in the game. In the first half, the Royals forced 30 turnovers, leading to 38 points and a 55-12 lead at the break. At one point, the Royals scored 35 straight.

Roop’s spurt started with a layup off a steal, putting the Royals ahead 21-10 with 1:07 left in the first. His hot stretch ended 13 seconds into the second quarter with another steal and layup, this one pushing the lead to 28-12.

“We talk about that spurtability, where he just puts spurts together,” Hinckley-Big Rock coach Seth Sanderson said. “He can do a little 6-0, 8-0 run all by himself. I think he’s had that his whole career.”

Roop finished with 16 points. Before his hot streak, Martin Ledbetter was holding down the fort, with nine first-quarter points. He finished with seven rebounds and 13 points. None of the Royals’ starters played in the second half.

Austin Albus scored 12 off the bench, and Justin Wentzlaff added nine.

“They do a really nice job of sharing the ball,” Sanderson said. “And we’ve got more scoring than we’ve had since I’ve been here. I think we have a really, really high ceiling. And we’ve taken care of the ball really well to start the year. It’s just finding those defensive strides, making sure we can get stops when we need them.”

The Royals’ lone loss this season was at the Oregon tournament to South Beloit, the team that knocked them off in a regional championship game last year.

Sanderson said his team has been getting better every game, and Roop also said he liked how the team has looked early this season.

“I feel like we had a good tournament up in Oregon,” Roop said. “We had one tough loss against South Beloit, but they’re a good team. I feel like the other games we’ve played good defense, which has been our weak point, but we’ve turned defense into offense pretty well.”

The team has had a three-headed scoring machine with Roop, Ledbetter and Ben Hintzsche, who was quiet Friday with six points, three steals and two rebounds.

Sanderson said he’s liked what he’s seen from Ledbetter, a 6-foot-5 sophomore who towers over most of his opponents. Sanderson said he’s made a jump between his freshman and sophomore years.

“Last year we were very specific on his jobs,” Sanderson said. “This year he’s a lot more flexible with what we can do with him.”

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