Who will be able to pick up the slack?
That was Hinckley-Big Rock’s biggest question heading into this season with the graduation of the program’s all-time leading scorer and rebounder in 6-foot-5 forward Martin Ledbetter and 6-5 guard Max Hintzsche, his No. 1 scoring sidekick.
Marshall Ledbetter, now a 6-1 junior forward and Martin’s brother, wasn’t sure he had the answer.
“I just thought we’d come back a little slower, a little weaker and just not as good because they were our leading scorers,” said Marshall, who played on the junior varsity last winter and dressed for varsity games but didn’t see much action.
“I feel like we’ve all become scorers now and everyone is doing their part to score the ball. Everyone seems to take turns and has their night and steps up.”
Maybe so, but Marshall Ledbetter and 6-foot senior foward Luke Badal have been the most consistent, averaging just over 20 points and in the mid-teens, respectively.
They were rocks again Monday night for the Royals, each putting up 20 points and six rebounds in a 65-55 nonconference victory at Aurora Central Catholic.
Senior forward Jacob Orin and senior guard Judah Miceli added eight points apiece for Hinckley-Big Rock (18-7), which isn’t far off the pace set by last season’s team that dropped a 57-54 decision to Aurora Christian in the sectional final and finished 26-9.
“I thought we came out and started really well,” said Royals coach Seth Sanderson, whose team led by as much as 10 points in the first half before ACC cut it to 37-35 in the third quarter and then 43-41 early in the fourth.
A 15-3 run by Hinckley-Big Rock over the next 3:30 secured the win.
“They’re a really hard team,” Sanderson said of the Chargers. “They play in probably the toughest conference in the state, so it’s a young team in a tough conference.
“I think their record is a little deceiving and doesn’t reflect how competitive they are.”
Junior forward Nick Czerak led ACC (11-17) with 13 points and five rebounds. Sophomore forward Myles Manuel added 12 points and eight rebounds, while junior forward Braden Dillon had 10 points and seven rebounds.
“They started to get a lot of offensive rebounds in that stretch,” Ledbetter said. “We got a timeout to talk it over and needed to get more rebounds. We have a lot of hustle on our team, too.”
Limiting ACC to one-shot possessions helped the Royals’ transition game.
“We’re definitely more of an inside out team and that was our big focus coming in,” Sanderson said. “That and trying to keep them off the 3-point line.”
Badal also has been doing a nice job of attacking the basket. He came on strong last season, moving into the starting lineup at Christmas.
“The last 10 games or so he was our third leading scorer,” Sanderson said. “He does a pretty good job with his footwork and feel. He keeps people off balance and has a nice spin move and will draw fouls. He’s gotten to the line a ton of times this season.”
Martin Ledbetter is currently a freshman baseball player at Wabash Valley, where he pitches and plays first base.
“He has about four inches and 80 pounds on me,” Marshall said. “They just got back from playing in Texas. Martin’s down to 235 pounds after being up to 250 playing basketball last year.”
Martin tops Hinckley-Big Rock’s basketball career lists with 2,145 points and 1,409 rebounds. Last season, he averaged 21.4 points and Hintzsche followed at 17.5.
Marshall Ledbetter plays outfield and pitches some in the spring as well as throwing the discus in track. He weighs between 180 and 185 and confirmed that basketball is his favorite sport.
“Martin was such a good athlete — I’ll never take anything from him,” Sanderson said. “But I think in some ways, Marshall is a little quicker side to side.”
“That’s what I try to take advantage of with a slower opponent,” Marshall said. “Just beat them laterally and vertically.”
