
COVINGTON – The Arcanum Lady Trojans blistered the nets at the free throw line to defeat the Houston Lady Wildcats 47-37 in the opening round of the seventh annual Covington Holiday Basketball Tournament in a Saturday afternoon non-conference matchup.
The Lady Wildcats bolted out to a 9-0 lead at 5:41 in the first quarter, bringing a timeout from the Arcanum bench. The Lady Trojans battled back to earn its first lead of the game, 13-11, on a Josie Schwartz (freshman) 3-pointer, and upped their lead to 15-11 at 1:56 with an Alexis Gibbons layup to complete a 15-2 Lady Trojans scoring run in under four minutes of play.

“That was huge,” Moore said of the 15-2 scoring run. “They responded well. I am proud of them for that and not coming out and folding.”
Arcanum settled on a one-point 15-14 lead after one complete led by Gibbons’ 10 first-quarter points.
“That’s a leader,” Coach Moore said of Gibbons, her senior leader. “We want the ball in her hands in those situations.”
Houston grabbed the lead back 16-15 in the opening minute of quarter No. 2, followed by a Gabrielle Wooten (freshman) bucket at the rim, giving Arcanum a 17-16 advantage. The Lady Trojans used a 9-6 second quarter to send the teams to the break, with Arcanum holding a 24-20 lead.

The Lady Wildcats stormed back to open third-quarter play using five unanswered points to lead 25-24 at 6:31. Sophomore Claire Hein nailed a jumper inside the arc to put Arcanum back up 26-25 at the four-minute mark. The Lady Trojans were one better in the third, including two Schwartz treys, taking the quarter 10-9, sending the game to the fourth with Arcanum leading 34-29.
“She’s knocked a few down here or there, but this is the first time she has been more consistent with it in a game,” Moore said of her freshman 3-point sharpshooter Josie Schwartz. “With defenses paying attention to some other girls, she will get open looks. That was huge for us tonight. Being a freshman and able to knock down those shots is awesome. I hope that gives her confidence, and she can continue with that hot hand.”

Arcanum took the final quarter 13-8 without the aid of a field goal while knocking down 13-of-14 free throws to earn a ten-point victory. In the fourth, Gibbons went 6-6 at the charity stripe, Schwartz 3-4, and Caroline Long and Matty Noe 2-2.
“They were all from the free throw line,” Moore said of fourth-quarter scoring. “That means we were being strong with the ball and able to get to the free throw line, but we have to do a better job of getting more looks and doing the little things offensively to help with that.”
The margin of victory for Arcanum came at the free throw line, where the Lady Trojans hit 15-17 for 88 percent shooting while Houston was 4-12 for 33 percent.

“That was huge for us to put those free throws in,” Coach Moore stated. We will have ups and downs in games and know we’ve been hit with some adversity. We’re not making excuses for ourselves. We’re still young, but if we can work and still find ways to win ballgames at the end of the day, that shows these girls work hard, they sure do put in the work. I’m proud of them and love being around them all day.”
Gibbins led Arcanum and all scorers with a game-high 18 points, including 7-7 at the charity stripe.
BOXSCORE:
ARCANUM 47, HOUSTON 37
ARCANUM – A. Gibbons 18, J. Schwartz 12, C. Long 6, C. Hein 4, G. Wooten 4, M. Noe 2, F. Wooten 1 – TOTALS 10 15-17 4 47
HOUSTON – E. Earl 17, O. Crim 14, Burks 2, O.Maier 2, M. Vondenhuevel 2 – TOTALS 12 4-12 3 37
3-POINTERS
Arcanum 4 (J. Schwartz 3, A. Gibbons 1)
Houston 3 (O. Crim 2, E. Earl 1)
SCORE by QUARTERS
15-09-10-13 47 Arcanum
14-06-09-08 37 Houston