COVINGTON – The Arcanum Trojans defeated the Houston Wildcats 42-39 in the consolation game of the sixth annual Buccaneers Holiday Classic in a game Arcanum never trailed.
“We kept our composure all the way through and that is something over the past four or five games we have struggled with,” said Arcanum coach, Kevin Brackman. “For our guys to weather the storm from start to finish is something we can grow from and we can learn from.”
The Trojans won the first half 17-13, the Wildcats took the second half 26-25 in a game Arcanum head coach Kevin Brackman was coaching the Houston JV team just two years before the evening’s game.
“I know all these guys,” Brackman stated. “Those guys were my JV team two years ago. They’re good kids, they’re great kids, they work hard but that is what you get at Houston.”
Arcanum took an early 8-4 lead after one period of play with Braylen Etherington, Landon Flatter, Rylan Murray, and Luke Henninger each knocking down a basket.
Going scoreless in the opening frame, Regan Christ found his range and accounted for seven of the Trojans’ nine second-quarter points including his lone trey of the night while Houston was adding nine points to the second-quarter board sending the teams to the break with Arcanum leading 17-13.
The teams played to an 11-11 third-quarter standoff with four Trojans adding points to the scorebook including 5-5 at the charity stripe for a 28-24 Arcanum advantage.
Arcanum used an 11-8 run to lead 39-32 with 1:28 on the fourth quarter clock before settling on a 42- 39 win. Christ led the Trojans with six fourth-quarter points including 4-4 at the charity stripe, Flatter went 3-4 at the line and Matthew McCans canned a 3-pointer.
“Regan is a guy when you take him off the floor he’s noticeable,” said Brackman. “Being a sophomore, he can create on his own, the guys know how to find him on the floor in the offense we run and they respond well to him.”
“They stepped up and hit big shots,” Brackman added. “When we needed to keep that 4 to 5-point cushion all points matter in the last few minutes.”
Regan Christ led Arcanum and all scorers with 15 points and a perfect 8-8 at the free throw line. As a team, the Trojans were 14-15 at the charity stripe for 93 percent shooting.
BOXSCORE:
ARCANUM – R. Christ 15, B. Etherington 5, L. Flatter 5, R. Murray 4, L. Henninger 4, M. McCans 3, N. Koller 2, C. Burke 2, C. Kessler 2 – TOTALS 11 14-15 2 42
HOUSTON – E. Krieger 12, A. Pollock 10, S. Bowman 7, R. Vonderhuevel 6, L. Crim 2, J. Leist 2 – TOTALS 14 5-8 2 39
3-POINTERS
Arcanum 2 (R. Crist 1, M. McCans 1)
Houston 2 (E. Krieger 2)
SCORE by QUARTERS
08-09-11-14 42 Arcanum
04-09-11-15 39
