MONROE – The Arcanum Lady Trojans earned their first District Championship since 1978 with a convincing 44-25 win over the MAC’s Fort Recovery Lady Indians.
“Before I was born,” said Arcanum coach Abbey Moore. “These girls are a special group of girls and I have not had one ounce of issues with any of them. They have all bought into the team and that wins championships.”
With Arcanum’s first-quarter fouls mounting up and starting post player Caroline Long relegated to the bench, it wasn’t looking good for the Lady Trojans. Fort Recovery took the opening period by an 11-8 score, with Alexis Gibbons accounting for all eight Arcanum points.
“We’re battle-tested,” Moore stated. “All year, it seems like we’ve been in adverse situations, and I have never felt so good coming into a game as I did today. We’re prepared, our bodies are good, we’ve been hitting the weight room hard, and at this point in the year, it could go one way or the other.”
“I looked all of them in the eye before the game, and I didn’t see one ounce of concern or worry or fear,” continued Coach Moore. “That is how you have to play basketball.”
The Lady Trojans battled back in the second quarter, taking advantage of an 8-0 run to win the period 16-6.
“That was big,” Moore said of the run. “To be able to put a big string of plays together to catch that momentum was huge going into halftime. That’s a game changer.”
At 6:23 in the second, Arcanum grabbed a 14-13 lead. A Clair Hein trey at 5:44 made it a 17-13 Arcanum advantage. Freshman Josie Schwartz drained a big 3-pointer at the buzzer to help Arcanum to a double-digit 16-6 second quarter, sending the teams to the break with the Lady Trojans holding a 24-17 advantage.
“That three, calling that play for Josie to get that three; man, freshman stepping up in a big moment and knocking down a big shot was fun to watch,” said Moore.
Gibbons accounted for 18 of Arcanum’s 24 first-half points. Both Long and Clair Hein were saddled with three first-half fouls.
“A big credit to Josie, Bri, Faith, those three coming in and filling big shoes when we needed them to, and they did,” Moore said. “This group is so much fun.”
Arcanum kept up the pressure on both ends of the third quarter court with back-to-back Caroline Long baskets for a 26-17 lead and the team’s first double-digit lead of the night at 28-17. Schwartz followed with her second triple of the game, upping the Lady Trojans’ lead to 31-19.
Faith Wooten came off the bench to drop in a layup with the Lady Trojans bench erupting with the team stretching its lead to 33-19. Gibbons scored on a breakaway uncontested layup, 35-19, and Schwartz went 2-2 at the line for a 37-19 score with 2:41 on the third quarter board. The Lady Indians closed out the third with a score, sending the teams to the final period with Arcanum up 37-21.
The Lady Trojans secured the District title with a 7-4 fourth quarter led by five Long points and two from Gibbons, giving Arcanum an impressive 19-point win.
“Fort Recovery is strong, strong girls, lengthy, physical, but we were able to withstand that,” Coach Moore said. “That is a testament to the work we put in in the weight room, and we’re strong ourselves. These girls have turned it on, and it showed today in the second half.”
Arcanum senior Alexis Gibbons led Arcanum and all scorers with a game-high 22 points, 18 coming in the first half.
“Lexi does not want it to be over, both her and Brooke,” Moore noted. “What Lex was able to do in that first half, and getting to the rim, finishing … unreal. That girl, when she puts her mind to it she can do just about anything she wants.”
“I pulled Lexi and Brooke out in the hallway with me before we did our locker room talk and I told them no regrets, this is it, every time you hit the floor it could be it so you go out and you give it your all,” added Moore, “and both those girls sure did tonight.”
“Such a great community,” Coach Moore concluded. “I’m so thankful to be at Arcanum and be a part of it. There are many great people here, and these girls have worked their tails off. We’re going to make it fun for this community.”
BOXSCORE:
ARCANUM 44, FORT RECOVERY 25
ARCANUM – A. Gibbons 22, C. Long 9, J. Schwartz 8, C. Hein 3, F. Wooten 2 – TOTALS 14 4-5 4 44
FORT RECOVERY – K. Niekamp 10, B. Homan 8, C. Muhlenkamp 4, K. Muhlenkamp 3 – TOTALS 8 6-11 1 24
3-POINTERS
Arcanum 4 (J. Schwartz 2, A. Gibbons 1, C. Hein 1)
Fort Recovery 1 (B. Homan 1)
SCORE by QUARTERS
08-16-13-07 44 Arcanum
11-06-04-04 25 Fort Recovery
