Arcanum nips Ansonia Lady Tigers

I have all the faith in my girls, and they did not disappoint us tonight ... Arcanum coach Abbey Moore

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Ansonia freshman Gabrielle Wooten scores two of her 12 points in WOAC win over Ansonia. (Gaylen Blosser photo)

ARCANUM – The Arcanum Lady Trojans took advantage of the fourth-quarter free throw line to down the Ansonia Lady Tigers 45-40 in Thursday night conference play.

“A lot of games come down to the free throw line and rebounding the basketball,” said Arcanum coach Abbey Moore. “If you can do those two things, your chances of coming out on top are going to be pretty good.”

Ansonia freshman Charlotte Barge hits a trey for three of her 12 Lady Tigers points at Arcanum. (Gaylen Blosser photo)

“It is definitely one that we wanted,” said Ansonia coach Connor Custenborder. “Going into the year we knew it would be one of the toughest games in the conference. We prepared for it a lot.”

The Lady Tigers jumped out to a 10-3 lead halfway in the opening quarter before Arcanum closed the period on a 5-1 run and an Ansonia 11-8 advantage. Charlotte Barga paced the Lady Tigers with six points with two buckets beyond the arc.

Ansonia took period No. 2 by a single point, outscoring the Lady Trojans 10-9. Olivia Creager led the Lady Tigers with six points, sending the teams to the break with Ansonia owning a 21-17 lead.

Alexis Gibbons drives to the basket for Arcanum in Lady Trojans conference win over Ansonia. (Gaylen Blosser photo)

“I was worried about this one coming in,” Moore stated. “Connor does a great job with his coaching staff, who are very knowledgeable about basketball. I have all the faith in my girls; they did not disappoint us tonight. They were able to overcome some adversity and those deficits. That was big, cutting it before halftime and giving us a chance in the second half.”

The Lady Tigers opened third-quarter play with a 4-0 run to lead 25-17 in the opening minute. Arcanum battled back to grab a 30-29 advantage with 0:20 remaining in the third.

“I have all the faith in my girls, and they did not disappoint us tonight,” Coach Moore said. “They were able to overcome some adversity and those deficits. That was a big cut before halftime and gave us a chance in the second half.”

Ansonia’s Olivia Creager drives strong to the basket in road game at Arcanum. (Gaylen Blosser photo)

Ansonia Gabby Leeper’s fast-break layup gave the Lady Tigers a 31-30 lead in the opening seconds of the fourth, with the game seeing 14 lead changes and four ties. The score bounced back and forth through the first seven minutes and was knotted at 40-40 with 0:58 on the fourth quarter clock.

“Gabby is a great senior leader for us with her play on the court and off,” Custenborder said. “She keeps the girls motivated and can handle the pressure. She’s a four-year varsity letter winner, so she has a lot of experience playing at this level.”

Arcanum used the free throw line to close the night on a 5-0 run to earn the WOAC game 45-40.

Arcanum freshman Josie Schwartz puts up a shot for the Lady Trojans in Thursday night win over Lady Tigers. (Gaylen Blosser photo)

Arcanum was 17-28 at the free throw line (61 percent), while Arsonia went 7-15 (47 percent) at the charity stripe.

“I am having so much fun, and these girls are so much fun to be around,” Moore said. “Their will to win and their competitiveness shined through here tonight.”

Arcanum freshman post player Gabrielle Wooten led the Lady Trojans in scoring with 12 points, and Ansonia freshman Charlotte Barga paced the Lady Tigers with 12 points.

Gabby Leeper launches a shot for Ansonia in conference game at Arcanum. (Gaylen Blosser photo)

“She is going to have those opportunities because of her height advantage,” Moore said of Wooten. “She was able to finish and put them in and have some easy buckets. She came up with some big rebounds as well.”

“She got two early threes, and they started denying her,” Custenborder said of Barga. “It’s harder to go to the ball, harder to get her looks. We had to have other girls step up in a bigger role when that happens.”

BOXSCORE:

ARCANUM 45, ANSONIA 40

ARCANUM – G. Wooten 12, A. Gibbons 10, J. Schwartz 10, C. Long 8, C. Hein 3, F. Wooten 2 – TOTALS 14 17-28 0 45

ANSONIA C. Barga 12, O. Creager 8, G. Leeper 7, L. Reichert 5, R. Barga 4, O. Schmitmeyer 4 – TOTALS 12 7-15 3 40

3-POINTERS

Arcanum 0
Ansonia 3 (C. Barga 2, L. Reichert 1)

SCORE by QUARTERS

08-09-13-15 45 Arcanum
11-10-08-11 40 Ansonia