ARCANUM — The Arcanum Trojans rolled past the visiting Waynesfield-Goshen Tigers 61-40 on Saturday night in non-conference varsity boys basketball action.
Arcanum coach Kevin Brackman kept a festive — and fair — tone throughout, going deep into his bench in all four quarters to prevent the game from turning into a running-clock blowout.
“We shared the ball really well, and we were very selfless,” Brackman said. “We went to our bench earlier than we have, but we still kind of let the game come to us.”
The Trojans jumped out to a 9-0 start, highlighted by a Charlie Weiss 3-pointer at the 4:32 mark of the opening period. After the Tigers got on the board at the free-throw line, Brackman began rotating substitutes, with Arcanum closing the quarter on top 15-6 behind seven points from Cameron Ball and five from Weiss.
Arcanum continued to apply pressure in the second quarter, pushing the margin to 25-6 on a Jace Mote triple and then to 27-6 when Mote drove left for a basket at 3:32. That surge forced a Waynesfield-Goshen timeout and another round of wholesale substitutions, as the Trojans went to the locker room holding a 31-13 halftime advantage.
“For a guy that stands 5-foot-6, he plays with a lot of spunk and a lot of moxie, but he’s incredibly smart,” Brackman said of Mote. “He’s a true point guard and a true facilitator. He can get to the rim, he’s extended his range, and he shares the ball so well. When you have a guy like that on the floor, he makes everybody else better.”
The Trojans wasted no time after the break. Ben Hamilton’s short jumper 14 seconds into the third quarter made it 33-13, and baskets by Ball and back-to-back Matthew McCans 3-pointers stretched the lead to 41-15.
“Welcome back, Matthew McCans — we’ve been waiting for that,” Brackman said. “He can shoot the cover off it. When he shoots the ball well, we’re a completely different team.”
With Arcanum ahead 47-18 midway through the third, Brackman again emptied the bench. The Trojans won the quarter 20-16 and took a 51-29 lead into the final eight minutes.
McCans drilled his third three-pointer of the night early in the fourth, Weiss followed with his second trey, and Ball added a put-back before Brackman cleared the bench one final time. The teams settled on a 61-40 final.
Arcanum controlled the glass from start to finish, a point of emphasis for the Trojans.
“That’s what Cameron Ball and Ben Hamilton do,” Brackman said. “Those guys are a presence down low, and Ben is a true rim protector. Sometimes Cameron gets forgotten about, and that’s a luxury we have.”
Ball led all scorers with 15 points.
The Trojans will enjoy a week off before returning to action Monday, Dec. 29, against the Russia Raiders in the opening round of the Covington Holiday Tournament, tipping at 4:30 p.m.
“We don’t play at all next week, so it’ll be good to hit the reset button and keep them hungry,” Brackman said. “Russia is a really good, well-coached, disciplined program. Our goal is to get past game one — something we haven’t done the last three years — and hopefully have a strong night.”
BOX SCORE:
ARCANUM 61, WAYNESFIELD-GOSHEN 40
ARCANUM – C. Ball 15, M. McCans 13, C. Weiss 10, B. Hamilton 9, J. Mote 7, C. Hamilton 4, G. Garno 2, C. Kessler 1 – TOTALS 19 2-5 7 61
WAYNESFIELD-GOSHEN – B. Barnes 8, J. Michael 6, K. Morse 5, R. Waitman 4, T. Faraglia 4, C. Barnes 3, T. Thompson 3, A. Poe 2, L. Combs 3, K. McKinney 2 – TOTALS 10 5-15 5 40
3-POINTERS
Arcanum 7 (M. McCans 3, C. Weiss 2, J. Mote 1, B. Hamilton 1)
Waynesfield-Goshen 5 (J. Michael 2, T. Thompson 1, L. Combs 1)
SCORE by QUARTERS
15-16-20-10 61 Arcanum
06-07-16-11 40 Waynefield-Goshen
