CLAYTON – The Arcanum Trojans shook off a 17-day layoff and delivered a statement performance, defeating the Anna Rockets 59-49 to earn a berth in the OHSAA Division V district championship game.
The win marks the program’s first trip to a district title game since 2008, an accomplishment that adds to an impressive run of nine consecutive winning seasons for the Trojans.
“We’re 32 minutes away from a district title, and that was our goal,” said Arcanum coach Kevin Brackman. “We wanted to win a tournament game, the first one I have been able to get since I’ve been here.”
Anna grabbed an early 7-5 lead before Arcanum responded with authority, closing the opening quarter on a 13-0 run to take an 18-7 advantage.
Arcanum’s 6-foot-7 Ben Hamilton led the early charge with nine first-quarter points, including a perfect 3-for-3 effort from the free-throw line. Cameron Ball added four points, Gideon Garno knocked down a three-pointer, and Bishop Cartwright chipped in with a basket.
The Trojans extended the margin to 24-9 in the second quarter and built a 17-point lead at 28-11 with 2:40 remaining in the half. Anna managed to string together seven unanswered points late, but Arcanum carried a comfortable lead into the break.
“I like to think we are a pretty solid defensive group,” said Coach Brackman. “The work that we put on the floor this year was presented in that first half. I couldn’t be more proud of the way we guarded.”
Ball and Charlie Weiss each scored four points in the second period, while Hamilton added another basket.
Arcanum came out strong after halftime, outscoring the Rockets 15-7 in the third quarter. The Trojans led 35-22 at the five-minute mark and closed the period with a commanding 43-25 advantage.
Ball paced Arcanum with seven third-quarter points, while Matthew McCans drilled two timely three-pointers and Hamilton added a bucket inside.
“Matthew is at the top, if not near the top, of every team’s scouting report,” noted Brackman. “We knew we had to use the guys around him because he wasn’t going to get easy shots like he has all year, and to Anna’s credit, that was true here today. He had two big threes in the third quarter, and that opened the floor for our bigs because they had to respect Matthew’s ability to shoot the ball.”
The Trojans built their largest lead of the night at 49-30 with just under six minutes to play. Anna found its range from beyond the arc late, trimming the deficit to 55-46 with 1:05 remaining, but Arcanum calmly closed out the game, taking the final minute 4-3 to secure the 10-point tournament win.
Cartwright, inserted into the starting lineup late in the season following Jace Mote’s ACL injury, delivered eight fourth-quarter points — including a clutch three-pointer to seal the victory. McCans, Weiss, Ball, and Hamilton each added two points in the final period.
“A lot of credit goes to Bishop Cartwright in the career game he had,” said Brackman. “Last year, we had to make a decision as a staff as far as who was going to back up Landon Flatter (Class of 2025). We had a real good conversation with Jace and what was an easier conversation with Bishop, and we chose Bishop.”
“Then summer rolled around, and both those guys battled,” Brackman continued. “So this year we made a coach’s decision to start Jace and again bring Bishop off the bench. Looking back at things now, it looks like it was a genius play on our part, but when Jace goes down with an ACL injury, we were able to plug Bishop in there because he played 23 varsity games last year as a sophomore. So his big night — there is a lot of credit that goes to him.”
Three Trojans finished in double figures, led by Cameron Ball with 17 points, Ben Hamilton with 15, and Bishop Cartwright with 10.
“The things Cameron does around the rim — we’ve watched him do that all season,” Brackman said. “When Cameron was allowed to get catches at the free-throw line, he had space to make moves, and he was able to get down there — his touch is so good. Ben Hamilton played a good game off of him, so to have two bigs on the floor that set the tone for us. We were able to grind it out.”
With the win, Arcanum (18-5) advances to face the No. 1 seed Waynesville Spartans (22-2), who defeated Graham 70-28 in the other semifinal.
The OHSAA Division V district championship game is scheduled for Saturday, March 7, 2026, at Xenia High School with a 6 p.m. tip-off.
“Athletic, quick, they can shoot the cover off the ball, they are talented on all fronts,” Brackman said of Waynesville. “They like to go, and we like to go. We’ll see what we can do at Xenia.”
BOX SCORE:
ARCANUM 59, ANNA 49
ARCANUM – C. Ball 17, B. Hamilton 15, B. Cartwright 10, M. McCans 8, C. Weiss 6, G. Garno 3 – TOTALS 19 9-13 4 59
ANNA – B. Wenning 18, R. Platfoot 14, C. Wenning 9, R. Pettit 4, L. Ziegenbusch 2, N. Jenkins 2 – TOTALS 12 4-10 7 49
3-POINTERS
Arcanum 4 (M. McCans 2, B. Cartwright 1, G. Garno 1)
Anna 7 (R. Platfoot 3, C. Wenning 2, B. Wenning 2)
POINTS by QUARTER
18-10-15-16 59 Arcanum
07-11-07-24 49 Anna
