UNION CITY – The Mississinwa Valley Lady Blackhawks bolted out to a 35-12 lead after one period of play in defeating the Arcanum Lady Trojans 92-76 in Saturday afternoon WOAC action.
“We knew Abbey’s a good coach, and we knew Arcanum is a good team,” said Mississinawa Valley Coach Michael Paige. “We knew we had to stay aggressive and try to score but I didn’t expect them to come back like that – a 30-point lead and they didn’t give up. They kept fighting and made us play to the end.”
“It opens our eyes to what we’re able to score but our focus has to be on the defense,” said Arcanum coach, Abbey Moore. “That was a first for me giving up 35 points in a quarter but they are a fantastic ball team.”
The Lady Hawks opened the game on a 17-3 run at 4:11 in the first quarter and added 18 points over the second half of the opening period for a blistering 35 points. Taylee Woodbury paced MV with 10 first-quarter points including two 3-pointers.
Arcanum battled back to take the second period 21-19 led by seven Brooke Anderson points sending the teams to the break with Mississinawa Valley leading 54-33.
The Lady Blackhawks pushed its lead to 30 points, 76-46 at 1:10 in the third before the Lady Trojans used a 6-0 run to close out the period with MV taking the quarter 22-20 led by 12 Woodbury points. Caroline Long tallied nine points for Arcanum sending the game to the fourth quarter with MV owing a 76-52 advantage.
The Lady Trojans were within several points of facing a running clock before storming back to take the final period 20-16 giving the home-standing Lady Hawks a 16-point conference win.
“They kept fighting,” said Paige. “Arcanum is a good team and Abbey is a good coach, they’re not going to give up and we told our girls that – they came right back and kept fighting.”
“We didn’t play our best game, as good as we played we gave up 76 points so obviously there are a lot more things that we can do to improve,” Coach Paige added. “We shot the ball well today but we still have some improving to do. We have to keep getting ready for the tournament at this point.”
“I am extremely proud of my girls for their character,” said Coach Moore. “We always talk about that excellence factor of playing with class, playing with dignity. When you’re in situations of adversity that is going to be when your true character shows and when our backs were up against the wall, not one of these girls gave up, not one of these girls trembled and that’s a great life lesson.”
Woodbury led Mississinawa Valley and all scorers with a game-high 20 points. The Lady Blackhawks put five players in double figures, Arcanum had four players in double figures.
BOXSCORE:
MISSISSINAWA VALLEY – T. Woodbury 22, B. Price 19, K. Townsend 18, P. Emrick 11, I. Ojeda 10, B. Seubert 7, S. Purdin 5 – TOTALS 25 9-18 11
Arcanum – R. Leeper 18, B. Anderson 16, C. Long 16, A. Gibbons, 11, M. Noe 9, C. Hein 5, A. Miller 1 – TOTALS 16 14-22 10 76
3-POINTERS
Mississinawa Valley 11 (T. Woodbury 4, P. Emrick 3, I. Ojeda 2, S. Purdin 1, B. Seubert 1)
Arcanum 10 (R. Leeper 3, M. Noe 3, A. Gibbons 2, B. Anderson 2)
SCORE by QUARTERS
35-19-22-16 92 Mississinawa Valley
12-21-20-20 76 Arcanum
