COVINGTON — The Arcanum Lady Trojans put together a complete team performance Tuesday night, rolling past the Covington Lady BUCCS 67–28 in the Buccaneers Holiday Classic.
“These girls played well together tonight,” said Arcanum coach Abbey Moore. “They looked for each other and shared the basketball really well.”
Arcanum set the tone early, taking the opening quarter 15–5 with five different Lady Trojans scoring. Adalyn Paul sparked the run by knocking down two three-pointers in the first period.
The Lady Trojans cooled off from long range in the second quarter, going 0-for-8 from beyond the arc, but still outscored Covington 10–6 to take a 25–11 lead into the halftime break.
Paul came off the bench in the third quarter and quickly found her rhythm, drilling four three-pointers in the period. She finished the night 6-of-9 from deep, scoring 12 points in the quarter as Arcanum stretched the margin to 48–19 with three quarters complete.
“She was very efficient tonight, which is great to see,” Moore said of Paul. “We have to continue to build that consistency with her. When she’s knocking down shots, it adds pressure on the defense and opens things up for other girls. She can really shoot the basketball.”
Arcanum continued to push the tempo in the fourth quarter, taking the period 19–9 and triggering a running clock for the final two minutes to seal the non-conference victory.
Caroline Long paced the Lady Trojans in the second half, scoring 15 of her game-high 22 points over the final two quarters.
“We were able to find Caroline in transition,” Moore said. “In the first half she wasn’t running rim to rim, so we talked at halftime about how effective she could be if she did. In the second half she decided to do that, and we were able to find her.”
Following the game, Moore reflected on balancing her roles as a mother, wife, veteran varsity coach, and Arcanum athletic director.
“I have one heck of a husband, so I give a lot of credit to him,” she said. “My kids are great and very understanding, and these girls I coach do a great job with my kids too. They’re very supportive.”
“My husband does a lot for me, and I appreciate him allowing me to do this because it’s something I really love,” Moore added. “I’m not quite ready to give it up yet. These girls are a lot of fun — I think of them as my own. I feel like I have 18 daughters out there, and I’m excited to be part of it. I’m hoping we can play a lot of basketball this year and make a deep tournament run.”
Long led Arcanum and all scorers with 22 points in the Lady Trojans’ win.
BOX SCORE:
ARCANUM 67, COVINGTON 28
ARCANUM – C. Long 22, A. Paul 18, M. Noe 5, E. Flatter 4, J. Schwartz 4, A. Leeper 4, D. Michael 4, C. Hein 4, H. Smith 2 – TOTALS 18 10-15 7
COVINGTON – D. Murphy 6, E. Johnson 6, B. Batdorf 6, A. Koffer 4, E. Havenar 3, S. Newhouse 2, Q. Koffer 1 – TOTALS 6 4-9 4 28
3-POINTERS
Arcanum 7 (A. Paul 6, M. Noe 1)
Covington 4 (Batdorf 2, Johnson 1, Havenar 1)
SCORE by QUARTERS
15-10-23-19 67 Arcanum
05-06-08-09 28 Covington
