Preble Shawnee endures late charge from Arcanum to get big WOAC win

133
Preble Shawnee's Brody Morton makes a free throw late, the Arrows needed all of them to hold on for a late comeback by Arcanum for a 57-51 win. (Dale Barger photo)

ARCANUM – Preble Shawnee took an 18-point lead into the 4th quarter only to see Arcanum charge back scoring 25 points in the final frame and the Arrows had to hang on for a 57-51 WOAC win.

Preble Shawnee’s man-to-man defense and physicality appeared to frustrate the Trojans coming up short on their shots and scoreboard trailing the Arrows 17-7 end of 1st quarter.

Shawnee connected on three trifectas, two from Reece Smith and got three inside buckets from center Brody Foxbower.

Reece Smith had the hot hand in 1st half from beyond the arch with three triples. (Dale Barger photo)

Arcanum found success through Cameron Ball in the 2nd quarter with 6 of their 12 points but the Arrows put up 14 to take a 31-19 halftime lead.

Arcanum coach Kevin Brackman tried to mix up defenses from man to zone but never found the right combination to slow down the Arrows in the first half.

Arcanum’s Cameron Ball gave the Trojans some needed offense in the 2nd quarter with six points. (Dale Barger photo)

Shawnee knocked down five triples, three from Reece Smith and one each from Brayden Robinette and Brody Morton, they also had a good an inside game with Foxbower scoring 10 points.

Coach Brackman stressed the importance of going out and stringing together 3-4 plays at a time and they would be able to get back in the game in the 2nd half.

“My message to the guys was simple, they were going to let us back in the game. Numbers told us they were going to let us back in the game. They didn’t know it, but we had to trust in us,” Brackman said.

Arcanum didn’t start the way he hoped, in fact they turned the ball over four consecutive times to start the 3rd quarter and in a blink of an eye Shawnee was up 40-19.

It also was a point in the game where Brackman took his senior leader Landon Flatter aside on the bench to challenge him to get the team going.

Arcanum was challenged in the paint by Brody Foxbower who had 14 points in the game. (Dale Barger photo)

Over the course of the last 12 minutes of the game, Flatter would do just that, scoring 17 of his game-high 23 points over that span.

Arcanum needed a spark in the 2nd half and they would get that from senior Landon Flatter who had 17 of his game high 23 points to storm back into the game. (Dale Barger photo)

He came back in and hit a  triple and took a drive to the basket as the Trojans closed out the 3rd quarter trailing 46-19.

Arcanum proved out coach Brackman’s halftime statement with Matthew McCans hitting a triple, a knockdown shot from Flatter followed up by a couple drives to the basket and with 5:36 to go the Trojans cut the margin to 48-36 prompting a timeout by Preble Shawnee.

Matthew McCans hit some key points in the second half when the Trojans made their run. (Dale Barger photo)

Out of the time-out McCans and Flatter both made lay-ups drawing to 48-40 … and finally the Arrows answered with an and one by Morton up 51-40 at 4:07.

What was once an impervious Shawnee defensive shield, turned porous with Flatter going around and through the defense pulling the team to within four, trailing 53-49 with 48 seconds left to play.

Preble Shawnee was able to collect themselves enough to work clock, draw fouls and make enough free throws to escape Arcanum’s flurry for a 58-53 WOAC win.

Senior Brayden Robinette was the steady force handling the basketball, running the offense and getting to the rim leading the Arrows with 15 points in the game. (Dale Barger photo)

Preble Shawnee Coach Ryan Robinson was breathing a sigh of relief after the game knowing his team didn’t finish the game strong but still happy to get the win.

“We created our separation in the game from defense, it wasn’t from points on the board, and I think we just got away from that, whether it’s tired, mentally or physically, we just got to be able to push through the wall to get stops late in the game,”

“Arcanum started getting great action. We were guarding their main sets early, pretty well, and they just got different stuff going there in the 2nd half, so all credit to them,” Robinson said.

“Part of that for us is just maturity and learning how to close games on both ends of the floor. The guys are just growing up right in front of our eyes learning to play without a Shrout or Hawley,” coach Rob, added.

Preble Shawnee showed good balance again placing four players in double figures.  Brayden Robinette led with 15, Brody Foxbower 14, Brody Morton and Reece Smith each with 13 points.

Local resident Harry Niswonger celebrated his 100th birthday taking in his beloved Trojans basketball game. (Dale Barger photo)

Arcanum was led by Landon Flatter with 23, Cameron Ball 13 and Matthew McCans had 12 for the Trojans.

Coach Brackman felt there were things his team can build off from the game, notably the reaction by senior Landon Flatter and his resolve by stepping up after being challenged in the 3rd quarter when things were going the wrong way.

Arcanum falls to 3-2 overall and 1-1 in the WOAC and will be going through a tough stretch over the next week hosting Dixie on December 17th and then traveling to Tri-Village on Friday December 20th against two more top contending teams in the WOAC.

Preble Shawnee improves to 2-2 overall and 2-0 in the WOAC with a big win over Dixie and Arcanum … but they too will be facing a huge challenge on Tuesday when they host undefeated Franklin Monroe at 5-0.

“We just got to keep stacking them (wins) and it’s a big one on Tuesday (FM) that we’re preparing for now,” concluded Robinson.

Box Scores

Score by Quarter

PS:          17 … 14 … 15 … 12 – 58
ARC:     07 … 12 … 09 … 25 – 53

Team Scoring:

PS: Foxbower 0-5-0/0 – 14, Robinette 1-4-4/5 – 15, Morton 1-3-4/5 – 13,Blankenship 0-0-1/2 – 1, Taylor 0-1-0/0 – 2, Smith 3-2-0/0 – 13, Totals 5-15-9/12 – 58

ARC: Flatter 2-8-4/5 – 23, McCans 2-3-0/1 – 12, Weiss 0-2-0/0 – 4, Kessler 0-0-1/2 – 1,         Ball 0-5-3/6 – 13, Totals 4-18-8/14 – 53

Brody Morton powers one in for the Arrows, he had 13 in the win. (Dale Barger photo)