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Tenlee Woodbury came up big with three consecutive steals for lay-ups in 2nd quarter to help Mississinawa quell a Newton run.  The Hawks won the game 57-34.  

(Dale Barger photos)

PLEASANT HILL – Mississinawa Valley girls basketball remains undefeated in the WOAC with a 57-34 win over Newton Saturday afternoon. 

Newton is an exciting young team and has already pulled off a surprise in the early part of the 2025-26 season last Saturday with a 51-48 win over Arcanum. 

It was the first of three straight games against some of the top teams in the league. 

They played at Tri-Village Thursday night falling 47-22 and needed a win verses Mississinawa to stay in the WOAC race.

Mississinawa got off to a great start jumping out to an 8-0 lead on six points from Cora Hoggatt and two from Brooklynn Seubert.

Mississinawa senior forward Cora Hoggatt used her size, athletic versatlity to score 22 points and lead the Hawks to a win over Newton.

The 3-2 zone defense employed by the Hawks stymied the Indians who began to try and work the ball into the middle to senior Rylee Hess and let her attack.  

She got the Indians on the board drawing a foul at the rim making a free throw and followed with an-old fashion three-point play to draw the score 8-4 at 2:25.

Scoring the ball allowed Newton’s press go into action creating some turnovers and lay-ups for freshman guard Ani Cottrell and another from Hess tying the game at eight.

Newton Fr. guard Ani Cottrell is going to be fun to watch over the next few years.  She gave Newton the lead on a step back jumper in the lane & had 12 points for the game.

Moments later Cottrell hit a step back jumper in the lane giving the Indians a 10-8 lead, all in just a few minutes prompting Mississinawa to use a timeout.

Mississinawa responded with a fielder from freshman Cassidy Seubert … but Rylee Hess with 7 points in 1st quarter finished the scoring on a free throw giving Newton an 11-10 advantage.

The Hawks settled down in the 2nd quarter and turned it up a bit on defense which led to three steals by sophomore guard Tenlee Woodbury converting lay-ups for six points.  Cora Hoggatt scored eight in the paint as Mississinawa looked to take advantage of their size.

Hess was the only player to score for Newton, she had five in the 2nd quarter, and they would trail 28-16 at the break.

Newton lacking size had to play to their strengths and in the 2nd half they pushed tempo and with that comes mistakes but at some point you have to live with them.

Newton scored 9 points in the 3rd quarter, Cottrell hit a triple and a fielder for five and the Hess sisters both had two each.

But they couldn’t slow down Mississinawa who increased their lead to 41-24 heading into the final frame.

Brooklynn Seubert who ran into foul trouble much of the game scored eight points and the Hawks had 16 in the fourth quarter, while Newton added another nine, falling 57-34 in league play.

After the game Mississinawa coach Kirk Comer shared his disappointment for not handling Newton’s pressure well … but also gave credit to the Indians as well.

“I didn't think we handled the pressure very well. We got to get a lot better.  It hurts not having Paige Emrick (out with injury) … but it’s next man up,” Comer explained.

“We prepared for their pressure, but obviously we weren't prepared enough. We tried to do things we didn't practice and therefore had several turnovers. Hopefully we've learned from that,” coach Comer stated.

“They (Newton) play hard, and I think they're well coached and we thought coming in here it was going to be a battle … and it was a battle, but for to us reach our goals, we've got to be better at taking care of the basketball,” Comer said.

“We still were able to compensate for those turnovers and get the win,” Comer concluded.

Senior Rylee Hess showed poise, leadership and made plays all game long for her team and ended with 18 points. 

Newton’s Rylee Hess shouldered much of the load on offense with 18 points and Ani Cottrell added 12 for the Indians.  They fell to 2-3 overall and 2-2 in the WOAC and will be back in action on Tuesday playing at Dixie.

Cora Hoggatt led all scorers with a solid 22 and Brooklynn Seubert had 12 to lead Mississinawa.  They improve to 7-1 overall and 5-0 in the WOAC and will host Northeastern on Monday.

Box Scores:

Score by Quarters

MV …… 10… 18 … 13 … 16 – 57

NEW … 11 … 05 … 09 … 09 – 34

Team Scoring:

MV: T. Woodbury 0-3-0/2 – 6, M. Hoggatt 0-2-3/6 – 7, T. Reichard 0-1-0/0 – 2, C. Seubert 1-2-1/3 – 8, C. Hoggatt 0-11-0/1 – 22, B. Seubert 0-2-0/0 12 – Totals 1-25-4/12 - 57

NEW: B. Hines 0-1-0/0 – 2, B. Hess 0-1-0/0 – 2, R. Hess 0-6-6/9 – 18, P. Holbrook – 0-0-0/2 – 0, A. Cottrell 2-3-0/0 – 12, Totals 2-11-6/11 - 34

Brooklyn Seubert had limited minutes due to foul trouble but still ended the game with 12 points for the 7-1 Hawks and 5-0 in the WOAC. 
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The Battleground is not an easy place to play but Tri-Village needed a 15-point run to pull away from Arcanum in 43-31 WOAC win.  (Photos by Dale Barger)

NEW MADISON – The Arcanum Boys Basketball Team had the tempo they wanted and a lead 25-24 late in the third quarter.  But Tri-Village was able to speed up the Trojans and make shots scoring 15 unanswered points from two-minute mark of the third to the three-minute mark of the fourth quarter to claim a 43-31 WOAC win.

Coming into the game the Patriots were averaging 72 points a game and Arcanum 50 points so the game plan for Arcanum coming in was to take as much time as needed for each possession and not allow Tri-Village to get the game up-tempo.   

Noah Finkbine left open drains a three-pointer in first quarter. 

While Arcanum was successful holding the Patriots to just 10 first quarter points on triples from Noah Finkbine and Trey Sagester and a couple of fielders from Dom Black and Hayden Hunt.  The Trojans were only able to muster 4 of their own on a triple from Matthew McCans and a free throw from Ben Hamilton.

However, Tri-Village center Dom Black would find himself in foul trouble picking up two early and he would sit the rest of the first half.

Arcanum stuck with the game plan and with Black out senior forward Cameron Ball went to work in the paint.  Ball either scored at the rim or made free throws after being fouled and scored 8 of his team’s 10 second quarter points.

Sophomore forward Ben Hamilton works inside for two of his seven points.

The Trojan defense slowed Tri-Village even more with Trey Sagester scoring the only points (7) for the Patriots who held onto a 17-14 lead at the break.

Arcanum continued to be comfortable playing with their pace and for the next six minutes they were able to force a tie and then take the lead 23-22 and 25-24 at 2:14 in the third quarter.

The Trojans got four points each from Ball and Ben Hamilton and a triple from Jace Mote.

Scoring for the Patriots again was provided by Trey Sagester who had 10 of their 12 points in the third.  Dom Black had two free throws but played a limited role again fouling out of the game.

Dom Black pulls down rebound, but foul trouble limited his playing time allowing Arcanum to establish a post game and they took advantage of it.

After Hamilton gave Arcanum their final lead 25-24 at 2:14, Sagester canned a short jumper and then a long step-back three to end the third with the Patriots up 29-25.

Clearly a more concentrated level of pressure was being applied by Tri-Village that started to cause some cracks in the patient execution and playing late into a possession that led to a few easier baskets for the Patriots.

Trey Sagester hit some big shots and two big triples late, he led all scorers with 26.

A lay-up from Noah Finkbine to start the final frame and a triple from Sagester in the corner pushed the lead to 34-25 prompting an Arcanum timeout.

The drought for Arcanum continued and senior guard Carson Bedinghaus piled on for the Patriots with his triple and then a Brecken Gray fielder extended TV’s led to 39-25.

Jace Mote finally broke a seven-minute scoring drought at the free throw line, but the Patriots extended their lead to 42-26 for the largest lead of the game at the one-minute mark.

Cameron Ball worked h is magic around the rim and was the Trojans most effective offensive player scoring 15 points.

Arcanum’s Ball connected from beyond the arch and Ben Hamilton scored another bucket in the last minute, but the dry spell took its toll with the Patriots taking a 43-31 WOAC win.

Arcanum coach Kevin Brackman was pleased with his teams game plan and execution and broke it down on why they played a more deliberate style game.

“I'll throw some numbers at you. Last year we played this same game, and they (Tri-Village) took 61 shots to our 32 and they're shooting 64% from the floor. Two years ago, it was the same game, 55 shots to our to our 34 right?  We felt like our best chance was to limit their offensive opportunities,” Brackman explained.

And for three quarters the Trojans were right where they needed to be and by games end they held TV to 37 shots to their 21. 

Arcanum would only shoot 8-for-17 from the free throw line and had 20 turnovers, make a few more free throws and few less turnovers and a long dry spell on offense it might have been a different game.

But you also have to give credit to the Tri-Village, when they needed to change the tempo of the game they were able to ratchet up pressure and Arcanum sped up on offense.

I think we had it to a two-possession game going into the 4^th quarter, we talked all week about being there and wanted to hit big shots. We established the post to make sure to be in the best position to do that. But we started to make some silly decisions where we settled early in possessions and against a team like Tri-Village that’s going to make a run, it cost us.  On two quick possessions and they go down and hit back-to-back threes, and it went from being down four or five to 10 or 11, and that was the game,” Brackman said.  

In order to run a patient offense you need a point guard who can handle the pressure and make good decisions and Jace Mote did it well for Arcanum who hung tough for three quarters. 

But I’m really proud of our guys we threw some new ideas and tonight proved we can sit down and guard and get stops because our defense really as much as our offense, kept us in there most of the game,” Brackman commented.

Tri-Village coach Josh Sagester gave credit to Arcanum and said they did what they had to do. 

“They executed their game plan well tonight and he (Coach Brackman) had his team where they wanted to be.  I know their plan was to take air out of the basketball and they did a good job with it. We've been there as a program. You got to do what gives your team the best chance to win and his kids did a good job, executed and played really hard,” Sagester stated.

They slowed us down and it came down to Trey, and he had a great night.  The three he hit at the end of the third quarter and early fourth were kind of big,” Sagester stated.

Trey would lead all scorers in the game with 26 while Cameron Ball led Arcanum with 15.

Arcanum falls to 5-2 overall and 2-2 in the WOAC and they will host Waynesfield Goshen Saturday night.

Tri-Village improves to 5-0 overall and 4-0 in the league play.  They will play Jonathan Alder at Columbus Convention Center on Monday night.

Box Score

Score by Quarters

ARC – 04 … 10 … 11 … 06 - 31

TV – 10 … 07 … 12 … 14 – 43

Team Scoring

ARC – J. Mote 1-0-1/2 – 4, McCans 1-0-0/0 3, Garno 0-1-0/0 – 2, Ball 1-4-4/9 – 15, B. Hamilton 0-2-3/5 – 7, Totals 3-7-8/17 - 31

TV – Black 0-1-2/3 - 4, Sagester 4-5-4/6 – 26, H. Hunt 0-1-0/0 2, G. Richards 0-0-1/2 – 1, N. Finkbine 1-1-0/0 – 5, B. Gray 1-0-0/0 – 2, C. Bedinghaus 1-0-0/0 – 3, Totals 6-9-7/11 - 43


Arcanum Coach Kevin Brackman has the Trojans playing good basketball and despite two losses early they are going to win a lot of basketball games this year.
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Twin Valley South retains the trophy in the battle of 503 with a 54-42 win over Tri-County North.  (All Photos by Dale Barger) 

WEST ALEXANDRIA – The 503 Battle between Tri-County North and Twin Valley South would live up to its name with both teams tied heading into the last quarter. It was TV South coming from behind and riding the hot hand of Grace Childers 23 points and 10 in the final frame giving the home team the rivalry victory 54-42.

Coming into the game the top two leading scorers in the conference were senior guard Bella Cherry from North at 18.3 ppg and South Senior forward Brylii Day at 16.7 so it was no surprise to see both teams focus was to try and slow them down.

North would double up Day in the post while South face guarded and took turns with fresh legs to cut off any opportunities for Cherry to get in the lane or get any easy open looks.

The strategy worked for both teams with both Bella and Brylii both getting shutout in the first quarter.

It was senior forward Chloe Jackson leading the way for North scoring 6 points, sophomore center Lola Grieshop had 4 points and senior Jordan Pinion 3 for North while South got a trey from Grace Childers, and bucket each from senior Maddy Nelson and sophomore Ava Weldy.

Tri-County North Chloe Jackson had 6 points in first quarter to help her team get out to a 13-7 lead.  She ended the game with 11 points.

North held a 13-7 leading going into the second quarter where both Cherry and Day eventually inserted themselves into the equation and canceling each other after scoring 5 points each in the frame.

North got help again from Pinion with 3, and two pints each from junior Cadence Darnell and sophomore Mackenzie Woodrey.

South’s help came from another triple and 5 points from Childers, 3 from Weldy and two from sophomore guard Josey Butler on free throws and North held a slim 25-23 lead at the break.

Bella Cherry came out firing in the 3rd quarter scoring 7 of their first 8 points to go ahead 33-27 at the 4:25 mark … but South rallied back.

Bella Cherry got her team off to a great start in the 3rd quarter scoring 7 of her 16 points in the game. 

They cut the margin to 35-34 just under 2:50 to go as Childers and Day led the way again both scoring 5 points in the third and the two teams were tied at 36 heading into the final stanza.

Quiet all game long Twin Valley senior guard Brooke Giggy, who closed out the third with a fielder, dropped a corner triple to tie the game early in the fourth 39-39 right in front of the student section and the game was on.


Twin Valley South senior Brooke Giggy had several contributions late in the game that help spur her team to a victory including this triple in the corner.

Back-to-back layups from Childers and Day pushed South ahead 43-39.  Now with the lead and the ball coach Crouch shouted to his team to bring the ball out and set-up … but Childers either didn’t hear it, or she just felt it and let one fly from the wing for her fourth trey off the night with the score ballooning 46-39 in favor of South, and North needed a timeout.

The momentum shift was strong and so was Twin Valley South’s finish with Day adding four more points and Childers knocking down her fifth triple on their way to a 54-42 league win, that also avenged a 41-38 loss back on November 22nd.

When it was all said and done Cherry and Day still almost reach their scoring average despite both teams best effort to slow them down … and the game came down to the play of others, on this night Grace Childers was the difference down the stretch.

“In the fourth when we made the run I  was just thinking after we got the lead, we need a dagger to expand it a little bit,” Crouch said.

That dagger came from Childers with 10 of her 23 points coming down the stretch.

Soph Grace Childers picked a good time to score a career high. Her five triples & 10 of her 23 points in the 4th quarter helped South come from behind to win over North.

“Grace is going to be a great basketball player throughout high school. She’s pretty competitive, and we trust her when she shoots. Yesterday, she stayed after practice and shot for another 45 minutes on her own and was locked in tonight. It was pretty exciting for her with a career high 23 points, so we gave her the dub chain after the game,” Coach Kerry Crouch stated.

Childers’s 23 points led all scorers and Brylii Day had 15 for TV South.  Bella Cherry has 16 and Chloe Jackson added 11 for Tri-County North.

While North let one slip away coach Jessica Spitler wasn’t upset with her team.

“We executed what we had worked on all week. They have two big scorers and that's hard to compete against when they are both on, when we slowed down one then the other picked it up. This rival game brings out the best in everybody.  At the end of the day, I’m not mad at my girls, we went one and one against South and I think overall, we played well. Kudos to south for finishing the game strong,”

Although the two teams split this year, Twin Valley South gets to hold onto the Battle of 503 trophy and Grace Childers held it up with pride.

South improved to 3-5 overall and 2-1 in the WOAC and they will play at Ansonia on Saturday.

North fell to 2-5 overall and 1-2 in the WOAC and they will host Middletown Madison on Monday December 22nd.

Box Scores:

Score by Quarters

TCN – 13 … 12 … 11 … 06 - 42

TVS – 07 … 16 … 12 … 18 – 54

Team Scoring

TCN – H. Shannon 0-0-1/2 – 1, B. Cherry 1-4-5/8 – 16, C. Darnell 0-1-0/0 – 2, J. Pinion 0-2-2/4 – 6, M Woodrey 0-1-0/0 – 2, L. Grieshop 0-2-0/0 – 4, C. Jackson 0-5-1/2 – 11, Totals 1-15-9/16 - 42

TVS - G Childers 5-3-2/2 – 23, M. Nelson 0-1-1/2 – 3, A. Weldy 1-1-0/2 – 5, B. Giggy 1-1-1/2 – 6, J. Butler 0-0-2/2 – 2, B. Day 0-6-3/9 – 15, Totals 7-12-9/19 - 54

Brylii Day was not only a force on defense in the paint. She controlled the boards and had solid 15 points in TV South's win

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Mississinawa Valley Jr. Cing Scott rises above the defender for a short corner jumper.  The Hawks beat National Trail 47-37 in WOAC action.  (All photos by Dale Barger)

NEW PARIS – Mississinawa Valley boys basketball got off to a good start in their game at National Trail.  The Blazers fell victim to a cold shooting night, and the Blackhawks took advantage leaving town with a 47-37 WOAC win.

Mississinawa road the coat tails of guard Kyle Wehrkamp in the opening quarter as the senior knocked down two triples and a fielder to help the Hawks go out to a 15-6 lead.

With the Blazers focused on slowing down leading scorer Cing Scott, Wehrkamp stepped up taking the open looks he got which pleased Mississinawa Coach Jeff Vaughn.

Sr. Kyle Wehrkamp helped jump start the Hawk with 8 first quarter points. 

“Kyle Wehrkamp had a heck of a first quarter, and it really sparked us which puts the other team on notice that somebody else can score besides Cing and that's what we need. I keep telling these guys, somebody else has to score, because Cing's getting face guarded, double teamed every game,” Vaughn stated.

Cold shooting by National Trail led to a 24-12 deficit at the break.  The only thing the Blazers had going for them was the play on the inside from senior Tayden Blevins who accounted for 10 of their 12 points.

“Oh, man, it was an icy night for us, we couldn't get shots to fall in the first or second quarter. They (Mississinawa) did a good job, made us work everything in the paint and didn't give us anything easy in there … so hats off to those guys,” National Trail coach Andy Blevins commented.

Tayden Blevins was the only offense Trail had in first half. He had 10 of their 12 points.

National Trail came out firing with senior Kellen Laird knocking down their first perimeter shot to start the 2nd half, followed by a lay-up from Blevins, cut the margin to seven, 24-17.

Mississinawa responded with two fielders from junior guards Caden Hanes and Elliott Seubert and a jumper from Wehrkamp to push the lead back out to 30-17.

Sr. guard Kellen Laird was more aggressive offensively in the 2nd half and scored 10 of his 12 points but it wasn't enough to catch the Hawks. 

The Blazers added two free throws from Laird and another bucket from Blevins that was countered by an old-fashion three-point play from junior Ashton Amspaugh for a 9-9 tie in the 3rd quarter and the Hawks led 33-21 going into the final frame.

Sophomore guard Cole McGlothlin connected from deep to start the 4th quarter for Mississinawa and they were able to maintain their lead until a lay-up and a triple from sophomore Coltin Lipps closed the gap to 40-31 at the 3:13 mark, bringing the student section and Trail fans into the game.  

Coltin Lipps had a lay-up and a trey to try and keep pace with Mississinawa in the 2nd half.

The Blazers had a few opportunities to cut into the margin even more but the lid on the basket would not lift and with time now under two minutes Mississinawa looked to their main guy Cing Scott.

Scott was strong with the ball and was sent to the free throw line multiple times late making 5-for-8 down the stretch and 7-for-10 in the game to close the door on any Blazer comeback.

Coach Vaughn talked about Scott’s maturity level so far this year and his play down the stretch.

“He's matured huge from last year. If they face guarded him last year he  would have crawled in a shell. We've been working on it all summer. He's a great kid. He's working hard and wants to be a player, is a player, and it's great to see him step up wanting the ball to end the game. He’s shooting 89% from the line, so it’s a no brainer,” Vaughn concluded.

Caden Hanes had 6 points in the second half to help provide additional offense for MV.

Scott led all scorers in the game with 18, Kyle Wehrkamp  had 12 for Mississinawa who won the game 47-37.   The Blackhawks improved to 3-3 overall and 1-2 in the WOAC and they

will host Newton on Friday night.

National Trail started the season well at 4-1 but it was an off night for them.

“Unfortunately for us tonight, they took a bet that we weren't going to make threes and they won the bet tonight,” Blevins said.

“We struggled a little bit, but we’ll get back in the gym, get some shooting in and hopefully we'll rebound, there is no time to dwell on it since we have another big conference game on Friday,” Coach Blevins concluded.

National Trail was led by Tayden Blevins with 14 points, Kellen Laird had 12 as the Blazers fall to 4-2 overall and 2-1 in the WOAC and they will play at Preble Shawnee on Friday.

Box Scores:

Score by Quarters

MV – 15 … 09 … 09 … 14 – 47
NT – 06 … 06 … 09 … 14 - 37

Team Scoring

MV – C. McGlothlin 1-1-0/0 – 5, C. Hanes 0-3-1/1 – 7, E. Seubert 0-1-0/0 – 2,
A. Amspaugh 0-1-1/1 – 3, C. Scott 1-4-7/10 – 18, K. Wehrkamp 2-3-0/0 – 12,
Total 4-13-9/12 – 47

NT – T. Blevins 0-7-0/0 - 14, C. Lipps 1-1-0/0 - 5, K. Laird 2-2-2/2 - 12, T. Brubaker 0-2-0/1 - 4, Totals 3-12-2/3 -37

The Blazer cheerleaders shared their Christmas spirit but it wasn't enough to help the home team get the win.

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Coach Ryan Robinson talks to team during a timeout & pleased his team made late comeback to win a tough league game against a good Arcanum team. 

(All Photos by Dale Barger)

CAMDEN – Preble Shawnee trailed a scrappy visiting Arcanum team 29-26 going into the 4th quarter but the Arrows outscored the Trojans 15-6 in the final frame for a big 41-35 WOAC win.

At first blush looking at Preble Shawnee’s basketball team on the floor their physical presence in terms of size and height can be a bit imposing at 6’6”, 6’5”, 6’3”, 6’2” and 5’10” contrasting that with Arcanum who’s tallest kid is a 6’7” sophomore but then go 6’2”, 6’0, 5’10” and 5’7”.

Throughout the game Arcanum brought a tough minded, physical style of play that frustrated Preble Shawnee at times … but in the end it was the Arrows who were able to make plays and defend the paint just enough with their physical size to gain the win.

Preble would jump in front to start the game 6-0 on two buckets at the rim by senior Brody Morton and a short bank shot from senior Brody Foxbower.

Brody Morton had 4 quick points but foul trouble limited his playing time in game with Arcanum. He end the game with 9 points.

Arcanum battled back on free throws from sophomore Ben Hamilton, a fielder from senior Cameron Ball and a triple from senior Matthew McCans to take the lead 7-6 at 4:44 in the period.

Fouls would start to have an effect on Preble Shawnee as Brody Morton picked up his second foul and he would take a seat.  It was also the fifth team foul and Arcanum would be shooting the bonus early.

Hamilton made a free throw for Arcanum, but junior Braylon Dorrel tied the game with a one-hander in the lane at 8-8. 

Junior Braylon Dorrel gets the one-hander to fall. He led the Arrows with 14 points and hit some big shots late. 

Arcanum junior Charlie Weiss connected from range to jump the Trojans in front 11-8 at 3:27 and followed by 1-of-2 free throw from McCans to improve the lead to 12-8.

Shawnee’s Foxbower connected on back-to-back fielders to tie the game at 12-12 and a triple by Dorrel gave the Arrows a 15-12 lead at the end of the first quarter in a back-and-forth game.

Neither team was able to establish a rhythm or generate offense in the second quarter with Jace Mote scoring the only basket for the Trojans and it wasn’t much better for Preble either with Foxbower getting two inside and a free throw by senior Colton Schroeder for an 18-14 Arrows lead at the break.

Preble Shawnee extended their led to start the 3rd quarter on a Dorrel triple for the largest lead of the game at 21-14.

That lead evaporated quickly as Charlie Weiss answered with a trey and then a steal on the inbounds led to a layup to close the gap to 21-19.

Senior guard Charlie Weiss help spearhead a third quarter surge for the Trojans taking the lead going into the final frame. 

 A Morton pass in the lane to a cutting Dorrel for a lay-up had the Arrows up 23-19 at 5:48 but Morton shortly after picked up his 4th foul and trotted back to the bench.

Arcanum worked their way to a tie 24-24 and then took the lead on a Ben Hamilton fielder at the rim to go up 26-24.  Moments later they added to the lead on junior point guard Jace Mote’s three-pointer for a 29-26 lead going into the final frame.

Arcanum Guard Jace Mote scored 7 points including this big triple to give the Trojans a 29-26 lead heading into the final stanza.

Preble Shawnee coach Ryan Robinson talked about the play of Arcanum and his teams reaction in the third quarter.

“We knew coming into the game, it's on our scouting report 100%, we said physicality about 10 to 20 times. I mean, Arcanum plays very physical, scrappy and it affected us in the 3rd quarter. I think the ball movement was lacking, things got tough, and they went on a run.  Then we tried harder, instead of easier by moving the ball to find a great shot. Some of that's just maturing. We've lost some guys from the district title teams and with a couple guys still … but some of the other guys got to learn and adapt,” Robinson explained.

Arcanum coach Kevin Brackman agreed their aggressive play led their run.

Arcanum bench reacts after a three-point bucket and momentum in 3rd quarter.

“We tried to take it to them, a lot of that starts with who we put on the ball defensively. We have guys that are pretty scrappy and the turning point midway in the game was when we decided to stretch the floor defensively. It allowed us to turn them over and force shots they didn’t want.  I give our guys a ton of credit, for just the way we battled back after they hit big shots. Our plan is always to sit down and guard, keep them in front and then trust the guys around them,” Brackman rationalized.

While the physicality of the game was on full display in the third quarter it became even more pronounced in the 4th quarter.  The Trojans hit a wall scoring wise in the name of Brody Foxbower who used his 6’4” body and physical size to form a wall against Cameron Ball and Ben Hamilton struggling to score inside.

Senior Brody Foxbower scored 12 points but his contributions on the defensive side of the ball patrolling the paint was even bigger. 

Preble regained the lead after a Schoeder lay-up, two free throws from Foxbower and a triple from Morton going up 33-29 before Gideon Garno turned an old-fashion three-point play cutting the margin to 33-32 with 2:44 in the game.

Dorrel fire in his third trey of the game to pushing the lead 36-32 with 1:30 to go.  The Trojans missed on a couple of possessions then fouled Dorrel and Caleb Blankenship both going 1-for-2 at the line and the lead grew 38-32.

Arcanum finally got one to go down, a bomb from McCans his third on the night narrowing the lead to one possession 38-35 with 27 seconds to play.

Matthew McCans closes the lead down to one possession late on this three-ball.  
He ended the game with 9 points.

The Arrows got two charity tosses from Morton to go up 40-35 and the Trojans needed another big shot, but this time McCans was pressured much harder on the perimeter, and the shot was short.  Foxbower collected the rebound and fouled and finished the scoring with another free throw to secure the 41-35 win for Preble Shawnee.

After the game Coach Robinson talked about how his team learned from a loss a few nights ago to Edgewood to help them get them through their game with Arcanum.

“We knew this was going to be the same type of game, toughness and physicality was something we really lacked Tuesday at Edgewood, it was a wakeup call, and it paid off tonight,” Robinson beamed.

“I’m just really proud of the group, that was a fun 4th quarter. Every single guy that went in tonight contributed.  We've, been wanting this team to push through in terms of grittiness, toughness and physicality, they took it and ran with it tonight, no doubt. That's a tough WOAC win, all the credit to Arcanum. They're a great team this year, and it means a lot to pull that one out,” Robinson expressed.

Arcanum coach Brackman was pleased with his team’s effort and talked about his team battling despite adversity.

Arcanum senior Cameron Ball operates well around the basket but was slowed down by the presence of Dorrel and Foxbower on this night.  Ball ended the game with 6 below his 10 point average.

“We're a good team, yes there was a lid on the bucket tonight. Ben and Cameron are two guys that really have been an anchor for us down low and the ball didn't go through surprisingly enough. But I felt like we hit big shots when we needed to and to their credit they had big shots when they needed and it's just kind of a testament to the play in our conference,” Brackman stated.

“It was a tough loss and yes we're sad and upset because we felt like this one got away from us, but we’re going to stick together. I firmly believe this team is going to win a lot of games. Our program is in a really good place, losses happen,” Brackman said.

“Preble Shawnee is a good team and Coach Robinson is doing a great job and tonight was just a fun high school basketball game, two great programs playing in a great atmosphere,” Brackman concluded.

Coach Robinson agreed with the statement and praised coach Brackman.

“He has his program on solid ground from the “B”  to “JV” team on up he has them playing at a high level,” Robinson praised.

“I said in my preseason preview that the WOAC is on the rise this year. I think there's a lot of good teams in that middle to upper half and there’s going to be more games like this one in
the league that I believe helps prepare us for post season tournament. Tonight was a good example of that, it was a tournament type game,” Robinson concluded.

Box Scores (Arcanum 4-1 overall 1-1 WOAC) (Preble Shawnee 4-1 overall 2-0 WOAC)

Score by Quarters:

AR:   12 … 02 … 15 … 06 – 35
PR:   15 … 03 … 08 … 15 – 41

Team Scoring:

AR: J. Mote 1-2-0/1 – 7, M. McCans 2-1-1/2 – 9, G. Garno 0-1-1/1 – 3,
C. Weiss 2-0-0/0 – 6, C. Ball 0-2-0/0 – 4, B. Hamilton 0-1-4/6 – 6, Totals 5-7-6/9 – 35

PR: B. Foxbower 0-4-4/6 – 12, G. Powers 0-0-2/2 – 2, B. Morton 1-2-2/2 – 9,
C. Blankenship 0-0-1/2 – 1, C. Schroeder 0-1-1/2 – 3, B. Dorrel 3-2-1/2 - 14

Preble Shawnee passes a big test & celebrates their 41-35 WOAC win over Arcanum.
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