Arcanum Outlasts a Casstown Miami East Comeback 74-68

[SFIND]

By Bryant Billing

ARCANUM- The Arcanum Trojans played inspired. Then again, how can you not play inspired when a member of Arcanum's 1969 state championship team is inducted to your Hall of Fame? After Steve Christ (pronounced Crist) was inducted to the Arcanum Hall of Fame and received a standing ovation, the Arcanum Trojans went to work. The Trojans built up a 35-17 halftime, and in the end the Miami East Vikings could not climb out of that hole. Arcanum held off a Miami East second half comeback and came away with a 74-68 win.

Arcanum dominated the first half.

A three-point play by Austin Brunner in the closing seconds of the first quarter put Arcanum up 21-8. The Trojans kept that pace going. Brunner made a basket with 2:02 left in the second to put Arcanum up 33-17. The Vikings could not get anything done inside and were pushed around by the Trojans.

But Miami East wasn't going to fold.

The Vikings start off the third quarter on a 19-9 run. A Logan Carey basket cut Arcanum's lead to 47-36 with 1:50 left.

Then the Vikings made a game of it.

Miami East started the fourth off with a 7-2 run. All of a sudden it was a one point game. It then went back-and-forth for a while. Arcanum slowly built a lead again at 56-52 with 3:00.

Then Arcanum sealed the deal.

The Trojans went on a 7-0 run in one minute to take a 63-52. Miami East never got within 5 points the rest of the night, and Arcanum went away with a 74-68 victory.

There is nothing like an old-fashioned county basketball game, and that is exactly what Arcanum offers. Miami East was a lot smaller than Arcanum, and it showed. Arcanum was just too tough in the first half. Austin Brunner was the inside game. His 13 first half points propelled the Trojans to victory. Arcanum was successful at shutting down Miami East's leading scorer in Dan Hickman, who had 6 first half points. Logan Carey (24 points) picked up the slack for Miami East and kept them in it in the first quarter. Since Miami East could not penetrate, they threw up a lot of three-pointers from the outside and missed a lot of them. You have to give credit to Miami East head coach Allen Mack for keeping his Vikings in it. The Vikings finally found their shooting stroke in the second half, and finished with 9 three-pointers. Another big piece of the puzzle was free-throws. Miami East sent Arcanum to the line a lot on sloppy fouls, and the Trojans capitalized. Arcanum finished 23-26 from the free-throw line, and they didn't miss a free-throw until two minutes left in the fourth quarter.

Brunner (a freshman) is a physical player. Although he fell off in the second half, he still had a great game. He's strong going for rebounds and has a nice, commanding jump shot. Brunner finished with 19 points and five rebounds. Hickman (21 points, 4-8 from three-point range) does have a nice outside shot. You do not want to leave him open.

Here's Some Stats: Individual: Player, Field Goals made/attempted, Total Points. Miami East- Dan Hickman 3-9 21; Richie Miller 2-7 6; Trevor Coomes 1-2 8; Logan Carey 5-11 24; Josh Deal 2-4 4; Tyler Dunivan 2-4 5. Arcanum- Chris Barga 1-1 2; Travis Binkley 0-1 8; Braden Means 6-7 22; Clint Hale 3-8 15; Matt Woods 2-3 4; Brenton Balsbaugh 2-3 4; Austin Brunner 7-12 19. Team: Field Goals, Three-Pointers, Free-Throws, Turnovers, Rebounds. Miami East- 15-38 39%, 9-19 47%, 12-14 86%, 8, 18. Arcanum- 21-36 58%, 3-9 33%, 23-26 88%, 14, 20.