the bistro off broadway
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Arcanum sophomore Alexis Abner (20) was the biggest spark for the Trojans Thursday against
Tri-Village. Abner scored 15 to lead the way for Arcanum, but added more points in steals and assists
as Arcanum overwhelmed the Lady Patriots, 57-43. Photos courtesy of Danny Stockton (stocktonstudios.com)
 

Lady Trojans pull off the unthinkable
Arcanum blows out T-V in crucial CCC game
By George Starks

NEW MADISION - It’s not often that a team can waltz into ‘The Battleground’ at Tri-Village and leave with a victory.

On a rare (unthinkable) occasion, can a team not only get a win there, but post a convincing blow-out of the Lady Patriots.

Thursday, Rachel Fearon and her Arcanum Lady Trojans pulled off what most teams can only dream of.

The unthinkable!

Never forgetting a 59-52 loss to the Patriots in the championship game of the Burkett in November, getting even was the top priority Thursday as Arcanum steamrolled Tri-Village, 57-43, in a crucial CCC game.

With both teams coming in with identical records of 11-4 and 7-1 in the Cross County Conference, second place was on the line as the lone loss for both squads came at the hands of powerhouse, Miami East.

“My girls have been pumped for this game ever since the Burkett Tournament,” said Fearon. “I really had to stay on them making sure we weren’t looking ahead, and taking it game by game, and we’ve done a really good job of that. This week, it’s been all about Tri-Village. They were ready to go and they came out tonight and played like they were ready to go.”

It didn’t take long for the Trojans to let everyone know they meant business and it all started right from the opening tip.

Arcanum took off to a small 5-0 lead with just 1:40 having elapsed off the first quarter clock.

By the end of the first eight minutes, Arcanum had its steamroller moving, up 19-9, as the Patriots were reeling.

“I knew we were in trouble all week long,” said Patriots coach Brad Gray. “My kids were not taking this game seriously and it didn’t take long to realize we were in trouble with this bunch.”

In a rare start, freshman Stevie Johnting got the nod over sophomore Rebecca Deao and made her presence known.

By the end of the first quarter, Johnting had scored six points, had two assists and pulled down a rebound.

By games end, Johnting was like Ft. Knox.

Pure gold! Scoring 13 points with seven assists and two big rebounds, Johnting quickly became a thorn in the Patriots side.

“She played great,” exclaimed Fearon. “She was knocking them down in the first half to get us going. She did the same thing for us in the Burkett Tournament. This might just be her gym to play in.”

While senior Abby O’Donnell was doing her thing with 14 points and 10 rebounds, the Trojans attack would not have been possible without sophomore Alexis Abner.

On offense, Abner netted a team high 15 while creating havoc on defense.

“They (TV) came out and was face guarding her,” said Fearon. “She wasn’t going to give up. She was determined to get her hands on the ball and she only scored two, I think, in the first half. That didn’t let us down though. We had other scoring guards step up for us.”

It was a night when the Trojans came ready to play 32 minutes of basketball, on both ends of the floor.

“We really worked hard on our defense,” said Fearon. “We watched a lot of film on just how we were going to play them and in practice yesterday, it was a lot of defense. I told the girls before the start of the game that the best defensive team was going to win the game tonight. This is a huge game in our program. This is my third year here and we haven’t beat Tri-Village until now. To get this win is a huge stepping stone in our program. We’re bringing the Trojan pride back to Arcanum. Now we have to beat Miami East.”

In losing, Gray had nothing but praise for Fearon and the Trojans.

“You have to give credit to Arcanum,” said Gray. “They are no slouch. They outplayed us in every facet of the game. You can go down the line and talk about whatever you want to talk about, but everything that goes into playing the game of basketball, they did better, including the coaching. I’m not putting it all on my kids, but we got out-coached, out-played, out-hustled. They won every 50/50 ball. They clearly out-rebounded us the whole game. I think we shot three three’s tonight, which is completely uncharacteristic of us, but that’s because we didn’t have an inside presence tonight. Our post players struggled all night. We struggled to get position and struggled to keep position when we got it.”
 
Down by 10 after one, and 30-21 at the break, the Pats continued to falter, trailing 38-28 with eight minutes left to play.

Gray pointed out his team’s problems as starting with the first two possessions.

 “We didn’t follow the game plan in the first two possessions, and that led to a 5-0 lead for them right away and we were scrambling from that point on,” Gray stated. “Our kids struggled. When we were down 5-0, it was a struggle and never got it back from that point. Arcanum dominated us. This game for Arcanum meant everything to them. This was a signature game for them and their program. I would like to think that because of where we’ve been, everyone wants to be us. We got our signature win five years ago when we beat Miami East. This win tonight is going to eventually lead them to a conference championship. They are clearly the best team coming back for at least the next two years.”

Arcanum will host Ansonia Tuesday in a CCC game while the Patriots will host Bradford today in a 1 p.m. start.

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Stevie Johnting (22) made the best of a rare start Thursday. The freshman netted
13 points with three assists and two rebounds in the winning effort for the Trojans.
 
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Senior Abby O'Donnell connected for 14 points and collected 10 rebounds as the
Trojans took sole possession of second place in the Cross County Conference.
 
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Tri-Village’s Raya Mikesell is frustrated by Arcanum's defense as sophomore Abby Ross defends.
 

 
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