By Drew Terhall

DailyAdvocate.com

ARCANUM — The Arcanum High School girls’ basketball team just ran out of time on Dec. 12 against Valley View. After being down 20-5 at one point in the first quarter, the Lady Trojans played close to the Lady Spartans. But in the end, Arcanum lost 43-49 at home.

Head coach Abbey Moore said they have put themselves in this situation often during the season. The team has shown to be resilient, but haven’t been able to fully get themselves out of those situations often.

“We can’t put ourselves in that situation. We got to come out with a little more confidence, be able to handle the ball, take care of the ball and have that courage translate into the offensive end,” Moore said.

The Valley View full court press gave Arcanum fits. The Lady Trojans couldn’t handle the pressure early and turned the ball over early and often during their possessions.

Valley View senior Ellie Reed was the main benefactor of the turnovers. She had 10 points in the first quarter.

It took awhile before Arcanum could get the ball passed half court. But then, it took awhile before they could get into an offensive flow. The Lady Spartan press took the Lady Trojans out of their game for nearly a half.

The same was true on the defensive end. Arcanum took almost a half to get settled on defense. With the turnovers they committed, Valley View was quick to get an open look. The defense didn’t have time to get set up most of the time during the first half.

The Lady Trojans were down 16-29 at halftime. They were able to match Valley View during the second quarter as they did gain some traction on both ends of the floor.

Arcanum would head into the fourth quarter down 22-37. They were matching the Lady Spartans, but they still couldn’t overcome the first quarter.

Then it all started to click for Arcanum. They got more and more stops on defense. Arcanum was able to force some turnovers and rebounded the ball well. Moore said the offense goes as the defense goes.

The Lady Trojans started to beat the press with more ease and remained in control while running their offense.

They played with an energy that could help turn this season around for them.

“Tonight, we did what we could and we battled when we could. Good things happened. We have to continue to do that and take that energy moving forward to continue to get better,” Moore said.

With just over 30 seconds left, Arcanum was down 38-44. Even if it was a long shot to pull off a victory, they put themselves in a position to have a chance at a win.

Everyone pitched in on offense to give themselves a chance to win. Junior Rylee Leeper made two big threes to pull Arcanum closer towards Valley View. Junior Ashyln Miller and sophomore Alexis Gibbons also had a few key buckets in the fourth quarter.

But, Valley View converted on enough free throws to pull away for the victory.

Gibbons led the team with 13 points. Leeper and senior Kylee Freeman both were second on the team with six points.

For Valley View, Reed finished with 20 points. Senior Riley Hodson was the only other Lady Spartan to reach double figures with 12 points.

Arcanum will have a big test coming up on Dec. 15 as they go to Tri-Village for a WOAC matchup. The Lady Trojans are currently sitting at 2-6 with a 1-2 conference record. Moore said they have to go into that game relaxed and play with high intensity right away. They are a team that doesn’t have anything to lose right now.

“We got to come out with confidence and we have to believe in ourselves. We have to pick up the energy,” Moore said. “We got to be the ones to knock some people around. We’ve got to be the one to make something happen.”

Contact Daily Advocate sports editor Drew Terhall at [email protected]