By Drew Terhall

DailyAdvocate.com

ARCANUM — The Arcanum High School boys basketball team took control early and never let up against Tri-County North High School on Jan. 27. The Trojans defeated the Panthers, 55-31, at home.

Head coach Roger McEldowney said while the team did well enough to get the win, there’s still more room for improvement.

“I thought we did okay defensively. We had a lot of deflections and a lot of steals. We just need to get more efficient on offense,” McEldowney said.

The Trojans had a 22-13 lead at halftime. McEldowney said his defense gave up some easy shots in the first half. For the most part, they were able to hold off the Panthers’ offensive attack.

Senior Nick Sharritts had 15 points at halftime. He had 10 points in the first quarter. The team found him early and often in the post. The rest of the team just couldn’t get their shots to fall when they had their opportunities.

But, the team continued to feed Sharritts in the third quarter. He scored the first 10 points for the team in the quarter. Tri-County North didn’t have an answer for him.

“It was there and our guys did a nice job of getting him the ball. He (Sharritts) finished it for the most part,” McEldowney said.

In the second half, the team started to convert their turnovers into easy transition points. That helped get more of the team involved on offense and gave Arcanum a more comfortable lead.

After the third quarter, they were up 38-25. In the fourth quarter, the Trojans outscored the Panthers 17-6. Sharritts only had seven points in the final quarter.

The defense was able to hold off the third leading scorer in the WOAC. Tri-County North junior Logan Flory had 13 points in the game. He averages 17.1 points a game.

It was senior night at Arcanum. Prior to the game, they honored the winter sports seniors. McEldowney started five of his seven seniors to start the game.

He said this group of seniors have been a great group of kids. They are a quality group of kids who have done things the right way while in the program.

“I told them, ‘I’m not just your basektball coach for the four years you’re here in high school, I’m your basketball coach for life.’ I look forward to continuing those relationships with them after they graduate. They’re awesome kids,” McEldowney said.

Sharritts ended the game with 32 points. Freshman Regan Christ was second on the team in scoring with seven points.

The Trojans are now 9-8 on the season with a 5-4 conference record. After a road trip to Milton-Union, they will travel to Newton on Feb. 3 for their next WOAC game.

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