By Drew Terhall

DailyAdvocate.com

CLAYTON — The Arcanum High School boys basketball team had their season ended by Waynesville High School in the Southwest Division III sectional at Northmont High School on Feb. 14. The Trojans fell 58-41 to the Spartans.

Head coach Roger McEldowney said it was the type of game where you have to tip your hat to them after Waynesville made six three-point shots in the game. On the season, Waynesville shot 29.6% from three-point range and averaged just over 3 made threes a game.

The Spartans came out and shot better than their season average.

“We watched several, several tapes on them (Waynesville) and I don’t think they shot that well in the tapes that we saw. Our goal, they’re really athletic, was to try to keep them out of the paint and make them earn it from the perimeter,” McEldowney said. “They had guys that hadn’t made three or four three pointers all year that were throwing them in like nobody’s business. When that happens, it’s hard to win.”

It was a bad start for the Trojans. At the 5:48 mark of the first quarter, they were down 6-0 after they struggled on offense. McEldowney called a timeout to regroup the players. With 1:56 left in the quarter, Arcanum gained an 11-10 lead.

The team started to get into a rhythm offensively and took care of the ball better.

The three-point shots started to fall for Waynesville in the second quarter. They had three made three pointers in the quarter to help pull away from Arcanum.

The Trojans had their lulls during the game. After their run in the first quarter, they couldn’t get on another one to gain another lead.

At halftime, the Spartans were up 33-20. Waynesville outscored Arcanum 20-9 in the second quarter.

Throughout the game, senior Nick Sharritts and freshman Regan Christ provided an offensive spark for the team. McEldowney said Sharritts and Christ have improved on their two man game on offense as the season progressed. Both became main contributors on the offensive end for Arcanum.

Waynesville continued to hold onto their lead during the second half. Arcanum would be able to make a couple of shots in row, but Waynesville would respond right away.

McEldowney said the team gave him everything they had this game and all season long. It just wasn’t the Trojans night.

“We got to get better. We got to make more shots and we got to handle the ball better. But effort was never an issue the entire year with this group,” McEldowney said.

Sharritts and Christ finished the game with 14 points each. Arcanum also only had four free throw attempts in the game. Waynesville had 19 free throw attempts.

The Trojans had seven seniors play in their last game for Arcanum. McEldowney said it’s been a pleasure coaching each senior. He also said he is not only their basketball coach, but their coach for life.

Arcanum ends their 2022-23 season with a 12-10 record with a 6-5 conference record.

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