By Drew Terhall

DailyAdvocate.com

DARKE COUNTY — Here are the high school boys basketball scores and stats from Dec. 8 – 10.

Dec. 8: Arcanum 64 (2-1) vs Ansonia 27 (1-1)

The Trojans split their weekend games, but started 2-0 after a big win over Ansonia at home. It all started with the Arcanum defense. Arcanum head coach Kevin Brackman said they switched up their defenses in the game. Once they locked in, the Trojans took over.

“We tried to shake up our defense a little bit. Once we got into a groove and we understood our matchups, we tried to play chess a little bit and use that to our advantage,” Brackman said.

After a successful football postseason run, this was Ansonia’s first game this season. Ansonia head coach Tony Overton said while they wanted to compete, this was an opportunity to shake off the rust.

“Going in to tonight’s game, we as coaches looked at is as a scrimmage. We obviously weren’t looking to get beat by 40. So, we’ll take the beat down and learn from it. We played hard, we always do. We weren’t smart at all. We’ll fix that. A month from now, we’ll be a different team. Tomorrow is a new day,” Overton said.

The Tigers did stay in it for the first quarter and a half. While they couldn’t get a lead, they stayed close behind the Trojans.

Arcanum started to get more turnovers as the second quarter was winding down and started to pull away. The offense got into a rhythm as the defense started to get consecutive stops.

Everyone stepped up for Arcanum. Brackman said everyone did the little things right like getting deflections, going after loose balls and trying to take charges. Brackman also said senior Braylen Etherington had a great game by doing those little things for them.

Arcanum did what they could to bring the home crowd into it as it was their home opener. Senior Brady Lock got a break away dunk and the team made play after play to get the gym loud.

“We talked about that they won’t create the energy for us when we start. We’ve got to create our own energy. For us to come out that way and let them feed off of us, we were just able to channel that and run with it and make plays,” Brackman said.

Etherington and sophomore Regan Christ both had 16 points. Lock had 10 points. The team shot 40% from three-point.

For Ansonia, senior Matt Barga had 10 points and two threes.

Ansonia got into the win column the next day with a 62-43 win over Houston. Barga had 20 points while seniors Trevor Hemmerich and Ethan Reichert each had 15 points. The team shot 61.1% from the field. Ansonia will host Dixie on Dec. 15 and then Fort Recovery on Dec. 16 with both games starting at 7:15 p.m.

Arcanum lost the next day at Brookville, 55-46. Junior Landon Flatter led the team with 15 points. Arcanum will be at Preble Shawnee on Dec. 15 and then will host Middletown Madison on Dec. 16 with both games starting at 7:15 p.m.

A full game recap for Arcanum vs. Ansonia can be found on our website, dailyadvocate.com

Dec. 9: Franklin Monroe 52 (3-0) vs Dayton Christian 48 (1-2)

The Jets went 2-0 in their games this weekend. They started off with a home win over Twin Valley South on Dec. 8, 53-37. Junior Eric Brenner had 13 points and junior EB Fall had 10 points. The team shot 73.3% from the free throw line.

They then won a close one against the Warriors at home. Head coach Troy Myers said the team started off slow and behind in both games this weekend. The team was able to find a way to respond throughout the game.

“The ability to respond is a skill and we’re in the developmental stage of that as well as a lot of other things. Last night was really no different, we got behind early. You have to somehow focus enough to get enough possessions strung together to respond in the right way. I think they did that early and we did it late to close out the game,” Myers said.

Dayton Christian got out to an early 8-0 lead as they got out in transition and scored with ease. Once Franklin Monroe was able to slow them down, they were able to catch up. Early on, free throws and crashing the offensive glass helped the Jets get back into the game.

It was a 22-22 game at halftime. Eventually, the Warriors held a 33-30 lead after three quarters.

Late in the game, the Jets played almost a complete game. The defense held their ground and did the little things to keep Dayton Christian off the scoreboard. Myers said guys like senior Gage Wackler and junior Ty Riffle excelled in their roles on defense.

With the game tied at 43-43 with 1:58 left, Fall was fouled on a made basket. He couldn’t get the three-point play, but junior Trey Wilson got the rebound and the put back to go up 47-43. The four-point possession, along with the team making free throws when it mattered, was enough to give the Jets the win.

Myers said he is no unhappy with the growth the team has shown so far. There’s still some growing and maturing his team has to go through. But, Myers is happy to see his team enjoy a 3-0 start. He’s seen the hard work this team has put in and enjoys seeing it pay off for them.

“It’s rewarding for our kids to know that the work they’ve been doing through 27 practices is being rewarded, not necessarily for the scoreboard. A good energy like that is exciting to be around. They’ve created it. It’s them, they’re creating it with their ability to choose extra work. When you share a suffering like that, you enjoy those successful winnings. I’m happy for them,” Myers said.

Fall led with 19 points. Brenner had 15 points and sophomore Lucas Brenner had 10 points. The team shot 14 for 24 from the free throw line, but was 9 for 13 from the line in the fourth quarter.

Franklin Monroe will go to Mississinawa Valley on Dec. 15 for their next game. Tipoff is set for 7:15 p.m.

A full game recap for Franklin Monroe vs Dayton Christian can be found on our website, dailyadvocate.com.

Around the county:

Bradford (2-2): The Railroaders started the weekend with a win at Newton, 45-42, on Dec. 8. Junior Owen Canan led with 18 points and senior Hudson Hill had 11 points. They then lost at Fort Recovery, 50-49, on Dec. 9. Bradford had a 27-22 lead at halftime. Hill had 20 points and Canan had 14 points. The team did shoot 45%, 9 for 20, from three.

Bradford will host National Trail on Dec. 15 with tipoff set for 7:15 p.m.

Greenville 33 (0-3) at Butler 52 (1-2):The Green Wave fell to the Aviators on Dec. 8. They were outscored 26-16 in the second half. After a mid-week game against Troy, Greenville will travel to Xenia on Dec. 15 with tipoff set for 7:30 p.m

Mississinawa Valley 17 (1-2) vs Tri-Village 91 (1-0)

The Patriots open their season with a conference win over Mississinawa Valley. Sophomore Trey Sagester led the Patriots with 31 points. He went 7 for 11 from three-point range. Seniors Braden Keating and Tanner Printz scored 16 and 15 points. The team shot 64.4% from the field. Mississinawa Valley will host Franklin Monroe on Dec. 15 and then host Covington on Dec. 16 with tipoff set for around 7:30 p.m. Tri-Village will host Tri-County North on Dec. 15 and then host Talawanda on Dec. 16 with the JV tipping off at 6 p.m.

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