ARCANUM – The Arcanum Trojans beat the Twin Valley South Panthers 60-53 in a Cross County Conference matchup on Friday.

Twin Valley South came out ready to play, hitting two opening quarter 3-pointers from Jared Cottingham as well as contributing field goals from Jacob Willis.

Arcanum’s offense struggled to get anything falling with most points being scored off of offensive rebounds. Devin Burns hit two big 3s as well as Evan Atchley contributing one as well to keep Arcanum within striking distance. The first quarter ended with a 15-10 South lead.

The second quarter was the same story as South continued its excellent ball movement. South built upon its lead with scoring across the roster with both starter and bench production being effective.

Arcanum still was fighting its offensive woes with Carter Gray firing two deep 3s to limit the damage. However, it wasn’t enough to keep pace with Twin Valley South as the Panthers held a 33-21 halftime lead.

This game was certainly a tale of two halves. Coach Marcus Bixler set up his halftime adjustments and Arcanum came out firing on all cylinders.

The Trojans outscored the Panthers by 10 points, 17-7, in the third quarter with scoring across the board. It was clear the momentum had switched when Wade Meeks drove to the basket with 28 seconds left and finished through the contact for a huge and one. The Arcanum faithful erupted as he finished off the old fashioned 3-pointer.

The Panthers struggled offensively as Arcanum turned on the pressure with its man-to-man defense. The score at the end of the third was 40-38 with South still in the lead.

The final quarter of play showed the Trojans’ offensive capabilities as they scored 21 points in just one quarter. South ran out of steam as it tried to keep up with the fast-pace transition play Arcanum was bringing.

Gray went 2-of-4 from the free throw line and contributed another 3-pointer and another field goal as well in a well-executed fourth quarter. As the quarter neared its end, South still had a chance but its shots just weren’t falling like they were in the first half. Arcanum won the game 60-53 in what was a classic CCC matchup.

For Arcanum, Gray had 15 points and Meeks contributed 13. For South, Travis Lovely had 16 and both Mike Meyers and Willie Bowman contributed 10.

Arcanum will resume play on Tuesday at Milton-Union. Twin Valley South resumes play on Tuesday at home against Carlisle.