Coach Brian Gunter’s mantra from day one since he arrived at Arcanum has been ‘Play Hard, Play Smart and Play Together’ and the word team, as in ‘play together’ describes this win to the T. The first words out Coach Gunter’s mouth this game and every game is one word when he describes a win, “Team.”

Everyone contributed to this win from the starting 5 of Clint Hale, Travis Binkley, Brenton Balsbaugh, Austin Bruner and Braden Means to the first sub of Jordan Greve and the few minutes played by Seth Paulus (nice assist to Bruner/played great D) in the 3rd quarter to spell Clint Hale with 4 personal fouls.

Heck, as far as that goes every parent, coach and fan that has been associated with this program for last 15 years had a hand in this victory. To see faces of the players, coaches, parents and fans after this game was a great thing to witness.

If you’re a fan of the game you know the first component of a great win is defense. Arcanum played great man to man defense collectively and individually to corral a very good offensive basketball team in the Dixie Greyhounds.

Basketball skills are not something you see in this day of basketball when strength, athleticism can overcome the skills aspect of the game in the way it is played today. In regards to the Dixie ball club you can’t say that because they add the skills to the athleticism and speed with players like Jared Moore and Ethan Blankenship. When you add the other skill players that can shoot like senior Nick Miller, Cody Bates and Nick Worley, plus a big man in 6’4” jr., Matt Risner; you have a very dangerous basketball team. The AP #8 Rank states the kind of season that Dixie had, but this was the 3rd game that I have watched the Greyhounds play and this is a great win for the Trojans.

Individually Braden Means did a fantastic job on the ‘hounds main weapon Jared Moore. Moore is a triple threat offensive player that you don’t see very often. He is a slasher to the basket with a pull up 12 foot jumper and can be deadly from a set shooting position from the 3 point line. Means kept Moore uncomfortable enough the entire night to keep him from getting off in run that he can individually devastate an opponent. Moore still ended the game with 22 points with a 3 at the end that really wasn’t a factor with the game out of reach, but Means kept Moore’s buckets spaced out throughout the entire game; versus 8 points or more in four consecutive trips down the floor which can bury a team and put the game out of reach.

Clint Hale also did good job on Ethan Blankenship. Blankenship can hurt you in many ways with a 3 point bomb, driving you to the bucket or pulling up for a jumper in the lane. You also have to give credit to Austin Bruner, Travis Binkley and Brenton Balsbaugh there too with the help defense on the screens to keep Blankenship and Moore contained and penetrating the defense.

The second factor in a great team win is rebounding. Balsbaugh and Bruner did most of the heavy lifting in this department by limiting Dixie to one shot per possession. I had Balsbaugh unofficially with 11 rebounds and I know it was probably more than that and Bruner had to be close to that number as well. Coach Gunter also mentioned that with the 3s being put up that the perimeter players had a big part in gathering in the long rebounds. All of the points above were talked about in the post game with Coach Gunter as he gave praise to the team and individual players.

The third factor is balanced scoring and shooting well. Means and Hale led the Trojans with 18 point each with Balsbaugh and Bruner contributing 10 each. Jordan Greve came off the bench to add 5 points, while Binkley added a trey. Binkley did a great job of finding open team mates having key assist thoughout the game. The Trojans shot lights out at UD Arena shooting 60% from 2 point range and hitting 5 for 11 beyond the arc for a combined 53.6% from the field.

Dixie did not fair as well from shooting in the arena environment and shot only 35.8% from the field and a dismal 4 for 25 (16%) from 3 point range. A key factor in the game as Arcanum shot the ball in the big environ like they’ve been there a 1000 times before.

The first quarter ended with Arcanum down 5, 15 – 10. Keys for the Trojans keeping pace in the second quarter was the defense and Arcanum controlling the defensive board with questionable shot selection by Dixie squad.

Key offensive plays in the second quarter were led by a Balsbaugh stickback and Binkley’s only made basket of the evening, at trey at the 4:35 mark; that sparked a 6 – 2 run that put the Trojans within one, 17-16. Jordan Greve came off the bench and made a nice drive down the lane for 2 and along with a Hale deuce 35 seconds later, tied the game at 20.

The next 3 minutes of the game was a stalemate as neither team found the bottom of the net. It did help set up a key shift in momentum to Arcanum’s favor. After Dixie failed to convert in the waning seconds of the half, Arcanum gathered in the rebound with less the 5 seconds to go. The ball ended up in Clint Hale’s hand with 1.1 seconds left and Hale was able to sink the shot at the buzzer to give Arcanum their first lead of the game 20-22, as the teams trotted off to the lockers at the half.

Binkley helped add to the momentum change in the opening minute of the 3rd quarter. When Binkley missed a 3 point attempt he was able to steal the ball at half court and find Hale near the top of the key. Hale drove in for two and gave the Trojans a 4 point lead, 20-24.

After Dixie converted a bucket on the block, Means added a huge offensive punch when he drilled a trey at the 6:30 mark to put Arcanum up 5, 22-27. Dixie missed a 3 point attempt and Arcanum controlled the rebound and Means drilled a deuce to give the Trojans a 7 point advantage. Dixie failed to convert on two free throws on their next possession and Clint Hale bombed a 3 that built the lead to 10 points. Another missed trey by Dixie and Bruner controlled the rebound for Arcanum. Bruner gets a reward for his hard work from an assist from Hale penetrating the Dixie D at the high post. Bruner buried the 14 foot jumper and Dixie finally called for mercy with a timeout with 4:56 remaining in the quarter. Five great possessions for Arcanum to start the quarter gave the Trojans a 12-2 run that provided the margin of cushion that served them well for the remainder of the game.

The Greyhounds cut the margin to 11 toward the end of the 3rd quarter but the exclamation mark of the night was set when Clint Hale hit another shot at the buzzer. That shot was the reminder to the Greyhounds that tonight was not going to be your night. Arcanum led 32-45 going into the final 8 minutes.

The offensives for both team got off to a slow start in the fourth quarter which worked perfect for Arcanum. Dixie did not get a chance to unleash their offensive fire power which served them well in other 4th quarter comebacks throughout the season. Dixie finally scored at the 6:30 mark and Means responded on the next possession for the Trojans when he nailed a 3 pointer to extend the lead to 14. Means scored all 7 points in the Trojans 7-2 run to begin the quarter that gave Arcanum their biggest lead of 18 points.

Dixie climbed within 11 points with just over a minute to play, but Arcanum was deadly from the free throw line again for the second game in a row, hitting 10 of 12 down the stretch to secure the win. Moore hit a 3 pointer for Dixie with 10 seconds to go to narrow the final margin to 9 points and the Trojan celebration began as SECTIONAL CHAMPS!

“I’m speechless, to be quite honest with you” exclaimed Coach Gunter after the game. “A big win for this program and this community and now we take the next step and play the winner of Purcell Marian and North College Hill.”

Scoring by quarters
Dixie……..15…20…32…55
Arcanum…10…22…45…64

Dixie
Bates – 5
Moore – 22
Miller – 5
Blankenship – 12
Risner – 8
FG% 35.8 (24-67) FT% 37.5 (3-8)

Arcanum
Paulus – 0
Greve – 5
Means – 18
Hale – 18
Balsbaugh – 10
Bruner – 10
FG% 53.6 (22-41) FT% 62.5 (15-23)