The Arcanum Trojans ran into a buzz saw in the Dayton Christian Warriors on Friday night at the University Dayton Arena. The Trojans got off to a slow start and trailed from the opening point. You know things are not going your way when the opposing team drains a 90 foot baseball desperation shot at the buzzer. (See the youtube.com video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHy7Ijie27o)

The Trojans found themselves down 7-0 before Seth Paulus nailed a jumper at the 5:40 mark. Arcanum outscored DC 11 to 7 over the next 4 minutes of the game and climbed within 3 after Braden Means hit two free throws with 1:14 remaining. DC missed on their next possession and Means had a 3 ball attempt with 27 second remaining that went in and out that would have tied the game. Instead the shot rimmed in and out and that; in a nut shell is how the game went for the Trojans. To see how the night went for the Warriors, hit the link above and you’ll get the drift.

Regardless of the night of what could have been, the Warriors have a nice team with 3 guards up front that are quick, athletic and can score, score and score. It didn’t hurt that they are 6’6” and 6’7” in the paint and that gave Arcanum’s Brenton Balsbaugh a tough assignment for the evening.

“They are a nice team and you have to give them credit” noted Varsity Assistant Randy O’Dell, who was filling in for head coach Brian Gunter who was unable to be on the side line because of medical issues. “They caused a lot of our headaches and turnovers tonight. They are very athletic, they’re big and they are really good off the dribble. They’re just a nice team.”

It was that athleticism that caused the dry spot in Arcanum’s offense in the second quarter. The Trojans were stuck on 11 for 6 minutes and 18 seconds until Seth Paulus hit a jumper off the right side of the lane to break the ice off the bucket. Means added another jumper a minute later and Arcanum produced only 4 points for the quarter.

“They had us on our heels the first half when you think how long they had us on 11” noted O’Dell. “I kept looking at my brother and saying, ‘Are we ever going to get off eleven?’ We called a few timeouts and we made some adjustments… you just have to give them the credit.”

The Trojans made a run in the 3rd quarter when Means drained 8 points in three straight possessions to cut the lead to 11 points and forced the Warriors to call a timeout with 2:34 remaining. The Trojans had several offensive possessions to narrow the gap to a single digit margin but turned the ball over to the Warrior’s defense. The Warriors went on to score 5 points that included the 90 footer, and maintained a 15 point margin through the final buzzer.

“I feel for the seniors” continued O’Dell. “They’ve had a great season. We hadn’t won the league in 22 years. We won a sectional championship last year and were able to get back to the game this year. We played extremely well Monday night and I was hoping that would carry over to tonight, but Dayton Christian was just more athletic than we are.

Scoring by quarters
Dayton Christian…16…32…44…63
Arcanum……………..11…15…28…46

Dayton Christian
N. Serenius – 10
Deister – 20
Weber – 17
Florkey – 7
Bryant – 6
M. Serenius – 2
Allen – 1
Total – 63

Arcanum
Paulus – 7
Greve – 15
Means – 12
Balsbaugh – 4
Bruner – 6
Baker – 2
Burns – 0
White – 0
Total – 46