NEW PARIS — National Trail’s varsity boys’ basketball team remained unbeaten with a win over Dixie on Saturday, Dec. 28, and a pair of wins over county rivals last weekend. The Blazers are now 8-0 to start the season.
Turnovers were the key to the Blazers win over Dixie. NT forced Dixie into 12 turnovers in the first quarter as the Blazers built a 21-2 in the first stanza. NT continued to build on that advantage and came away with a 90-64 win.
“We were very efficient offensively,” coach Mike Harrison indicated. “We shot 56 percent from the floor and only committed nine turnovers. We were able to move the ball and get and make good shots most of the night.”
Junior Cameron Harrison led the team with 33 points, and added six rebounds and six assists. Senior Zach Woodall added 18 points and pulled down six rebounds. Junior Tyler Weathington also reached double-figures scoring with 12 points and nine rebounds, as did sophomore Michael Leal with 10 points.
NT opened the previous week with a convincing win over Tri-County North on Friday, Dec. 20, 81-40. The Blazers jumped out to an early lead scoring 22 points in the first quarter. By halftime, NT had the game in hand with a 41-17 lead.
Cameron Harrison led the Blazers with 21 points. He added nine assists and also pulled down eight rebounds. Michael Leal added 14 points and Zach Woodall scored 13. Tyler Weathington chipped in 10 points and added seven rebounds.
On Saturday, TVS used a different strategy, according to NT coach Mike Harrison. The Panthers slowed down the pace of the game by holding on to the ball offensively. The result was a low-scoring contest, with NT coming out on top 46-17.
“Twin Valley South slowed the game down and held the ball on offense to shorten the game, and they did a very nice job using that to keep us out of any rhythm, especially in the first half.” Harrison said.
While TVS was able to slow the Blazers’ offense in the first half, the Panthers also struggled to put points on the scoreboard and NT lead 21-8 at the break.
Harrison added, “On defense they did a nice job in their box-and-one limiting our leading scorer’s shot attempts. As well as we shot it Friday night, we just couldn’t throw it in the ocean for most of the night Saturday, going 0-11 from 3-point range in the first 3 quarters. We ended up shooting just 39 percent overall, South 23 percent.”
Weathington led the Blazer with 13 point and seven rebounds. Colton Toms added eight points and six rebounds. Harrison contributed six assists and six rebounds.
National Trail was scheduled to play a third straight non-conference game at Versailles on Monday, Dec. 30 and will travel to Jefferson on Saturday, Jan. 4. The Blazers will get back into Cross County Conference play on Tuesday, Jan. 27, at Miami East.
