NEW PARIS — National Trail’s boys basketball team rallied from a 12-point fourth quarter deficit to get within two, but fell to Arcanum 56-54 on Friday, Jan. 12

The Blazers couldn’t complete a fourth quarter comeback that saw them trim a 12 point deficit with two minutes left to two points with 10 seconds left. Arcanum made two free throws before Nick Brubaker hit a shot to cut it back to two before the final buzzer. Trail’s final attempt to foul was ignored and time ran out.

Tayden Blevins led the team with 16 points, 12 coming in the second half.

Kellen Laird had 10 points, all in the second half. Logan Smith had nine first half points and finished with 14 points. Brubaker had eight points and Tyler Lesh hit two 3-pointers to finish with six points.

Trail (5-8, 3-3 WOAC) is scheduled to play Friday and Saturday, Jan. 19-20. On Saturday, the 1999 conference championship team honored before NT takes on Milton Union. On Friday, the Blazers will travel to Tri-Village.

Girls fall to Bradford

NEW PARIS — In a low scoring WOAC matchup with Bradford on Saturday, Jan. 13, Trail took a 17-10 lead into the half, limiting the Railroaders to just a single point in the second quarter.

The lead slowly diminished in the third, with Bradford pulling ahead in the final frame to drop the Lady Blazers to 5-7 overall and 1-6 in conference play.

The Railroaders limited the Lady Blazers to one field goal in the second half, and only one point in the fourth, mostly relying on their size inside coupled with two clutch three point field goals to take control late in the game, securing the 30-23 victory.

According to Trail coach Ken Stewart, Trail often beat themselves with multiple unforced turnovers, especially in the second half.

Freshman Lillian Cordle provided a spark off the bench in the second quarter, connecting on a field goal to put the Blazers on top, while junior Josie Stiner and sophomore Ollie Mason contributed six points each. Fellow sophomore Morgan House had four, Junior Hannah Henderson, three, and Senior Kendyl Johnson, two.

Trail looks to bounce back from their back-to-back conference losses with a Thursday tilt at home vs. Tri Village. JV tips at 6 p.m. with varsity to follow.