NEW PARIS — National Trail’s varsity boys’ basketball team won a pair of games last week, including a hard-fought game on Senior Night against Brookville and a road win over Bradford in Cross County Conference action.
NT battled Brookville on Tuesday, Feb. 14, at home. In a close game, the Blazers trailed at the end of each quarter, but managed to pull off a 64-60 win. Brookville led 50-46 midway through the final period when NT went on a 10-0 run led by eight points from Zach Woodall.
The Blazers, according to coach Mike Harrison, were able to hit key free throws down the stretch to maintain the lead the rest of the way.
“It was a very good win for us,” Harrison said. “Brookville is a solid team and they had us on the ropes in the fourth quarter. Our kids did a great job continuing to battle and making key plays and big shots down the stretch.”
Woodall finished with 22 points and 10 rebounds, including 14 points in the fourth quarter.
Cameron Harrison had 14 points and Dalton Mason added 12.
Harrison added, senior Malachi Short got a start on Senior Night and scored 6 points, grabbed 5 rebounds, got a steal, and took a charge.
“Adam Eyler did not score much but had a great game for us defensively chasing Brookville’s leading scorers most of the night.”
National Trail traveled to Bradford on Friday and cruised to a 85-49 win. The Blazers outscored Bradford 21-4 in the second quarter to put the game away early.
“Bradford’s got some kids who can play and I really thought we were going to have to go up there and play well to get a win,” Harrison added. “We did. We shared the ball well, as 26 assists compared to just 7 turnovers would attest. Shot 54 percent from 2 and 50 percent from 3, and did a good job making things tough on them on the defensive end.”
Nine different players scored for National Trail, led by Harrison with 30, including six 3-pointers. Travis Hunt had 15 points and 10 assists. Zach Woodall pulled down 14 rebounds and dished out 8 assists.
The Blazers finished the regular season 14-8 overall, 7-5 in the league. They open sectional play at Vandalia-Butler High School at 4 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 24, vs. Carlisle.
