NEW PARIS — National Trail’s boys’ basketball team split a pair of games this past weekend. The Blazers suffered their first loss of the season to open the weekend, but bounced back with a convincing win the next night.
The Blazers traveled to Arcanum on Friday, Dec. 14, for a key Cross County Conference matchup. In their previous game, National Trail set a school record with 13 made 3-pointers. In this game, NT struggled on offense, connecting on just 15 percent of their 3-point shots and 26 percent overall.
Despite their poor shooting, the Blazers led much of the game, including a 34-32 going into the fourth quarter. Arcanum was able to hit some key shots in the final period, however, and came away with a 47-41 win.
“We were getting good looks at the basket but they just wouldn’t fall,” coach Mike Harrison said. “We were 5-for-33 from three on mostly good looks and had several missed point-blank layups. We shot twenty six percent overall and only fifteen percent from three, and as it turned out, just an incredibly poor shooting performance cost us.
“It was just one of those days that is very hard to explain — and Arcanum played very hard and made just enough shots down the stretch when they needed to.”
Cameron Harrison was the only Blazer to reach double-figures, leading the team with 10 points. Hunter Michael and Zach Woodall each pulled down eight rebounds.
NT bounced back on Saturday with a convincing win against Greenon, 79-43. The Blazers shooting efficiency improved dramatically from the previous game as NT shot 53 percent overall, including 13 3-pointers.
“Good bounce-back game for us,” Harrison added. “Really pleased with the consistent defensive focus we played with and the level with which we shared the ball… 23 assists to only nine turnovers as a team.”
Harrison led with 20 points and seven assists and Woodall added 18 points and nine rebounds. Travis Hunt scored 12 points and had five assists. Adam Eyler added 11 points and Hunter Michael nine rebounds.
National Trail is now 5-1 on the season. They were scheduled to host Twin Valley South on Tuesday, Dec. 18 and will visit Tri-County North on Friday, Dec. 21.
