NEW PARIS — National Trail overcame a slow start to rally past county rival Tri-County North, 59-49, in a boys’ basketball game on Saturday, Feb. 4.
Tri-County North opened the game on a 9-0 run, but Trail recovered to cut the lead to 16-15 by the end of the first quarter.
The two teams played evenly over the second and third quarters, with Trail leading 27-25 at the half and 36-35 after three.
North began the fourth on a 6-0 run to take a 41-36 lead with 7:10 left in the game.
But Trail’s Peyton Harrison scored 10 of his team-high 18 points and Dalton Mason added 10 of his 17 in the decisive fourth quarter, as the Blazers outscored North 23-8 over the final seven minutes of the game.
Harrison connected on a 3-pointer to make it 41-39 and Mason scored the next five points to give Trail a 44-41 lead. Harrison capped an 11-0 run with another 3-pointer with 4:22 remaining, pushing the Blazers’ lead to 47-41. North got as close as three (49-46), before Trail went on a 7-0 run to secure the win.
With the win, Trail snapped a seven-game losing streak, while North saw its modest two-game winning streak broken.
Travis Hunt and Caleb Deardorff each added eight for Trail.
Brain Stinson chipped in with nine for the Panthers.
On Friday, Trail dropped its seventh-straight game, 43-40, to Newton in overtime. Hunt paced the Blazers with 15 points.
For North, Mississinawa Valley had a halftime lead Friday night but lost 60-56 to the Panthers in a Cross County Conference game.
Mississinawa took a 17-14 lead in the first quarter and held a 26-20 advantage at halftime. North went up 35-32 in the third quarter on its way to a 4-point win.
North was scheduled to play Franklin-Monroe on Tuesday, Feb. 8, and will host Bradford on Friday, Feb. 10. The Panthers will close out the season with a home contest against Arcanum.
Trail was schedule to host Mississinawa Valley on Tuesday. They will visit Franklin-Monroe on Friday and travel to Centerville (Ind.) on Saturday. The Blazers will close out the season on Friday, Feb. 17, by hosting Bradford.
