Game #1: National Trail vs. Lincoln The National Trail Lady Blazers kicked off their three-game week with a bang. Both the offense and defense came out firing, and by halftime Trail had built a 28-point lead while holding Lincoln scoreless in the second quarter, limiting them to just 7 points overall. It was a strong all-around performance, as the Lady Blazers executed their offensive sets effectively and put much-needed points on the board throughout the game. The defense—one of the team’s biggest strengths—was dominant, shutting down and disrupting everything Lincoln tried to run. By the final buzzer, Trail had racked up 51 points while holding Lincoln to just 14. Key contributors included Madison Lawson with 10 points and 3 steals, Morgan House with a standout performance of 19 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists, and 8 steals. Lillian Cordle with 4 rebounds and 5 steals. Taylor Reynolds and Leigha Denlinger, who each added 6 points. Game #2 National Trail vs. Tri Village We came into this game knowing we had to give it everything we had to pull out a win, but Thursday night we just couldn’t handle the pressure. Tri-Village has all the pieces of a well-oiled machine, and we struggled to contain them on both ends of the floor. Offensively and defensively, we couldn’t get into a rhythm, putting up single-digit points in each quarter, and they held us scoreless in the third. That said, there were a lot of good things we saw from our Lady Blazers throughout the game. Above all, our players gave their best effort and showed how much they care about the game and each other. While the final score doesn’t reflect what we poured into this matchup, we couldn’t be more proud of our team. Key contributors included Morgan House with 12 rebounds, 3 assists, and 3 points, Taylor Reynolds with 7 points, Lillian Cordle with 5 rebounds, and Sammy Gardner with 3 rebounds and 4 points. Game #3 National Trail vs Carlisle National Trail traveled to Carlisle and came away with a hard-fought win against a tough Division IV opponent. Despite Carlisle’s record, we knew they would be a challenge, and they proved it throughout the game. Our Lady Blazers responded with strong effort on both ends of the floor, and it showed. Carlisle managed to outscore us in the 1st and 4th quarters as we worked to contain their offense and find consistency against their defense. However, National Trail controlled the middle quarters and made the necessary plays to secure the victory. Key contributors for the Lady Blazers included Morgan House, who led the way with 12 points, 10 rebounds, and 5 assists. Taylor Reynolds added 10 points, while Lillian Cordle chipped in 6 points and 5 rebounds. Kinley Marker made her presence felt with 8 rebounds and 4 assists. Overall, it was a strong team win built on effort, toughness, and balanced contributions across the lineup. ...

Game #1: National Trail Lady Blazers vs. Twin Valley South Recap The National Trail Lady Blazers battled hard against Twin Valley South but ultimately came up short in a tough 3-point loss. Despite a strong effort, South’s rebounding and ability to convert second-chance opportunities proved to be the difference. The Lady Blazers did an excellent job containing the rest of the South lineup, holding all other players to five points or fewer. Defense was a key contributor for National Trail, with Morgan House leading the team in rebounding with six boards. Offensively, the Lady Blazers struggled to find consistency, but Taylor Reynolds led the scoring effort with 12 points, followed by Meah Pearson with six. Game #2: National Trail vs. Arcanum Recap: Coming into the game, we knew Arcanum would be a tough opponent. They are a well-coached team with the talent to match. We fought hard early, holding them to just 4 points in the first quarter and trailing by only 3 points at halftime. However, we were unable to maintain the pressure in the third quarter. Arcanum outscored us 8–2 during that stretch, which proved to be the turning point of the game. Despite our effort, we were unable to close the gap and fell short in the end. Arcanum finished the game with 38 points, while we ended with 25. Key contributors for our team included Morgan House with 10 points and 8 rebounds, Taylor Reynolds with 7 points and 3 rebounds, and Lillian Cordle with 4 points and 4 rebounds. Game #3: National Trail vs New Miami The Lady Blazers brought home another well-deserved win against New Miami. Although the game started a bit slow in the first quarter, the Blazers found their rhythm and put up 22 points in the first half, holding New Miami to just 11 points and shutting them out entirely in the second quarter. From there, the Blazers continued to control the game, finishing strong with 52 points to New Miami’s 19. Key contributors included: • Madison Lawson: 11 points, 5 rebounds • Morgan House: 15 points, 5 rebounds, 7 steals • Taylor Reynolds: 10 points, 8 rebounds, 8 steals • Lillian Cordle: 8 points, 8 rebounds, 4 steals ...

Saturday at National Trail was a little extra special this week. Coming into the game Kellen Laird was 18 points away from scoring his 1000th point of his career. Cincinnati Christian came to NT for a good non-conference test of the Blazers defense. Cincinnati had some length, athleticism and was boasting a roster of 4 players shooting 38 percent or higher from 3-point land. The Blazers came out ready to play and won the first quarter 16-11. NT picked up right where they left off at the quarter and ended to half up 32-22 at the half. The defensive effort again led by Talon Bousman holding Cincinnati Christians leading scorer to just 3 points in the half. Laird had scored 11 of his 18 in the first half. We decided at halftime we wanted to run a couple plays for Kellen to get him going in the second half so we ran a set to start the 3rd quarter and Tayden hit him on a back cut for a layup to start the 3rd quarter. With about 4:30 left in the 3rd quarter NT pulled down a rebound and went into transition offense. Laird kicked it up to Coltin Lipps. Lipps attacked the baseline to draw the defense kicked it back to Laird on the right wing. Tayden set a screen for Kellen and the defender went under the screen. Kellen made a perfect read when the defender went under and he came off the screen, rose up, and drilled a 3 for exactly 1000 points. A short break in the game for him to celebrate with his teammates but then also his family members who were all in attendance and handing the game ball to his dad was a highlight. After that moment the Blazers were even more confident and cruised to a 54-39 victory. Talon Bousman, Mason Cordle, Josh Brubaker, Jonah Brinkley and Coltin Lipps led a strong defensive effort in which the Blazer only gave up 39 points which is under their season average. Tayden and Kellen led the offensive charge with 23 points and 18 points respectively. Kellen dished out 8 assists, Josh pulled down 5 rebounds and Jonah pulled down 4 rebounds. An overall great team win, great team defense, on a special night for the Blazers. The Blazers are back in action this Friday at Tri-Village....

On Friday night Arcanum traveled down to play the Blazers in a big WOAC Matchup. Both communities showed up and provided an electric atmosphere. In a matchup where both teams were tied for 4th place in the WOAC the game was nothing less than what you would expect. A physical back and forth game with some exciting moments. NT battled in the first quarter but was a bit sluggish in the second quarter where Arcanum made a run and trail ended the half down 31-18. The Blazers came out fired up and went on a 14-7 run to end the 3rd quarter to make the score 38-32. The 4th quarter was back and forth and after NT tried to foul a couple times, Arcanum came out on top 56-44. Arcanum made a couple timely 3's that hurt the Blazers in the second half. The second half defensive effort was led by Talon Bousman and Mason Cordle making the Arcanum guards work for everything they could get. Tayden Blevins finished the game with 26 points and 7 rebounds. Kellen Laird finished with 11 points, 4 Rebounds, 4 assists, and 5 steals. Coltin Lipps had 4 points, Kaeden Culbertson with 2 points and Talon finished with 1 point. The Blazers showed physicality and intensity on the defensive end with Brinkley and Blevins controlling the paint and Bousman, Cordle, Lipps, and Brubaker making the guards work on the outside. ...

Boys Basketball had many games and some success and lessons learned over the holiday break this year. We kicked off Holiday Break with a Tuesday evening game at New Miami. The Blazers had a slow start but soon got going. The Blazers raced their way to beat the Vikings with a final of 80-39. Coltin Lipps lead the break with his varsity career high 23 points. After Christmas we traveled to Fairlawn in Shelby County for a Varsity only contest. A slow start proved to be too much for the Blazers to overcome in the end falling with a final of 74-68. We had several contributions from everyone. Tayden Blevins finished with 18 points, Kellen Laird had 16 points. Kaeden Culbertson made 4 three pointers on his way to 14 points and Jonah Brinkley had a stellar game finishing with 7 points. Talon Bousman, Mason Cordle, and Kellen Laird led a solid defensive attack making the jets work for everything. A slow first quarter was just too much. We then battled county foe Tri-County North in a non-conference matchup. The Blazers played a mediocre first half and were down. After a good confidence building halftime locker room talk, the Blazers came out and played a better second half securing the win. Kellen Laird finished with 14 points, but also broke the record for career assists. In the 3rd quarter Kellen secured an assist to Tayden Blevins to make 357 for his career to overtake Blazer great Cameron Harrison. Friday night after New Years Day we traveled to West Alexandria for a big conference matchup against Twin Valley South. In a full team win the Blazers came out on top with a great defensive effort and sharing the ball offensively. Talon Bousman and Mason Cordle set the tone defensively and Kellen Laird led the offensive charge. A true team victory on both ends of the floor. Last night we traveled to Miami Valley School for a varsity only contest. Miami Valley played right with the Blazers in the first quarter. The Blazers then took control of the game again spurred by a high intensity defensive effort. The Blazers led by several going into the half and after 2 Miami Valley three pointers to start the second half, again took control and coasted to a 67-41 win. Several great contributions on offense and defense from every player where Grady Ott had the best game of his varsity career scoring 11 and collecting several rebounds. The Blazers return to action at home on Friday January 9, 2025 for a big WOAC game. JVB starts at 445 with JVA and Varsity to follow....

Tuesday night the JV boys got revenge on Tri-County North and walked away with a victory 45-38. The Blazers led the whole game and was only outscored by the Panthers in the 2nd quarter. Defensively the boys played a complete game, keeping TCN on the glass, limiting their 3 point shots, and playing gritty/physical defense that led to tough shots for the Panthers. The Blazers were led by freshman Kaeden Culbertson with 22 points - going 10/10 from the free throw line - 8 of them in the 4th quarter. Weston Lipps chipped in 9 points, Sam Alavez - 5, Landon Thomas - 3, Xavier Remaklus, Alton Sparks, and Grady Ott - 2 points each. On Friday January 2nd the boys traveled to county foe Twin Valley South and walked away with a statement win 58-27. This was by far the best game of the year on both ends of the court for the Blazers. The JV group was challenged before the game to "hit them first" and they responded with a 17-0 1st quarter outcome. Offensively all ten of the boys in the book registered points on the night to make it a remarkable win. Weston Lipps - 17, Kaeden Culbertson - 11, Landon Thomas - 7, Grady Ott and Alton Sparks - 6, Sam Alavez - 5, Xavier Remaklus - 3, Liam Davis, Dan Osswald and Cain Bond - 1 point each. This moves the JVA boys record to 5-4 overall and 3-2 in the WOAC. The boys are back in action Friday January 9th @ home vs Arcanum and Saturday January 10th @ home vs Cincinnati Christian. ...