8th Grade Lady Blazers took the court Thursday 1/8 against Arcanum after a long break over the Holidays and couldn't seal the win. After letting Arcanum get up to a 6-0 run the Lady Blazers fought back to end the quarter at 6-10 Arcanum. However, we were never able to gain momentum after that and they continued to build their lead with each quarter. Depending on weather we will travel to Tri-Village on Saturday 1/11 to take on the Patriots in another conference game. Final Score 37-14 K. Marker 6 pts. M. Lawson 4 pt. A. Bane 2 pts. H. Henderson 2 pts...

Saturday we traveled to Twin Valley South for a road conference game. Both teams were 6-4 with 3 wins each in the conference. This was a tough match up, Twin Valley South has one of the top post players in the conference. Offensively we were able to get plenty of looks but unfortunately could not get shots to fall. We struggled to defend their post player sending her to the free throw line too many times. They shot 24 foul shots total which ended up being the difference in the game. They pulled away in the 4th with a final of 47-31. Josie Stiner and Morgan House led the scoring with 7 points each. Hannah Henderson had 5 points and 6 rebounds. Taylor Reynolds had 4 points. Bre Leal had 3 points and 7 rebounds. Sammy Gardner had 1 point. ...

Friday night the boys hosted WOAC/county foe, Twin Valley South Panthers. The Blazers led the whole game and had multiple opportunities to break the game into a double-digit lead but couldn't convert on easy paint touches. In the end, the boys were able to pick up the win 42-38 and move to (6-5 overall, 3-2 WOAC). Key contributions: Brinkley & W. Lipps - 8 points, Bousman - 7 points, Sullivan & C. Lipps - 6 points, Cordle - 5 points, Davis - 2 points. The JV/V boys will be in action next at Arcanum Friday, January 10th....

The Blazers hosted the Panthers of Twin Valley South on Friday in a WOAC Matchup. The Blazers had a sluggish start to the game and were down 10-0 about midway through the first quarter, before they were able to get on the board. After one the Blazers were down 16-7. NT battled in the second to erase the deficit and go into the half down 1, 24-23. A strong 3rd quarter on both ends of the floor saw the Blazers take a lead into the 4th quarter. Some midseason fatigue set in and the Blazers struggled to get offense going and the Panthers took advantage and was able to tie the game late in the 4th. NT struggled to execute to get the last shot off in regulation and everyone got some extra basketball on this night. The Blazers hung on for a 54-51 victory despite going missing 6 free-throws down the stretch in OT, something the Blazers have to get better at. Another team win with contributions and quality minutes from everyone that stepped on the floor. Tayden Blevins led NT with 22 points, 10 Rebounds, and 5 Assists, Kellen Laird followed up with 14 Points, 12 Rebounds, and 6 Assists, Daniel Turpin finished with 10 Points and 9 Rebounds, Lucas Alexander finished with 6 points hitting two big three's, Nick Brubaker chipped in 2 points to round out the scoring. Ethan Osswald, Jonah Brinkley, Talon Bousman, Korbin Sullivan, and Mason Cordle all played quality minutes on both ends of the floor and played solid defense which ultimately led to the victory for the Blazers. The Blazers came into the new year and extended to a 3 game win streak. They have a tough matchup this Friday when they square off with the always tough Arcanum Trojans. Due to the OSU Playoff Game this has been moved to a 4:30pm JV Start and 6:00pm Varsity Start at Arcanum High School. ...

On Saturday January 4th the 7th grade Lady Blazers traveled to Twin Valley South. The girls got off to a slow start but picked up their game after halftime. They held South to only 12 points in the second half. The shots weren’t falling for our Lady Blazers and we were upset 39-16 in the end. Violet led with 7pts, Paige had 4, Jaylin had 3, and Eli had 2. We look to Monday for our next game at home against Arcanum. ...

December 21st we travelled to Preble Shawnee to take on the Arrows. Going into this game we knew that we would face a full court press and trap probably the entire game. Early in the game we were down, but came back and tied it at the end of the first. Our offense started producing, and we were able to hold them to only 10 points in the first half. Preble Shawnee had a strong 3rd quarter and we ended the third at 20-20. Our reliable defense stepped up in the 4th quarter, and we outscored them 11-4. Final score 31-24 earning us our 3rd conference win. Junior Morgan House was one point away from a double double with 9 points and 11 rebounds! Senior Hannah Henderson had 8 points, 4 rebounds, and 1 steal. Senior Josie Stiner had 7 points, 8 rebounds, and 4 steals. Freshman Bre Leal had 4 points, 3 rebounds, and 3 steals. Freshman Taylor Reynolds had 3 points, 5 rebounds. Monday December 30th we hosted Emmanuel Christian. This was a strong defensive team, similar to us in record and style of play. The first half we had plenty of looks just could not seem to get anything to fall. We were up 20-15 at the half. Our defense played physical the entire game. We pulled away in the second half with a final score 38-26. We were led by Seniors Josie Stiner, Hannah Henderson, and Freshman Bre Leal with 9 points each. Morgan House had 6, Lillian Cordle added 3 and Taylor Reynolds had 2. Current Record: 6-4 overall, 3-4 in the conference Our defense has been the key for us this season. Statistically we are the number one overall defense (points allowed) with 32 points allowed per game. Heading into the second half of our season we are excited and optimistic. Our next game is Saturday 1/4 at Twin Valley South. ...