COVINGTON — National Trail senior Skyler Ward became just the fourth girl in Blazer basketball history to the hit the 1,000-point mark for a career.
Ward scored 18 points to lead ninth-seeded Trail to a convincing 67-35 win over No. 8 Dixie in the first round of the Covington Division III sectional tournament on Saturday, Feb. 12.
Ward entered the contest needing 13 points to join Brenna Bailey, Allison Hampton and Makena Laird in the club.
She scored her milestone points in the third quarter.
National Trail avenged a 3-point loss at Dixie last month by jumping all over the Greyhounds early and often.
Dixie and Trail had finished the regular season in a fourth place tie in the Western Ohio Athletic Conference.
Trail raced out to a 16-0 lead thanks in part to four 3-pointers and never looked back. 16 points of the game and never looking back.
Trail led 16-6 after the first quarter and was up 33-11 at the half. Trail extended its lead to 51-20 after three quarters.
J’da Jackson scored 16 and Micaiah Byrd 10. Other scorers for Trail were Rylee Minner with 6, Jenna Petitt with 5, Ashlynn Osborne and Maddie Harrison with 4 each, and Natalie Osswald and Kendal Johnson each with 2.
According to coach James Byrds it was the most complete performance of the year for the Blazers, who are now 14-7 overall and move on to face Preble Shawnee Wednesday Feb. 16 at 7:30 in Covington.
Arrows survive Versailles’ upset bid
COVINGTON — Preble Shawnee, the No. 7 seed, had to overcome a double-digit first quarter deficit to knock of No. 11 seed Versailles 66-55 on Saturday in a first round Division III sectional tournament game.
Shawnee fell behind 13-3 after the first quarter then found its offense in the second quarter.
The Arrows rallied to tie the game at 26-26 by halftime and slowly forged ahead in the third quarter taking a 39-35 with one quarter remaining.
In the fourth, the Arrows outscored the Tigers 27-20 for the final margin.
Shawnee (16-6) was led by Liv Thompson’s 22 points. Campbell Jewell scored 20 and Kahlen Kulms added 12.
The Arrows will meet National Trail in a sectional final game on Wednesday, Feb. 16 at 7:30 p.m. at Covington.
Shawnee will be looking to avenge a 41-37 loss back on Dec. 16, 2021.
Eagles upset No. 3 Ben Logan
NEW CARLISLE — Eaton overcame a 13-point deficit (23-10) midway through the second quarter to rally for a 44-40 win over No. 3 seed Benjamin Logan in the first round of the Tecumseh Division II sectional on Saturday, Feb. 12.
The seventh-seeded Eagles were led by senior Allison Mowen’s 13 points and five assists. Junior Lily Shepherd added 10, while junior Olivia Baumann tossed in nine and freshman Olivia Orr contributed eight points.
The Eagles (10-13) put together an 18-5 run over the final three and half minutes of the second quarter and first five minutes of the second quarter to get back into the game.
Down 36-32 with 5:47 left in the game, Eaton went on an 8-0 run to take its first lead (40-36) since 2-0.
Eaton sealed the game making 6-of-7 free throws in the final quarter.
Eaton was scheduled to play No. 5 seed Urbana in the sectional final on Tuesday, Feb. 15 at 7:30 p.m.
The Eagles closed out the regular season with a 56-31 road win over Middletown Madison to finish second in the SWBL West Division. Mowen finished with a career-high 20 points, while Shepherd added 17 to lead the way. Anna Kramer contributed three points, four rebounds, three assists and three steals. Baumann added five points, 10 rebounds and five steals.
South ends season with first round loss
COVINGTON — The season came to an end for Twin Valley South with a 71-23 loss to No. 2 seed Waynesville on Thursday, Feb. 10. Brionna Abner led the Panthers with 12 points.
South (3-20) fell behind 17-6 after the first quarter and trailed 40-14 at the half.
North fall to Covington
TROTWOOD — Tri-County North’s season ended with a 60-32 loss to No. 2 Covington on Monday, Feb. 7 in the Trotwood Division IV sectional.
The Panthers were led by Nani Garcia’s 15 points. Rilee Terry added nine for North, who ends the season 9-14.
