BLANCHESTER — Early in the fourth quarter, Felicity was thinking comeback Friday night at Blanchester.

Down much of the game and looking to spoil the BHS Homecoming, the Cardinals had rallied to within six of the lead.

But Evan Malott took care of things on the offensive end for the Wildcats and Bryce Sipple was the man on defense as their early fourth quarter contributions propelled Blanchester to an 80-63 win over Felicity in SBAAC National Division play.

The win puts Blanchester at 5-10 on the year and 2-6 in the National. Felicity drops to 5-9 overall and 2-6 in the division.

The 80 points is the most for BHS in a single game since a 101-80 win over Felicity on Jan. 19, 2021.

Malott opened the scoring in the fourth with his four three-pointer of the night. Moments later, Sipple assisted on Malott’s fifth three-ball and the Wildcats were rolling, 59-47.

At the other end of the floor, Sipple took his second and third charge of the night to keep the Cardinals thoughts of a rally at bay.

“That is what we have been striving for all year,” Blanchester head coach Mike Malott said. “Solid defense, smart on offense … this is what we can be. We’ve shown flashes but we haven’t put it all together for four quarters.”

Coach Malott called Sipple the “heart and soul” of the Wildcats team.

“We have a lot of players who play really, really hard,” Malott said. “Every gutty thing he (Sipple) could do, he’ll do.”

Blanchester lost to Felicity 74-64 in overtime on the Cardinals home floor earlier in the season.

That Sipple and Evan Malott made key plays Friday night to keep the Wildcats in front was a turnaround from that loss at FHS.

“At Felicity, down the stretch, we did not make winning plays,” coach Malott said. “We missed nine free throws in the fourth (quarter). We make just one of those and we don’t go to overtime. Tonight we made those (winning) plays.”

Sipple finished with 23 while Malott was a three-point marksman, making five and finishing with 18 points. Nick Taylor grabbed nine rebounds and handed out four assists. Blanchester finished with just seven turnovers.

SUMMARY

Jan 26, 2026

@Blanchester High School

Wildcats 80, Cardinals 63

F^12^19^16^16^^63

B^14^23^18^27^^80

(63) FELICITY (fg-3fg-ft-tp) Blackburn 1-0-2-4 Taulbee 2-1-1-6 Ninichuk 6-0-1-13 Taylor 3-1-3-10 Broadwell 0-0-2-2 Marlow 2-0-3-7 Forbes 6-1-1-14 Blevins 4-1-0-9 TOTALS 24-4-11-63

(80) BLANCHESTER (fg-3fg-ft-tp) Sipple 9-1-5-24 Tangonan 3-1-1-8 Taylor 0-0-3-3 Wymer 2-1-6-11 Culberson 0-0-0-0 Cromer 3-0-1-7 Byrom 2-2-0-6 Malott 6-5-1-18 Bradley 1-0-1-3 TOTALS 26-10-18-80

FIELD GOALS: B (26-63) Malott 6-13 Cromer 3-6 Byrom 2-3; F (24-51)

3 PT FIELD GOALS: B (10-23) Malott 5-10 Byrom 2-3 Tangonan 1-1; F (4-13)

FREE THROWS: B (10-23) Wymer 6-9; F (11-20)

REBOUNDS: B-34 (Taylor 9 Wymer 6 Cromer 6 Sipple 6 Tangonan 2 Byrom 1 Malott 1 Bradley 1) F-34 (Forbes 9 Taulbee 6)

ASSISTS: B-10 (Taylor 4 Cromer 3 Wymer 2 Sipple 1); F-7

STEALS: B-6 (Tangonan 2 Taylor 2 Wymer 2 Sipple 1); F-3

BLOCKED SHOTS: B-1 (Bradley 1); F-3 (Forbes 2)

TURNOVERS: B-7; F-16