By Cort Reynolds
MT. BLANCHARD - A late rally by visiting Bluffton came up short in a 39-35 loss at Riverdale in non-conference girls basketball action Saturday afternoon.
The Lady Pirates trailed 30-22 after three quarters before staging a comeback. The Falcon girls methodically built leads of 9-5 and 21-16 following the first two periods of play.
Pirate Riley Eachus canned two final-stanza trifectas, and senior teammate Laykin Garmatter added one trey to help spearhead the rally.
Bluffton outscored the hosts 13-9 in the fourth quarter, but couldn't quite overcome the eight-point deficit.
Falcon Carrigan Vent netted 10 of her game-high 13 points in the first half to help Riverdale construct their lead.
Teammate Danielle Searfoss canned seven of her eight markers after intermission to help stave off the Pirate comeback.
Bluffton dropped to 10-8 with the non-league defeat, while Riverdale improved to 6-8 with the victory. The Pirate girls have lost two straight on the heels of a four-game win streak.
Sami Scoles and Garmatter led Bluffton with 11 points apiece. Eachus added nine points on three triples.
The Pirate girls knocked down just 12 baskets. They canned six two-pointers and also drained six trifectas. Bluffton converted five of seven free throw attempts (71 percent).
The Falcon girls canned 14 field goals. They sank a dozen two-pointers and hit a pair of three-pointers. Riverdale converted nine of its 18 foul shot tries (50 percent).
Bluffton dropped to 3-5 on the road this season with the defeat.
Riverdale 39 (6-8)
Howell 1 0-0 2, Breidenbach 2 0-2 5, Searfoss 2 3-5 8, Sudlow 2 2-3 6, C. Vent 5 3-6 13, McKinniss 2 1-2 5, Newcomer 0.
Totals: 12-2/9-18/39. 3-pointers: Searfoss 1, Breidenbach 1.
Bluffton 35 (10-8)
Bischoff 1 0-0 2, Garmatter 4 1-2 11, Busch 1 0-0 2, Eachus 3 0-0 9, Stackhouse 0, Bricker 0, Scoles 3 4-5 11, Monday 0.
Totals: 6-6/5-7/35. 3-pointers: Eachus 3, Garmatter 2, Scoles 1.
1 2 3 4 F
Rdl 9 12 9 9 39
Blf 5 11 6 13 35
Bluffton (3-3 NWC) plays at conference foe Columbus Grove (10-6, 3-2 NWC) Thursday, January 28.
CG is tied for fourth in the league standings with Spencerville, a half-game ahead of the sixth-place Pirate girls.
Grove knocked off Blanchard Valley Conference leader Liberty-Benton 37-33 on Saturday.
Crestview (5-1 NWC) is first in the conference standings, followed closely by Delphos Jefferson (4-1) and Paulding (4-2).
