By Cort Reynolds
BLUFFTON - Homestanding Bluffton held local rival Allen East to 15 second-half points to win their annual Northwest Conference girls basketball battle 50-37 Thursday evening.
The Lady Pirates snapped a three-game losing streak with the victory. They outscored the Mustang girls 26-15 after intermission to prevail by 13 points.
The game was tied 10-10 after a tight first quarter of play. Bluffton inched into a 24-22 lead by halftime, then pulled ahead by eight with a 10-4 third stanza.
Bluffton won the fourth quarter 16-11 at the charity stripe. The Pirate girls sank 14 of their 18 free throw attempts in the final period and hit on one basket to keep the Mustangs at bay.
Bluffton improved to 11-9 and finished 4-4 in the NWC with the win. Meanwhile, last-place AE fell to 0-7 in the NWC and 4-14 overall with the defeat.
Sami Scoles paced the Pirates with 11 points. Kylie Monday and Laykin Garmatter each netted eight markers. Haelynn Bischoff and Riley Busch added six points apiece for Bluffton.
Kennedy Truex of AE led all players with 14 points on seven field goals. Teammate Savana Brooks contributed 13 markers on the strength of seven made foul shots in a whopping 15 charity stripe tries.
The Lady Pirates knocked down 14 baskets. They canned 10 two-pointers and made four trifectas. Bluffton converted 18 of their 27 free throw attempts (67 percent).
The Mustang girls also connected on 14 field goals, but made 10 less foul shots than Bluffton. AE sank 13 two-pointers and hit one three-point goal. The Mustangs converted just eight of 17 free throw tries (47 percent).
Bluffton improved to 8-3 at home this season with the victory.
AE 37 (4-14, 0-7 NWC)
Brinkman 1 0-0 2, Truex 7 0-0 14, Brooks 3 7-15 13, Tobe 0, Young 3 0-0 7, Schimmoeller 0, Richardson 0 1-2 1, Rodriguez 0.
Totals: 13-1/8-17/37. 3-pointer: Young 1.
Bluffton 50 (11-9, 4-4 NWC)
Bischoff 2 0-0 6, Garmatter 2 3-4 8, Busch 1 3-6 6, Eachus 1 0-0 2, Stackhouse 2 1-2 5, Bricker 2 0-0 4, Scoles 3 5-7 11, Monday 1 6-8 8.
Totals: 10-4/18-27/50. 3-pointers: Bischoff 2, Busch 1, Garmatter 1.
1 2 3 4 F
AE 10 12 4 11 37
Blf 10 14 10 16 50
Bluffton (3-6 road) plays at solid PCL foe Miller City (11-8) Saturday afternoon. The JV game tips off at noon.
Crestview (6-1 NWC) is tied for first in the conference standings with Delphos Jefferson (6-1). The co-leaders are followed closely by Paulding (5-2) and Spencerville (5-2).
Columbus Grove (4-3) is just ahead of Bluffton for fifth place, followed by Ada (1-6), Lincolnview (1-6) and AE (0-7).
The Pirate girls host former NWC foe LCC (7-12) Thursday, Feb. 11 in the regular season finale.
