By Cort Reynolds
The visiting Bluffton High School boys basketball team lost a double-overtime thriller to Pandora-Gilboa 58-56 Saturday night.
The Pirates knocked down 11 three-pointers, but came up just short in the annual non-conference rivalry battle.
Bluffton fell behind 17-6 after the first quarter, but rallied in the second stanza to be down only 21-18 at halftime.
The Pirates inched within 34-32 heading to the fourth period.
Bluffton drained four triples in the final stanza to tie it up 44-44 at the end of regulation.
Rocket junior Aiden Harris scored 11 of the 14 P-G points in overtime to finish with a game-high 25 markers and lead P-G to victory. Twin brother Colin Harris finished with 13 points.
Bluffton fell to 8-7 with the tough defeat, their second in a row. P-G improved to 13-3 after the hard-fought win.
Pirate sophomore Marek Donaldson led Bluffton with 14 points and three treys. He sank two triples in the fourth period.
Senior Carson Soper tallied 13 markers and also hit two of his three triples in the fourth quarter.
Terron Boblitt canned three trifectas and tallied a season-high 13 points. Two of his treys came in overtime.
Wade Ginther was the fourth Pirate in double digits with 11 markers as he found the bottom of the net on two treys.
Bluffton connected on 20 field goals. The Pirates splashed 11 three-point goals and netted nine baskets from inside the arc.
Bluffton converted just five of 12 attempts at the foul line (42 percent).
The Rockets canned 21 shots from the field, sinking 18 two-point goals and three treys.
P-G converted 13 of 17 shots from the charity stripe (77 percent).
The Pirates committed 13 turnovers, and the Rockets were guilty of nine miscues.
P-G 58 (13-3)
C. Harris 5 3-4 14, D. Maag 3 0-0 7, A. Harris 9 6-8 25, Huffman 2 2-2 6, J. Maag 1 0-1 2, N. Maag 1 2-2 4.
Totals: 18-3/13-17/58. 3-pointers: D. Maag 1, C. Harris 1, A. Harris 1.
Bluffton 56 (8-7)
Donaldson 5 1-2 14, L. Ginther 0 0-0 0, Soper 4 2-3 13, W. Ginther 4 1-3 11, Worcester 0 0-0 0, Boblitt 5 0-0 13, Wright 0 0-0 0, Yoder 2 1-3 5, Hilty 0 0-0 0.
Totals: 9-11/5-12/56. 3-pointers: Donaldson 3, Boblitt 3, Soper 3, W. Ginther 2.
1 2 3 4 OT F
P-G 17 4 13 10 14 58
Bluf 6 12 14 12 12 56
Bluffton (4-2 NWC) hosts league rival Columbus Grove (5-8, 3-2 NWC) Friday, February 3. The Pirates then entertain non-league foe Riverdale (2-12) Saturday, Feb. 4.
