By Cort Reynolds

MILLER CITY - Visiting Bluffton fell behind by 19 at halftime and lost 62-51 to non-conference foe Miller City in a girls basketball game Saturday afternoon.

The Lady Pirates trailed 14-7 after the first period of play. MC then blew the game open with a 24-point second quarter to build a 38-19 advantage at intermission.

The Pirate girls outscored the Lady Wildcats 16-12 in each of the last two stanzas, but could not overcome the big halftime deficit.  

Bluffton fell to 11-10 as a result of the non-league defeat. Meanwhile, MC improved to 12-8 with the victory.

Kylie Stackhouse led the Pirates with a season-high 20 points. Laykin Garmatter netted a dozen markers, half of which came in the fourth period. 

Sami Scoles and Kylie Monday added seven and six points, respectively, for Bluffton.

MC's Abi Lammers led all players with 23 points, 14 rebounds and seven steals to narrowly miss a triple-double. Natalie Koenig contributed 17 points, while Grace Pfau added 12 markers.

Lammers netted nine of her 23 points in the decisive Wildcat second stanza. Stackhouse pumped in nine of her 20 in the final period.

The Lady Pirates knocked down 17 baskets. They canned 13 two-pointers and connected on four trifectas. Bluffton converted 13 of their 20 free throw attempts (65 percent). 

The MC girls connected on 22 total field goals, five more than Bluffton. They made 16 two-pointers and sank six three-point goals. MC also converted a solid 12 of 15 from the charity stripe (80 percent). 

Bluffton dropped to 3-7 on the road this season with the loss.

MC 62 (11-8)
Lammers 8 6-8 23, Kuhlman 1 0-0 3, Pfau 4 2-2 12, Koenig 6 4-4 17, Hermiller 1 0-0 3, Otto 2 0-1 4.
Totals: 16-6/12-15/62. 3-pointers: Pfau 2, Lammers 1, Kuhlman 1, Koenig 1, Hermiller 1. 
 
Bluffton 51 (11-10)
Bischoff 0, Garmatter 3 4-6 12, Busch 0 1-2 1, Eachus 0 3-4 3, Stackhouse 8 3-4 20, Bricker 1 0-0 2, Scoles 2 2-4 7, Monday 3 0-0 6. 
Totals: 13-4/13-20/51. 3-pointers: Garmatter 2, Stackhouse 1, Scoles 1.     
 
    1    2    3    4    F
MC    14    24    12    12    62
Blf    7    12    16    16    51             

Bluffton (8-3 home) hosts former Northwest Conference foe Lima Central Catholic (7-12) Thursday, Feb. 11 in the regular season finale.

The Pirate girls finished 4-4 in the NWC.