By Cort Reynolds

Playing at home, the Bluffton High School girls basketball team rallied to beat Van Buren 45-39 in an overtime non-conference battle Tuesday night, December 20.

The Pirates outscored VB 8-2 in the decisive overtime session.

Senior guard Sami Scoles hit five of six foul shots in OT to propel the Pirates to victory.  

Bluffton trailed 11-10 after the first period, and the hosts were down 21-19 at halftime.

The Pirates took a 28-27 lead heading to the fourth quarter, and it was tied it up 37-all at the end of regulation time.

Bluffton improved to 6-2 with the hard-fought win. The Pirates also improved to a perfect 6-0 at home with the victory.

The Black Knights fell to 5-4 with the tough defeat.

Scoles scored a game-high 20 points, 18 of which came in the second half. She tallied all nine Pirate points in the third period to keep Bluffton close.

Sophomore post Ayla Grandey tallied 14 points, including a triple in the fourth period. Kendal Giesige added seven points with one trey.

Zoe Fruth connected on four triples in the first half to lead VB with 16 points. Sasha Busey added 13 markers.

Bluffton canned 15 field goals, sinking 12 two-pointers and  three treys. The Pirates converted 12 of 18 free throw attempts (67 percent). 

The Black Knights sank 14 field goals, canning eight two-pointers and six launches from three-point range. The Knights converted all five of their foul shots (100 percent).

Van Buren 39 (5-4)

Lance 1 0-0 3, Durliat 1 0-0 3, Fruth 6 0-0 16, Bowman 1 0-0 2, Busey 5 3-3 13, Ponn 0 2-2 2.

Totals: 8-6/5-5/39. 3-pointer: Fruth 4, Lance 1, Durliat 1.

Bluffton 45 (6-2)

Mehaffie 2 0-0 4, Fleece 0 0-0 0, Eachus 0, Giesige 2 2-5 7, Scoles 5 9-12 20, Grandey 6 1-1 14. 

Totals: 12-3/12-18/45. 3-pointers: Giesige 1, Scoles 1, Grandey 1.

1 2 3 4 OT F

VB 11 10 6 10 2 39

Bluf 10 9 9 9 8 45

Bluffton entertains struggling WBL opponent Defiance (1-8) Thursday, Dec. 22.