By Cort Reynolds

BLUFFTON – Pirate junior Blair Utendorf sank a putback shot at the final buzzer to lift the Bluffton High School girls basketball team to a 49-48 win over New Bremen in a non-conference thriller Saturday afternoon, December 14.

The Pirates trailed 10-7 after the opening quarter. But a 17-12 second stanza put Bluffton ahead 24-22 at halftime. Senior Ayla Grandey fired in 10 points in the second quarter to lead the Pirate charge.

NB edged back in front 36-34 heading to the final quarter despite eight more markers from Grandey. But the Pirates won the fourth period 15-12 to triumph by a single point on the Utendorf game-winner.

Bluffton improved to 4-3 overall after the last-second win.

New Bremen dropped to 2-4 with the tough defeat.

Senior post Grandey poured in a game-high 26 points for Bluffton. She canned 10 baskets, including three trifectas, and hit all three of her free throws.

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Utendorf, Maelee Miller and Jordan Schweingruber scored six points apiece. Schweingruber drilled two triples.

Marina Nelson led the Cardinals with 14 points, seven of which came in the third period.

The Pirates sank 15 two-point goals and nailed five triples. They connected on four of seven tries from the charity stripe (57 percent).

NB canned 10 two-pointers and splashed seven treys. The Cards converted seven of their 10 free throws (70 percent).

The Pirates host non-league rival Van Buren (2-5) in a varsity-only matchup Tuesday, Dec. 17 at 6 p.m. VB lost at Cory-Rawson 44-34 Saturday.