BLUFFTON__The Bluffton High School boys basketball team lost to visiting Blanchard Valley Conference power Van Buren 59-42 in a non-league bout on Saturday, January 3.
The Black Knights won the middle quarters by a combined score of 33-19 to pave the way to victory.
The Pirates trailed just 15-14 after the first quarter, but VB forged ahead 31-23 by the end of the first half.
A 17-10 VB third period stretched their margin to 48-33 going into the final stanza. The visitors narrowly won the fourth, 11-9.
FREMONT__The Bluffton High School wrestling team competed at the Fremont Ross “Al Vogenthaller”Invitational meet on Saturday, January 3.
Comprised of many big school teams from northwest Ohio, the 14-team event was won by Celina with 266 points. Host Fremont Ross finished second with 255.5 points, while Toledo Central Catholic came in third (181).
Carey nosed out Van Buren for fourth place, 147.5 points to 145.
BLUFFTON__The Bluffton High School girls basketball team succumbed to a second-half charge by visiting Western Buckeye League power Bath and lost 44-33 on Tuesday night, December 30.
The Pirate girls trailed 11-6 after the first quarter, but rallied to lead 21-20 at intermission. Bluffton out-pointed the Wildcats 15-9 in the second stanza as six Pirates scored.
But Bath turned the tables behind a 14-6 third quarter to seize a 34-27 lead. The visitors added a 10-6 fourth period by hitting six of 10 foul shots to win by 11.
DEFIANCE__The Bluffton High School wrestling team competed well in the rugged 49-team Tri-State Border Wars tournament at Defiance December 29-30.
The Pirate grapplers finished in 25th place at the 10th edition of the massive two-day tournament which featured schools from Ohio, Indiana and Michigan.
Archbold won the team championship over second-place Yale (Mich.), with Eastside (Ind.) third and tournament host Defiance fourth.
Calvin Willow named MVP; Wayne Trace defeats Emmanuel Christian
By Cort Reynolds
BLUFFTON__The Bluffton High School boys basketball team lost 44-31 to Arlington in the championship contest of the annual Pirate McDonald’s Holiday Classic tournament at Bluffton University on Monday, December 29.
The Pirates trailed 14-5 after the first quarter, but stayed within striking distance, down only 18-12 after a defensive first half. Bluffton won a low-scoring second stanza 7-4 as Brayden McClure nailed a trey and Kain Wright hit two baskets.
