Sports

By Cort Reynolds

BLUFFTON__The Bluffton girls basketball team edged visiting Kenton 47-46 Thursday night, December 28, in a non-league battle.

Bluffton improved to 4-5 with the narrow win, while Kenton fell to an identical 4-5 mark after the close defeat.

The Pirate girls led 11-10 after the first period, and extended their lead to 24-16 at intermission as Macy Schaadt drained three triples. 

Bluffton saw its cushion sliced to 32-28 following the third quarter. Kenton won the high-scoring final stanza 19-15, but their rally came up a point short.  

Pirate junior post Ayla Grandey led all players with 18 points. She scored 10 points in the second half, and eight in the first half.

Schaadt contributed 14 points, while Blair Utendorf added six markers.

NOTE: The ticket link has been corrected.

The Bluffton Schools have announced the following details for the 2023 boys basketball McDonald's Holiday Tournament at Bluffton High School.

Continental will play Arlington at 5:00 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 29.

Bluffton will play Cory-Rawson at about 6:15 p.m. that evening.

The Consolation Game will be played at 5:00 p.m. on Saturday, December 30.

The Championship Game will be played at about  6:15 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 30.

  1. Top team in the bracket is the home team and will wear light uniforms.
  2. Bottom team in the bracket is the visiting team and will wear dark uniforms.
  3. Locker room assignments and team benches will be designated each night.
  4. Pregame warmup clock will be set to for the game to start at the designated start time. With a minimum warm up of 15 minutes.
  5. The gym will be opend 1 hour prior to the start of the first game.
  6. Spectators may enter 45 minutes prior to the start of the first game.
  7. Tickets will be available online at www.blufftonschools.org/athletics/athletics-tickets/

Tickets will also be available at the gate.

Video of the meet is available HERE.

By Cort Reynolds

Tournament host Bluffton High School finished a strong third at the 10-team Allen County Invitational wrestling tournament Friday, December 22.

Shawnee narrowly won the team title with 256 points to edge Allen East by a single point. 

The youthful Pirate wrestlers came in third with 179 points.

Mustang freshman wrestler Jordan Neal won the 144 lbs. weight class title and was named tournament MVP. He posted a 5-0 mark with three pins at the event.

Pirate senior Kyle Basil rose from the fourth seed to win the 175 lbs. crown. He pinned top seed Jameson Wicker of Lima Senior in the third round at 3:20 to win Pool A in preliminary action.

Basil pinned Allen East senior Nick Zellmann in the semifinals of the tournament to advance to the title match.

By Cort Reynolds

VAN BUREN__The visiting Bluffton High School girls basketball team led Van Buren by a point heading to the final quarter Thursday night.

But Black Knight freshman Brooklyn Wilkin scored 12 of her 22 points in the fourth period to lead VB on a 14-9 run and to a 37-33 win.

By Cort Reynolds

CAREY__The visiting Bluffton High School boys basketball team dominated non-league foe Carey 67-36 Wednesday night, December 20.

The Pirates improved to 4-1 with the decisive road win.

Carey dropped to 4-3 after the loss.   

The Pirates led 17-9 after the opening stanza on the strength of five three-point goals. Junior guard Marek Donaldson nailed two of his five trifectas in the first quarter.

Blake Sommers also drained two treys in the first period en route to eight early points. Landen Worcester drilled the other three.

Bluffton extended its lead to 32-19 at halftime. Six Pirates scored in the 15-10 second stanza. 

By Cort Reynolds

DEFIANCE__The Bluffton High School girls basketball team easily won a 50-27 non-league makeup battle vs. Defiance on Tuesday night, December 19.

Pirate junior post Ayla Grandey poured in 27 points to lead all players and equal the entire Bulldog output.

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