By Evan Skilliter

The road was not friendly to the Pirates over the weekend as BHS lost their second and third consecutive road contests on Friday, Jan. 30 and Saturday, Jan. 31.  The Pirates kept both games close, but dropped their record to 11-5 (1-3 NWC) after a 56-52 loss at Allen East and a 67-60 loss at Van Buren.

Allen East
Bluffton started Friday night on a 12-4 run as the Mustangs seemed outmatched early.  The Pirates countered a 3-2 Allen East zone with a balanced offensive attack as Joel Siefker hit a three, Austin Bricker nailed a jumper from 16 feet, and Mitchel Ault and Levi Kistler powered in an inside bucket each. 

Allen east was able to slow the run and bring the score to 12-8 before Bricker scored his fifth and sixth points of the first frame on two free throws to give the Pirates a 14-8 advantage heading into the second quarter.

The Pirates maintained the lead until Allen East’s Jacob Sherrick’s three-point basket at the 5:10 mark in the second gave the Mustangs a 20-19 lead. Allen East held that lead for almost three minutes before Ault converted an and-one opportunity to knot the score at 24 with 2:14 left in the half.  Ault answered a Mustang free throw with a strong lay-in and Nick Friesen grabbed on offensive board and put it back up and in on the next Bluffton possession to help the Pirates to a 28-27 half-time lead.

The teams traded baskets for a large part of the third quarter before the Mustangs grabbed a six point lead on two Sherrick free-throws with a minute remaining. A Brady Parkins basket at the :15 mark helped keep the Pirates within four, 34-38, heading into the final quarter of play.

The fourth quarter saw an outburst of scoring as both teams continued to trade baskets. The Mustangs used an incredible display of free-throw shooting down the stretch to keep the Pirates at bay, converting 13-of-15 from the charity stripe in the last four minutes of the game, including an 8-for-8 contribution from Spencer Miller en route to the 56-52 victory.

Kistler’s 17 points were enough to lead the Pirates on the night.  Ault and Bricker added 11 and eight points, respectively, while Friesen and Siefker finished with five each, Eli Runk scored three, Parkins scored two and Bret Rumer finished with one.  Ault and Kistler finished with eight and six rebounds, respectively. 

Van Buren
Saturday’s game at Van Buren also started with a run, but this time is was the opponent taking the early advantage as the Knights did all the scoring in the first three minutes of the game to take an early 14-0 lea.  Kistler finally stopped the run with two free-throws at the 4:25 mark and the Pirates outscored the Knights 11-4 during the remainder of the quarter, receiving seven more points from Kistler and two each from Ault and Friesen to end the first quarter down 18-13.

Siefker started the second with a score as he gathered in an offensive rebound and put it back up and in to trim the Van Buren lead to 18-15.  After baskets from both teams, Kistler finally managed to complete the comeback effort after converting two free throws to knot the score at 20 with 5:24 left in the half.  On the ensuing defensive possession, Ault set his feet and took a charge under the basket to give possession back to the Pirates.  Ault followed the charge by finding Parkins under the basket to assist the go-ahead bucket at the 4:50 mark. The Pirates maintained the lead until halftime and headed into the locker room with a 32-30 advantage.

An exciting third quarter saw a barrage of scoring as Ault continued his hot streak, scoring seven of the Pirates’ 15 third quarter points.  However, Van Buren out-paced the visitor’s scoring effort, scoring 21 of their own to take a 51-47 lead into the final quarter of play.

A Kistler three opened the fourth and cut the lead to 51-50 just 17 seconds in, but the Pirates could not get any closer as the Knights would extend the lead to seven points three different times in the quarter, including when it counts the most as VBHS’ Drake Fasone put the nail in the coffin with two free-throws with 13 seconds left to make the final score 67-60 in favor of the Knights.

Kistler led the Pirates with 24 points while shooting 47 percent from the field.  Ault’s 16 points and 12 rebounds added a third double-double to his season total.  Siefker and Rumer added six and five points, respectively, while Friesen added four, Runk and Parkins totaled two apiece, and Bricker scored one.