Playing in Ada, the Bluffton girls basketball team locked down the Lady Bulldog offense for over 18 minutes and cruised to a 42-22 Northwest Conference win Thursday night, December 16.

Ada tallied the game's first basket, then did not score another field goal against the tight Pirate defense until less than five minutes remained in the third period. 

By that time, Bluffton led comfortably by a 27-5 margin.

The Lady Pirates improved to 5-3 and 1-1 in the NWC with the lopsided victory. The Ada girls fell to 2-7 and 0-3 in NWC action with the defeat. 

Bluffton coach Erik Garmatter was pleased with his team's play. "We had lost three in a row coming in, so I didn't know what to expect," he said; "But we came out and set the tone early, and got a good lead."

"We can't score," lamented Lady Bulldog head coach Morgan Bass. "If we could score it's a different scenario. When things aren't going our way, we crumble."

Bulldog senior Kirsten Poling injured her ankle in the first minute while driving into traffic. "That injury deflated us a little bit," noted Bass.

Ada sophomore Katie Sizemore netted the first basket 43 seconds into the contest. But then the Bulldogs suffered a long drought.

Pirate senior Kylie Stackhouse tallied five early points inside. Junior Kendal Giesige came off the bench to sink a layup and provide a 9-2 Bluffton lead after the first stanza.

Bluffton senior point guard Sami Scoles opened the second quarter with a driving transition shot off glass. Teammate Kylie Monday then drained a right wing triple.

Stackhouse tallied inside off a good back cut and an assist by the heady Scoles. Southpaw Scoles then buried a left wing 17-footer for an 18-2 cushion with 5:55 left in the half. 

Ada sophomore Mariah King split two foul shots to end the 11:24 point-less drought. Giesige canned two foul shots, and Scoles made a fast break drive as Bluffton built a 23-3 lead at intermission.

Monday started the second half by nailing a right wing triple. 

Bulldog junior guard Courtney Sumner banked in a driving lane runner with 4:47 to go in the third quarter for the first Ada basket in over 18 minutes.

Bluffton junior Riley Eachus answered by draining a trifecta, followed by another Giesige trey. 

Sumner connected on a driving shot, and Olivia Burkhart converted two free throws to pull within 33-9 after three quarters.

Giesige drained a left corner triple to open the final period. Eachus knocked down a pull-up bank shot. Sumner responded with a driving bank shot at the 4:50 mark.

Pirate freshman post Ayla Grandey muscled inside for a layup, and Sumner canned two charity stripers. Poling came back in and made a nice steal and coast-to-coast driving layup.

Pirate Morgan Fruchey scored inside to finish a nice pick and roll play. Sumner sank a transition layup off a Burkhart assist. Daicy Robinson split two charity stripers.

Sumner stole the ball in the backcourt and converted a pretty left-handed drive with 61 seconds left. RObinson netted a putback layin to finish the scoring.

Ada outscored Bluffton 13-9 in the final stanza.

Sumner led Ada with 12 points, all in the second half. "I put the challenge on Scoles to guard Sumner, and she said she didn't want any help," Garmatter noted. "She did a pretty good job."

Bluffton shared the ball well and passed crisply. Giesige was their leading scorer with 10 points. Stackhouse tallied all seven of her points in the first 10 minutes. Monday and Scoles each added six markers.

"We are a pretty unselfish team," offered Garmatter.

"Bluffton utilized their posts efficiently," said Bass. "But I thought post-wise, we did a decent job defensively."

The Lady Bulldogs canned eight field goals, all two-pointers. Ada sank six of 12 attempts from the charity stripe (5 percent).

The Pirate girls connected on 16 field goals, including 11 two-pointers and five triples. They converted five of 10 free throws (50 percent). 

Ada 22 (2-7, 0-3 NWC)

King 0 1-2 1, K. Poling 1 0-0 2, Sumner 5 2-2 12, L. Poling 0, Burkhart 0 2-2 2, Jordan 0 0-2 0, Sizemore 1 0-0 2, Robinson 1 1-4 3.

Totals: 8-0/6-12/22. 3-pointer: none.

Bluffton 42 (5-3, 1-1 NWC)

Busch 0 1-2 1, Eachus 2 0-0 5, Stackhouse 3 1-4 7, Giesige 3 2-2 10, Scoles 3 0-0 6, Monday 2 0-0 6, Fruchey 1 0-0 2, Grandey 2 0-0 4, Maple 0 1-2 1, Fleece 0. 

Totals: 11-5/5-10/42. 3-pointers: Giesige 2, Monday 2, Eachus 1. 

1 2 3 4 F

Ada 2 1 6 13 22

Bluf 9 14 10 9 42

Bluffton hosts winless Arcadia (0-7) in a non-league contest Saturday. "They have a young team," Garmatter noted.