By Cort Reynolds

At the end of three quarters, the defending league champion Bluffton High School boys basketball team was tied with first-place Spencerville in a Northwest Conference showdown on Friday night, January 27. But the Bearcats outscored Bluffton 23-12 in the final quarter and posted a 58-47 win.

Bluffton led 13-9 after one quarter before 6-5 junior Carter Sudhoff scored eight points in the second stanza to lead the hosts to a 16-5 period and a 25-19 halftime lead.

The Pirates overcame a seven-point deficit to forge a 35-35 knot heading to the final stanza.

Pirate sophomore Marek Donaldson netted eight of his 13 points in the third quarter.

Bluffton fell to 8-6 overall and 4-2 in the NWC with the defeat. First-place Spencerville improved to 15-1 overall and 5-0 in the NWC after the win.

CONTINUES

Senior Carson Soper tallied a dozen markers. Pirate Landen Worcester contributed nine points, and Wade Ginther added seven.

Sudhoff led all players with 18 points. Josh Henline netted 15 points for the Bearcats and Dylan Smith added 14.

Bluffton connected on 17 field goals in 39 tries (44 percent). The Pirates netted 10 baskets inside the arc, while they also splashed seven three-point goals. 

Bluffton converted six of nine attempts at the foul line (67 percent).

The Bearcats canned 24 of 50 shots from the field (48 percent), making 22 two-point goals but just two treys. 

The victors converted eight of 12 shots from the charity stripe to also shoot 67 percent. 

The Pirates committed 18 turnovers, and the Bearcats made    just nine miscues. Spencerville won the rebound battle, 20-18.

S'ville 58 (15-1, 5-0 NWC)

Henline 6 1-2 15, D. Smith 7 0-2 14, Sudhoff 8 2-2 18, Orr 3 3-4 9, Cook 0 2-2 2.

Totals: 24-50/8-12/58. 3-pointers: Henline 2.

Bluffton 47 (8-6, 4-2 NWC)

Donaldson 5 0-0 13, L. Ginther 0 0-0 0, Soper 5 1-2 12, W. Ginther 3 0-0 7, Worcester 2 4-5 9, Boblitt 2 0-0 5, Wright 0 0-0 0, Yoder 0 1-2 1, Hilty 0 0-0 0.

Totals: 17-39/6-9/47. 3-pointers: Donaldson 3, W. Ginther 1, Boblitt 1, Worcester 1, Soper 1.

1 2 3 4 F

Svl 9 16 10 23 58

Bluf 13 5 17 12 47

Bluffton visits tough non-league local foe Pandora-Gilboa (12-3) Saturday, Jan. 28. P-G routed Cory-Rawson 68-28 Friday night.