By RICK SPRUNGER
WABASH – Bluffton’s Lady Tigers made a really nice fourth-quarter run at Northfield Tuesday night, rallying from a 33-22 deficit to take a 34-33 lead.
Unfortunately for Bluffton, however, the Tigers couldn’t hang on and dropped a 47-39 non-conference decision to a tall and talented Northfield bunch.
“We gassed out,” said Bluffton coach Eric Mounsey of his team’s falter at the finish line. “We went scoreless for several minutes (after taking the lead).
“We’re still working on learning how to compete for a full 32 minutes.”
Bluffton’s big rally started after it had scored just 2 points in the first six minutes of the second half and had fallen behind, 33-22.
Marly Drayer scored from the lane, and Ryleigh Johnson added a layup to trim the margin to 33-26 at the third-quarter break.
Monroe Heller then took over.
She hit the first of two free throws seven seconds into the final stanza, then rebounded the miss of her second free toss, stepped behind the arc, and drilled a three to cut the gap to 33-30.
Heller, who led Bluffton (6-9) with 14 points, then stole the ball on the other end and fed Haley Gibson for a layup and a 1-point game.
Moments later, Gibson connected from the right corner with her foot on the line and a 34-33 lead with 6:49 left.
But Bluffton didn’t score again for another nearly three minutes.
And Northfield (8-7) ran off 9 unanswered points before a Tressa Renner 3-pointer stemmed the bleeding.
But the Norse immediately scored another 5 straight points afterwards to render Heller’s layup with 12 seconds remaining meaningless.
“Little things mattered,” said Mounsey of his team’s struggles down the stretch. “We would get a big stop, but we would then miss some easy bunnies or would take shots too early in the possession and end up not getting a score.
“Those are just huge momentum stoppers.”
Bluffton’s biggest problem all night, however, was on the boards, where it was soundly beaten by a 36-22 margin.
“Northfield rebounded really, really well,” said Mounsey. “They are big, and they’ve got a lot of length.
“We needed to box out, and we didn’t do that.
“And that just really hurt us on the glass.”
Things started getting away from the Tigers in the second quarter.
Bluffton had taken a 17-14 lead after one quarter on Heller’s 3-pointer with 36 seconds left but then went ice-cold.
The Tigers missed 14 of their last 15 shots in the first half and managed only an Isabella Stout layup in the first five and a half minutes of the third quarter to fall into that 33-22 hole.
It was then that they came alive before faltering down the stretch.
Heller was the only player to reach double figures for Bluffton, which finished 15-for-52 from the field for a 28.9 shooting percentage.
Northfield was led by Emily Pennington’s 17 points and 10 rebounds and Hannah Holmes’ 10 points and 12 rebounds.
The Norse were 19-for-49 from the field for a 38.8 percentage.
Northfield also won a 25-9 decision in the junior varsity contest, which was shortened to two quarters.
Kennedy Nash scored 3 points and Cayah King, Ayla Nern, and Madi Fenstermaker 2 apiece for Bluffton.
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NORTHFIELD 47, BLUFFTON 39
At Northfield High School
BLUFFTON (6-9): Isabella Stout 2-3 0-0 5, Ryleigh Johnson 3-6 2-2 8, Monroe Heller 5-18 1-2 14, Maryn Schreiber 0-5 0-0 0, Haley Gibson 3-7 0-2 6, Tressa Renner 1-5 0-0 3, Marly Drayer 1-4 1-2 3, Lily King 0-4 0-0 0. TOTAL: 15-52 4-8 39.
NORTHFIELD (8-7): Addy Rosen 2-3 0-0 5, Ainsley Dale 1-5 0-1 2, Eden Hoover 2-9 3-3 8, Emily Pennington 8-12 1-2 17, Hannah Holmes 4-12 2-2 10, 2-9 0-0 6, Elli Baker 2-6 0-0 5, Camryn Kuhn 0-2 0-0 0. TOTAL: 19-49 6-8 47.
Bluffton 17 3 6 13 –– 39
Northfield 14 12 7 14 –– 47
Three-point Goals: Bluffton 5-20 (Stout 1-1, Heller 3-11, Gibson 0-2, Renner 1-2, Drayer 0-2, King 0-2), Northfield 3-12 (Rosen 1-1, Dale 0-3, Hoover 1-4, Pennington 0-1, Baker 1-2, Kuhn 0-1). Rebounds: Bluffton 22 (Johnson 6), Northfield 36 (Holmes 12, Pennington 10, Baker 6). Turnovers: Bluffton 11, Northfield 14. Fouls: Bluffton 11, Northfield 13. Fouled Out: None. Technicals: None.
JV: Northfield 25, Bluffton 9.
