By RICK SPRUNGER
It’s hard to beat a team that shoots nearly 60 percent from the field.
And that’s just what Northfield did Friday night at Bluffton, hitting on 23 of 40 shots from the field for a 57.5 shooting percentage on its way to a 62-52 win over the Tigers.
The Norsemen hit their first six shots of the contest and 20 of 33 (60.6 percent) through three quarters.
“Well, yeah, but look how many of them were wide open layups under the basket,” countered Bluffton coach Karl Grau after the game. “Their size hurt us at every position.
“Their offensive rebounds killed us in the first half especially.”
Northfield won the battle of the boards by a 29-22 margin.
But if Northfield’s shooting percentage belied its 3-14 record going into the contest, its ballhandling explained it.
The Norsemen turned the ball over 22 times and actually allowed Bluffton to get off the deck and get back into the game in the second half.
The Tigers were able to chop a 19-point, 43-24 deficit at the 3:56 mark of the third quarter all the way down to 55-47 with 2:41 left in the fourth.
But they couldn’t get any closer because they were as cold from the field as Northfield was hot.
Bluffton could hit on just 18 of 52 shots (34.6 percent) and was 0-for-10 from 3-point range.
Compounding its frustration was the number of inside shots that lipped out, which Grau counted as “six or seven in the first half alone.”
With both teams having lost 12 of their last 13 coming in, something had to give.
Unfortunately for the Tigers, Northfield got off to a red-hot start, hitting eight of its first 10 shots while Bluffton was missing 12 of its first 16.
That dropped the Tigers into an early 18-9 deficit, one that they could not get themselves out of with Northfield shooting as well as it did.
“I feel for these guys right now,” said Grau. “They’re giving all they have, and they’re just not getting any wins to show for it.
“They have good attitudes, and they’re playing hard all the time.”
Eli Kroh was Bluffton’s biggest problem.
The big junior scored 25 points for Northfield on 7-for-12 shooting from the floor and 10 of 11 free throws.
He was the only Northfield player to reach double figures.
Harrison Schreiber and Max Stoppenhagen shared the scoring load for Bluffton.
Schreiber led the Tigers with 24 points, including a 12-for-13 performance from the stripe.
Stoppenhagen added 15 points.
“They just played better than we did tonight,” summed up Grau.
Bluffton won the junior varsity contest by a 46-32 score.
Lukas Gehrett scored 10 points, Eli Garrett 9, and Andrew Hunt 8 to lead the Tigers.
Bluffton’s freshmen team topped the Northfield frosh, 47-9.
Nolan Lambert led the way for Bluffton with 13 points.
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NORTHFIELD 62, BLUFFTON 52
At Bluffton High School
NORTHFIELD (4-14): Jaxton Peas 2-3 2-3 6, Jake Halderman 4-7 0-0 8, Eli Kroh 7-12 10-11 25, Kaleb Krom 4-5 0-0 8, Noah Burkhart 3-4 0-0 6, Kamden Carpenter 1-3 0-0 3, Dillon Tomlinson 2-6 0-0 6, C.J. Long 0-0 0-1 0. TOTAL: 23-40 12-15 62.
BLUFFTON (3-16): Max Stoppenhagen 7-17 1-1 15, Harrison Schreiber 6-15 12-13 24, Tucker Jenkins 2-3 0-0 4, Carter McConnell 1-3 3-4 5, Andrew Ball 1-6 0-0 2, Sam Baumgartner 0-5 0-0 0, Fletcher Wenger 0-0 0-0 0, Markis Crosbie 1-2 0-0 2, Eli Garrett 0-1 0-0 0, Hunter Wenger 0-0 0-0 0. TOTAL: 18-52 16-18 52.
Northfield 16 18 12 16 –– 62
Bluffton 9 14 10 19 –– 52
Three-point Goals: Northfield 4-8 (Halderman 0-1, Kroh 1-1, Carpenter 1-1, Tomlinson 2-5), Bluffton 0-10 (Stoppenhagen 0-5, Schreiber 0-2, Ball 0-1, Baumgartner 0-1, Garrett 0-1). Rebounds: Northfield 29 (Halderman 6, Kroh 6), Bluffton 22 (Schreiber 6). Turnovers: Northfield 22, Bluffton 13. Fouls: Northfield 13, Bluffton 17. Fouled Out: None. Technicals: None.
JV: Bluffton 46, Northfield 32
Freshmen: Bluffton 47, Northfield 9
