By ANDREW FEEBACK
SPEICHERVILLE — If Friday night’s basketball game had lasted one second longer, the Bluffton Tigers would have come home with a victory.
Instead, an impressive fourth-quarter rally came up one point short, and the Tigers lost to the host Northfield Norsemen 48-47.
The first three quarters were a struggle for Bluffton (2-16), but the Tigers chipped away at an 11-point deficit and gave themselves a chance to win at the end.
“Guys didn’t want to lose,” coach Karl Grau said. “They showed a lot of competitive spirit and played hard. If we could have played that way for four quarters, we win the game. I think we found something with how we played there in that fourth quarter. That was fun to watch.”
Bluffton fell behind 10-2 early and spent the rest of the game trying to claw back. They trailed 30-23 at the half and saw that deficit grow to 38-26 late in the third.
Defensive breakdowns were a problem throughout the night, with Northfield (6-13) finding gaps in the defense and getting the ball down low to Noah Burkhart, who led all scorers with 20 points.
But in the fourth quarter, the Tigers were more successful at keeping the ball out of Burkhart’s hands, which seemed to disrupt the Norsemen’s offensive flow.
Bluffton also had no turnovers in the fourth quarter after having 16 over the previous three.
Kaden Grau’s three-pointer capped a 7-0 run that brought the Tigers within 42-38.
Northfield’s Joseph Delgado got a tough shot underneath to drop before Sam Baumgartner knocked down a triple.
Burkhart scored his only basket of the quarter, then Grau hit another three, and the Tigers were suddenly down by just two.
Eli Kroh, who finished with 16 points, got down the lane and converted to put the Norse up 48-44.
The Tigers went inside to Hunter Wenger, who dropped it in to cut the lead to two again with 1:10 to play.
Easton Shaw drew a foul but missed a one-and-one. Bluffton took a timeout, then got the ball to Wenger in the paint again. He was fouled on the shot, giving him two free throws and a chance to tie the game with 11 seconds left. But his first shot missed.
“That free throw didn’t cost us the game,” Grau said. “There were so many plays in this game that we could have had that would have allowed us to win. Hunter played hard and did a great job tonight. I was proud of him.”
Wenger made his second attempt, bringing Bluffton within one. The Tigers sent Kroh to the line for a one-and-bonus. He missed, giving the Tigers a chance to win. The ball ended up in the hands of freshman AJ Streveler, whose three-pointer from the wing rimmed out.
Tucker Jenkins tipped in the miss a split second after the buzzer sounded, another tough break in a season that’s had plenty.
Grau and Wenger both scored 13 points to lead the Tigers, while Jenkins added nine.
Bluffton will host Bellmont Friday night.
The JV Tigers beat Northfield 50-28. Declan Grieser scored 17 points, while Nolan Lambert had nine.
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NORTHFIELD 48,
BLUFFTON 47
At Northfield High School
BLUFFTON (2-16): Sam Baumgartner 2-3 0-0 5, Hutch Craighead 0-1 0-0 0, Eli Garrett 0-3 0-0 0, Hunter Wenger 6-12 1-3 13, Kaden Grau 5-12 0-0 13, Fletcher Wenger 2-3 0-0 5, AJ Streveler 1-5 0-0 2, Andrew Hunt 0-0 0-0 0, Tucker Jenkins 4-6 1-4 9, Kaleb Green 0-0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 20-45 2-7 47.
NORTHFIELD (6-13): Carter Rodgers 0-0 0-0 0, Jaden Baer 1-2 0-0 2, Easton Shaw 0-0 0-1 0, Dillon Tomlinson 1-7 2-2 4, Ty Leming 0-0 0-0 0, Blake Aderman 0-0 0-0 0, Tyson Baer 0-0 0-0 0, Parker Oswalt 0-0 0-0 0, Eli Kroh 6-11 3-5 16, Joseph Delgado 3-8 0-2 6, Josh Boring 0-0 0-0 0, Noah Burkhart 10-12 0-1 20, Pablo Rodriguez 0-0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 21-40 5-11 48.
Bluffton 9 14 6 18 — 47
Northfield 14 16 10 8 — 48
Three-point Goals: Bluffton 5-17 (Grau 3-8, Baumgartner 1-2, Fletcher Wenger 1-1, Streveler 0-4, Craighead 0-1, Garrett 0-1), Northfield 1-5 (Kroh 1-1, Tomlinson 0-3, Jaden Baer 0-1). Rebounds: Bluffton 24 (Jenkins 9, Hunter Wenger 5, Fletcher Wenger 4, Streveler 3, Grau 1, Baumgartner 1, Garrett 1), Northfield 19 (Delgado 6, Tomlinson 4, Burkhart 3, Rodriguez 2, Jaden Baer 2, Kroh 2). Turnovers: Bluffton 16, Northfield 11. Fouls: Bluffton 14, Northfield 9. Fouled out: None. Technicals: None.
JV: Bluffton 50, Northfield 28.
