By RYAN WALKER
More shooting woes continued for Bluffton, but everything else was more than enough to win its conference opener 60-39 over South Adams Friday night at The Tiger Den.
The win gave Bluffton head coach Doug Curtis his first in the ACAC as the Tigers’ skipper, who was previously at Adams Central, and helped the group improve to a perfect 6-0 record.
The Starfires (2-5) lost several key players last season in a 13-11 showing and only seven were available in Friday night’s matchup due to low numbers and injuries.
One of the key losses was Peyton Pries, by far South Adams’ leading scorer, but her sister, Macy, returned for her senior year as the main piece. On Friday night, Bluffton keyed in on her and kept her quiet for most of the night. For Curtis, that was crucial for conference win No. 1.
“I thought going in, as long as we do what we’re supposed to do, and we do a good job on Pries, we’ll be fine,” he said.
Pries, who netted her 1,000th career point in her last game, finished with just two made shots and a couple of free throws for eight points. She went 2-10 from the floor and had to get other teammates Addie Baker and Laney Trausch involved.
Curtis still thought there could be more room for improvement from his game plan, as she had success finding Baker with 13 points and Trausch 10.
“Every time (Pries) gave the ball up, we were trying to deny her from getting the ball back,” Curtis said. “I didn’t think we did a great job of that. but we did enough of a job to bother her when she did drive, we had two people on her the whole time. So that was pretty good.”
Despite the 21-point victory, the Tigers were 21-55 (39 percent) from the floor, with most of the baskets from close range and in transition.
The team made 30 shots at a 44 percent clip in its previous win over New Haven on Wednesday, but even then, Curtis has been emphasizing offense from mid-range and beyond.
“When you’re talking to kids about shooting, then they’re feeling more pressure,” Curtis said. “So, they need to try to not to talk (about it). There’s all kinds of things going on there. But they know that they’re not shooting the ball as well as they want to shoot it, so we tried to shut up and work on it in practice. But you know, it’s a pressure thing.”
Like the New Haven game two days before, the Tigers were cold at the beginning. They didn’t make their first bucket until a layup by Isabella Stout at the 3:31 mark.
Haley Gibson added a pair of makes to respond to the Starfires’ spurt of makes. To end the quarter, Madyson Sonnigsen nailed a three to take a 12-10 lead.
At the 3:38 point, South Adams used a timeout, but Bluffton was 1-7 in the quarter by that point. But that was when the Tigers pounced on three straight turnovers and cashed in to aid a 10-0 run.
That burst of offense made it a 10-point game, and Bluffton outscored South Adams the rest of the way 36-25.
One thing is for certain about this Tigers’ team led by Curtis — he will lead the charge on the defensive end.
The Tigers allowed under 40 points for the third time this season, and have averaged 40 points given up per contest.
In the third quarter, the Starfires didn’t make a single shot and finished with five points via the free throw line. The 19 turnovers helped the team get easier looks for points on the other end.
Perhaps a new face provided a spark, as freshman Sophie Eisenhut was given her most minutes on varsity this season. She has soaked up junior varsity minutes during the first five games of the season, therefore, leaving her without a chance following those games. South Adams does not have a junior varsity team, and Eisenhut got her audition, and Curtis was impressed with her four rebounds, a couple of blocks, and hitting the free throw line a few times.
“Well, that’s what was going to happen eventually — the question was when,” Curtis said of Eisenhut’s more prominent role on Friday night. “I think that’ll continue to happen in the future. We want to be bigger, and that’s the way to get bigger.”
Stout was the leading scorer with 13 points. Gibson tallied 12, while Konley Ault added 10.
Bluffton’s next game will be at Blackford at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 30.
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BLUFFTON 60, SOUTH ADAMS 39
At Bluffton
SOUTH ADAMS (2-5, 0-1 ACAC): Addie Baker 4-10 5-9 13, Laney Trausch 4-10 2-2 10, Macy Pries 2-10 3-8 8, Liz Gerber 1-8 2-3 5, Emmerson Smith 0-6 2-4 2, Bekah Patterson 0-3 0-0 0. TOTALS: 11-47 14-26 39.
BLUFFTON (6-0, 1-0 ACAC): Isabella Stout 5-11 3-4 13, Haley Gibson 5-15 0-0 12, Konley Ault 5-9 1-3 12, Maryn Schreiber 2-5 2-4 6, Madyson Sonnigsen 2-5 0-0 6, Sophie Eisenhut 1-3 2-4 4, Tressa Renner 1-2 0-0 3, Marly Drayer 1-4 0-0 2, Cayah King 0-1 0-0 0, Madelyn Funk 0-1 0-0 0, Addison Yates 0-0 0-0 0, Isla Gibson 0-0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 21-55 7-14 60.
South Adams 10 7 5 17 –– 39
Bluffton 12 18 14 17 –– 60
Three-point FG: South Adams: 2-8 (Pries 1-2, Gerber 1-4, Smith 0-2), Bluffton: 6-16 (Sonnigsen 2-4, H. Gibson 2-8, Ault 1-1, Renner 1-1) Rebounds: South Adams: 23 (Gerber 8, Patterson 6, Trausch 4, Pries 3, Baker 2), Bluffton: 38 (Stout 6, H. Gibson 6, Drayer 5, Sonnigsen 5, Renner 5, Eisenhut 4, Schreiber 4, King 2, Ault 2). Turnovers: South Adams 19, Bluffton 9. Fouls: South Adams 10, Bluffton 18. Fouled Out: None. Technicals: None.
JV: No JV Game.
