By RYAN WALKER
The Tigers replicated its stellar 68 percent shooting rate from the last game with another 68 percent night against Lakeland Christian.
In a 68-40 home blowout for the Tigers (2-1), the Craig Teagle-led group has now matched their win total from last season just three games into the season.
“Proud of the kids,” Teagle said after the game. “That puts them at 2-1. Being above .500 is big at this point, and we’ve got to try to use some of that momentum going into next weekend.”
The only difference in the South Adams game last week to Friday night was that they never let Lakeland (0-5) have a chance.
A slow start and just five points for the team to begin the first quarter turned into an 8-0 run in the last three minutes of the period. Declan Grieser scored three of them, benefitting from Cougar turnovers in transition.
That quick run expanded to the second quarter with another burst at 9-2, this time led by Kaleb Green’s seven points. Tucker Jenkins also got involved in both of the stretches with a bucket each time.
The team closed the half leading 29-11 after scoring five points in the first five minutes. Since that 2:53 mark in the first quarter, Bluffton outscored Lakeland 24-8.
The Tiger offense was almost solely based on their forwards. Jenkins, Grieser and Green contributed all but six points at the break. Cameron Williams and Axton Beste’s three-pointers were the only times their guards lit up the scoreboard in the first half.
“It’s huge,” Teagle said when asked about getting the forwards involved early in the game. “That’s what we’re trying to get done — get it to the bigs. And when you get it to bigs, (the) defense collapses. That means you’re going to get inside out wide-open threes or a ball reversal and you’ll go to an x-post where the defense is running and scrambling. That’s our game plan every night to get it to our bigs. Get it in there and establish it and play off of them.”
Lakeland made a few adjustments at halftime to try and stop buckets in the post, but as Teagle said, it opened up the floor for open looks.
Eli Garrett hit a triple to open the second half and hit another later in the quarter. Williams hit his second of the night, all while the post was still feeding Jenkins and Griser, adding eight more points together in the third.
But perhaps the only blemish on the night in Teagle’s eyes was his team’s defense, especially on the Cougars’ Micah Martin.
Martin scored half of his game-high 24 points in the third quarter. He hit a pair of threes in the third while scoring nine points from the charity stripe on the night.
The more Lakeland drove the lane, the more Bluffton would, as Teagle called it, gamble and get beat either with a foul or getting beat for a layup.
He mentioned that the team was out of character on defense Friday night, and that will be a point of emphasis in the near future. Even the team agreed that it wasn’t their best effort.
“We had one of the best practices we’ve had all year (on Thursday),” Teagle said. “We were focused. We were intense. That’s what we just talked to them about. If you would have played like you practiced tonight, how many points would they have? They’re like ‘maybe 20.’ But we didn’t take that same intensity over tonight.”
Bluffton was on the hook for 14 fouls in the game which produced 12 points at the free-throw line for Lakeland.
But the Tigers still have time in the early season and have life despite their 2-20 record last year. They’re shooting at a high clip in three games, and starting to find an identity.
“I’ll be honest, the Blackford game, the South Adams game and tonight, I thought we moved the ball really well. We got ball reversals, got some inside outside. Still, we take four or five (shots) that are a little questionable — I think we can get a better shot on each possession. But they’re doing a nice job at trying to buy in and learn what we’re trying to get done.”
Bluffton will be at Southern Wells for a Wells County/ACAC game starting at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 15.
Bluffton won the junior varsity game 28-6, playing only one half. Nolan Lambert scored eight to lead the way and Griffin Morgan added six.
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BLUFFTON 68, LAKELAND CHRISTIAN 40
At
LAKELAND CHRISTIAN (0-5): Micah Martin 6-11 9-11 24, Josiah Rice 4-8 2-3 10, Aaron Gause 1-4 0-0 3, Ethan Gaff 1-2 1-1 3, Zaiden Miller 0-1 0-0 0, Jashawn Zielasko 0-2 0-0 0, Isaiah Stahl 0-0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 12-29 12-15 40.
BLUFFTON (2-1): Tucker Jenkins 8-10 0-0 16, Kaleb Green 5-8 4-6 15, Declan Grieser 6-6 0-0 12, Eli Garrett 2-4 0-0 6, Axton Beste 2-4 0-0 5, Cameron Williams 2-4 0-0 6, Hunter Wenger 2-4 0-2 4, Andrew Hunt 1-1 0-0 3, Nolan Lambert 0-0 0-0 0, Ben Maggard 0-0 0-0 0, Jude Baumgartner 0-0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 28-41 4-8 68.
Lakeland 3 8 17 12 –– 40
Bluffton 13 16 23 16 –– 68
Three-point FG: Lakeland Christian: 4-16 (Martin 3-8, Gause 1-4, Rice 0-2, Miller 0-1, Zielasko 0-1), Bluffton: 7-13 (Garrett 2-4, Williams 2-3, Beste 1-2, Green 1-2, Hunt 1-1). Rebounds: Lakeland Christian: 14 (Rice 5, Zielasko 3, Martin 2, Gause 2, Gaff 1, Stahl 1), Bluffton: 15 (Beste 5, Jenkins 3, Williams 3, Grieser 2, Green 1, Wenger 1).Turnovers: Lakeland Christian 16, Bluffton 7. Fouls: Lakeland Christian 5, Bluffton 14. Fouled Out: None. Technicals: None.
JV: 28-6 Bluffton (one half).
