By RYAN WALKER
Eastbrook’s adjustments in the second half spoiled what could have been a big win for Bluffton against a team with a now 18-1 record.
The 66-52 score doesn’t indicate the lead changes, multiple runs and clutch shots that both teams made Thursday night at The Tiger Den. But the Panthers were the ones who took the last run of 18-10 late and had the Tigers licking their paws in defeat.
“We’re playing the No. 4 team in the state and they shoot the ball extremely well,” Bluffton head coach Doug Curtis said after the game. “They took us out of our defense — we didn’t even attempt the defense I like to play. I was happy for three to three and a half quarters in there and we just didn’t put the finishing touches on it.”
The two high-scoring teams got right to work after the opening tipoff. Bluffton went full steam ahead into an 11-7 advantage in less than three minutes. Then, Eastbrook’s head coach Jeff Liddick blew an early timeout that aided their own run. In less than two minutes after the timeout, Olivia Howell and Grace College commit Sophia Morrison stormed the Panthers ahead 16-11.
Eastbrook hit four threes in the quarter, three of them by Kortney Goff and one from Morrison.
Tigers’ forward Maryn Schreiber played her part well in dousing the 24-point fire out from the Panthers. She shredded through the man-to-man defense and made six buckets down in the paint.
Her 12 points in the first quarter kept the Tigers in the game and opened up the floor for the rest of the team. That’s where Bluffton took its turn.
To begin the second, Eastbrook stretched its 5-point lead to nine. With 4:13 remaining in the half, Marly Drayer drained her first and only three-point attempt to get down by six. Then, she picked off a Panther pass to score an easy two.
Eastbrook’s Mia Bustos hit her only shot of the night, and final one for the Panthers in the final 3:20. Madyson Sonnigsen started a final burst of points with a three in the corner, while Konley Ault cleaned a pair of baskets, and found the Tigers a lead before the break at 35-32.
Bluffton went 18-6 in the second and had hope with the No. 4 team in 2A, but unfortunately for the Tigers, that was when the Panthers took its turn.
Bluffton was just fine for half of the third quarter, as Schreiber found two more makes to add to her 16-point, six-rebound night. Isabella Stout’s free throws in the final two minutes of the period held on to a 44-36 lead.
But Morrison hit two jumpers and edged to a 44-41 deficit that quickly dwindled down with Audri Prater’s three and four points to Howell.
Howell’s free throws would give the Panthers the lead 48-46 into the final quarter.
Sonnigsen, who hit a three in the same corner already, went back-to-back to spark life for the Tigers after the 12-2 run. But that could not stop Prater, Howell and Morrison.
The three combined for a final 16-0 run, creating turnovers and suffocating Schreiber in the post. The Tigers forward and leading scorer had no attempts in the fourth quarter, and the team went only 2-5 in the period due to the turnovers.
Meanwhile, Eastbrook hit two threes and made every free throw down the stretch and pulled out a victory.
Curtis explained the frustration, as the Panthers cooked up a defensive scheme against Schreiber and went after their weakness.
“Our gameplan was really good,” Curtis said about the first half with Schreiber’s six made shots. “We were driving lanes and were able to get the ball inside, but (Eastbrook) took her away as they continued to change defenses and they finally found that one where it all packed two-on-two on there and we didn’t have the driving lanes. Then, it became more of a passing game, and that’s been a struggle of ours all year. So, I thought in the fourth quarter that was the key is once you found the pack two-one-two instead of the spread out stuff, it made a difference and we struggled.”
Bluffton now falls to 15-6 on the season after going 12-1 to start the season. Its tough competition against Fairfield, Woodlan, Bellmont, Jay County and Eastbrook in the final games of the regular season have hurt them, now 3-4 since Dec. 21.
There are only two matches remaining for the Tigers, at Heritage and hosting Manchester for Senior Night. Those will be the final opportunities before the team heads to South Adams for the state tournament. The pairing show is taking place at 5:30 p.m. this Sunday on the IHSAA website.
“To get over that hump to win a sectional and win these last couple games with confidence, we have to be tougher with the basketball every possession,” Curtis said. “And, it can’t be three-quarters of that, it has to be four-quarters of that. You’ve got to be tough.”
Bluffton travels to play the Patriots at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 20.
Bluffton fell in the junior varsity contest 33-22. Isla Gibson had seven points and Addison Yates five.
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EASTBROOK 66, BLUFFTON 52
At Bluffton
EASTBROOK (18-1): Olivia Howell 12-18 2-3 26, Sophia Morrison 3-8 6-6 14, Kortney Goff 4-7 0-0 12, Audri Prater 1-5 2-2 5, Estah McKim 2-4 0-0 4, Mia Bustos 1-3 0-0 2. TOTALS: 24-45 10-11 66.
BLUFFTON (15-6): 8-9 0-0 16, Isabella Stout 4-8 1-2 9, Madyson Sonnigsen 3-4 0-0 9, Konley Ault 3-6 1-1 7, Haley Gibson 3-8 0-0 6, Marly Drayer 2-4 0-0 5, Tressa Renner 0-1 0-0 0, Sophie Eisenhut 0-0 0-0 0, Cayah King 0-0 0-0 0.TOTALS: 23-40 2-3 52.
Eastbrook 24 8 16 18 –– 66
Bluffton 19 16 11 10 –– 52
Three-point FG: Eastbrook 8-18 (Goff 4-6, Morrison 2-6, Howell 0-1), Bluffton 4-10 (Sonnigsen 3-4, Drayer 1-1, Renner 0-1, Stout 0-1, Gibson 0-3). Rebounds: Eastbrook 16 (McKim 6, Howell 3, Prater 3, Bustos 2, Morrison 1, Goff 1), Bluffton 17 (Schreiber 6, Stout 4, Sonnigsen 3, Ault 2, Gibson 1, Drayer 1). Turnovers: Eastbrook 9, Bluffton 17. Fouls: Eastbrook 7, Bluffton 11. Fouled Out: None. Technicals: None.
JV: 33-22 Eastbrook.
