By ANDREW FEEBACK
Statistically speaking, it wasn’t the prettiest of wins for the Bluffton Tiger basketball team Tuesday night.
The final score was much more to their liking, however, as they defeated the visiting Northfield Norsemen by the score of 76-42.
“When everybody asked me today, I didn’t really say what we were going to get offensively, because I didn’t really know how that would go,” coach Doug Curtis said. “We were going to try and push tempo and do what we always do, but I knew it wouldn’t be like Saturday. That was a team we didn’t have to worry about, and this was a team we did have to worry about. What I was telling them was what I thought the difference in the game should be, and I was pretty happy with the point spread.”
The Tigers (2-0) were fresh off a 99-point outburst three nights earlier against Fort Wayne Canterbury, though as Curtis mentioned, this game was against a tougher opponent.
Bluffton was never really threatened in this one, but Northfield (1-2) stayed close for a while, drawing within 25-18 midway through the second frame. The Tigers gradually began to pull away from that point, leading 42-23 at halftime and eventually pushing the lead over 30 points in the fourth.
Isabella Stout topped the Tigers with 23 points, while freshman Khloe Dick added 21. Konley Ault chipped in 10 in spite of what felt like an off-game for her.
“Konley struggled a bit tonight, so Khloe Dick stepped up and had a big night,” Curtis said. “That’s what’s going to happen for us. We’ve got three really good, driving perimeter players between Bella, Konley and Khloe. If we can get two of those going, and we did tonight, we’ll be fine.”
Northfield didn’t get much outside of Elliott Baker, who led all scorers with 24 points.
Bluffton was 26-65 from the field for 40%, including 6-19 from beyond the arc. Northfield was 13-8 overall and 1-12 from deep.
A textbook early-season basketball game will often have a lot of whistles and very little flow. That was certainly the case in this one, with the teams combining for 39 fouls and 53 free throws attempts.
While Curtis was glad to see his team get to the free throw line 28 times, he wants to see them cut back on the fouls.
“We have to continue to work on our defense,” he said. “One thing I wasn’t happy with tonight, we reached too much. That might be the only thing I was really disappointed in. We didn’t shoot the three very well, but we’re not going to shoot it great every game.”
“We’ve just got to continue to improve at the little things,” he continued. “It’s only the second game, and we didn’t get much of a challenge in the first game. This was better, a step up, and then Saturday is going to be a big step up.”
The Tigers will travel to East Noble Saturday night.
Bluffton also won the junior varsity game 43-27. Kamryn Ault had 15 points. Madelyn Funk added seven, while Isla Gibson, Grace Fry, Addison Kauffman and Krista Blair each had four.
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BLUFFTON 76,
NORTHFIELD 42
At Bluffton
NORTHFIELD (1-2): Elliott Baker 8-15 7-8 24, Camryn Kuhn 0-7 0-0 0, Callie Hoffman 0-3 1-4 1, Laney Haupert 1-13 2-4 4, Ayla Dale 0-1 0-0 0, Teagan Baer 3-6 3-5 9, Emma Wilson 0-0 0-0 0, Emily Miller 0-0 2-2 2, Millie Higgins 0-1 0-0 0, Faith Krom 1-1 0-0 2, Ali Copeland 0-1 0-0 0. TOTALS: 13-48 15-25 42.
BLUFFTON (1-3): Khloe Dick 8-16 2-2 21, Isabella Stout 7-18 8-12 23, Konley Ault 3-10 4-6 10, Marly Drayer 0-0 0-0 0, Maryn Schreiber 2-7 0-0 4, Tressa Renner 1-5 1-2 3, Madyson Sonnigsen 2-4 2-4 8, Madelyn Funk 0-0 0-0 0, Sophie Eisenhut 1-3 1-2 3, Isla Gibson 1-1 0-0 2, Kamryn Ault 1-1 0-0 2. TOTALS: 26-65 18-28 76.
Northfield 13 10 12 7 — 42
Bluffton 19 23 14 20 — 76
Three-point Field Goals: Northfield 1-12 (Baker 1-3, Haupert 0-5, Kuhn 0-4), Bluffton 6-19 (Dick 3-9, Sonnigsen 2-4, Stout 1-3, Renner 0-2, Ault 0-1). Rebounds: Northfield 29 (Baer 7, Baker 5, Hoffman 5, Haupert 3, Kuhn 3, Miller 2, Krom 2, Higgins 1, Copeland 1), Bluffton 43 (Schreiber 11, Stout 8, Sonnigsen 6, Eisenhut 6, Ault 4, Dick 3, Renner 3, Drayer 2). Turnovers: Northfield 24, Bluffton 13. Fouls: Northfield 18, Bluffton 21. Fouled out: None. Technicals: None.
JV: Bluffton 43, Northfield 27.
