By RYAN WALKER
It was difficult to find an area that Bluffton didn’t play well in Tuesday night, destroying the New Haven Bulldogs 84-16 at The Tiger Den.
The Tigers (6-1) picked up their four straight victory since a tough loss to East Noble earlier in the year. It didn’t allow for virtually anything, including just one point and zero baskets in the second half against a not-so-good Bulldog (1-5) team.
Bluffton shot 50% from three on 20 shots, 53% from the floor, turned the ball over only four times while forcing 20 and outrebounded New Haven by 14.
Konley Ault scored a game-high 15 points, Isabella Stout 14 and Madyson Sonnigsen splashed three triples for 13 points.
It’s been a common theme to beat down opponents this year for the Tigers, and the last four-game stretch has been the perfect example. In those four games, they’ve won by an average margin of 40 points per game. The opponents were against Huntington North, Mississinewa, North Miami.
So, how does head coach Doug Curtis keep his team focused on improving during the blowouts?
“We’ve preached for this year, and at times last year, that we want to not even talk about the other team that we’re playing,” Curtis said. “We want to worry about what we do and control what we do. This is that type of stretch that you do that.”
The Tigers controlled every aspect of their defense.
A’lanah Webb contributed 11 points to tie Stout at halftime for a game-high. But Curtis called for a 1-2-2 matchup and a 2-3 matchup defense that stalled her and the rest of the team without a basket for the third and fourth quarters.
“I liked what we got out of that today,” Curtis said.
Another controllable was the three-pointers, an aspect Bluffton has desperately needed under the Curtis regime. Tuesday night, they hit 10-20 and every player that attempted one eventually made one. Sonnigsen went 3-5 and has been perhaps the best deep shooter on the team for the past two seasons. Stout made 2-4, while freshmen Khloe Dick went 2-6.
When not taking threes, Bluffton still went to its bread and butter — transition scoring. The 20-36 from two wasn’t just any one scorer in particular, but eight different players made at least one bucket in the first quarter. Maryn Schreiber contributed nine points, Tressa Renner eight and Dick finished with nine. Marly Drayer hit a three and scored five on the night.
When Bluffton gets their three-point scoring to combine with their transition game, its resulted in the win column more often than not.
“They played a little zone today for probably two-thirds of the game or so,” Curtis said. “So it gives us an opportunity to pass around the perimeter, get the ball in the high post, kick it back out, some things like that. Last year we drove it almost every time we threw it in the high post. But this year, we’re confident enough in our shooting that we were doing that.”
Bluffton won the junior varsity contest 63-24. Kamryn Ault led the team with 16 points. Madelyn Funk, Krista Blair and Grace Fry added 10 each.
Bluffton will travel to South Adams starting at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 29.
ryan@news-banner.com
BLUFFTON 84, NEW HAVEN 16
At Bluffton
NEW HAVEN (1-5): A’lanah Webb 11 points, Mayzon Win 4, Monty Stewart-King 1, Ja’Anah Ware 0, Kalease Shurelds 0, Landry Gault 0. Uniyah Potter 0, Olivia Rush 0, Sophia DuBose 0, Hannah Goodrich 0. TOTALS: 7-47 1-4 16.
BLUFFTON (6-1): Konley Ault 6-8 4-5 15, Isabella Stout 3-11 4-5 14, Madyson Sonnigsen 5-7 0-0 13, Maryn Schreiber 4-8 1-2 9, Khloe Dick 3-9 1-2 9, Tressa Renner 3-5 1-2 8, Marly Drayer 1-3 2-2 5, Grace Fry 2-2 0-0 4, Kamryn Ault 1-1 1-1 3, Madelyn Funk 1-1 0-0 2Bridget Steffen 0-0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 30-56 14-20 84.
New Haven 9 6 1 0 — 16
Bluffton 30 17 17 20 — 84
Three-point Shooting: New Haven 1-23 (Webb 1), Bluffton 10-20 (Sonnigsen 3-5, Stout 2-4, Dick 2-6, Ko. Ault 1-2, Drayer 1-2, Renner 1-1). Rebounds: New Haven 16 (Webb 5, Shurelds 3, Stewart-King 2, Potter 2, Goodrich 2, Win 1, Rush 1), Bluffton 34 (Drayer 7, Sonnigsen 7, Ko. Ault 5, Schreiber 4, Stout 3, Dick 2, Eisenhut 2, Steffen 1, Funk 1, Ka. Ault 1, Renner 1). Turnovers: New Haven 20, Bluffton 4. Fouls: New Haven 14, Bluffton 5. Technicals None. Fouled out: None.
