By RYAN WALKER
For three quarters, Bluffton was the much better team over Lakewood Park Saturday night.
The Tigers (5-3) got right back on track after losing two in a row, defeating the visiting Panthers (2-6) by a wide margin of 71-40.
Of course, that one quarter was the first quarter, where Lakewood Park came out swinging. It splashed four of its six total threes for the game in that opening bout. Bluffton was just trying to get its feet wet.
If it hadn’t been for Ben Maggard’s three-pointer and Marshall Gerber’s bucket in the final minute and change, the Tigers could have been down 19-7 at the end of the first. But the quick run may have been what the team needed to have some confidence for the rest of the game.
“I thought (Lakewood Park) played pretty well — you’ve got to give them credit,” Bluffton head coach Craig Teagle said. “They hit some threes. They had a couple kids hit that aren’t great three-point shooters, but knocked them in. Our game plan was (to) try to keep the ball out of (leading scorer and rebounder Avery MacFarlane’s) hands, so I may have over-gameplanned it and I got our kids so worried about the inside that we gave up some open shots.”
The Panthers went 6-9 from the floor in the period, but that hot hand cindered to ice cold for the rest of the game.
Maggard hit his second three 10 seconds into the second quarter and was met by a Panther three by Davi Freitas on the next possession; but Cameron Williams responded with one of his own. Then, the Tigers went on a tear.
Bluffton slashed through an 8-0 run, briefly interrupted by a Freitas bucket, then resumed for a 9-2 stretch. Declan Grieser scored nine points in a row for Bluffton at one point that included a layup to officially take the lead for good at the 4:21 mark.
In total for the second quarter, Bluffton scored 25 points to Lakewood’s 11 and took a 37-30 lead heading into halftime.
The Tigers aren’t known, nor do they want to be known, for their three-point shooting. Grieser, Kaleb Green and Maggard are the forwards that help orchestrate Teagle’s offense in the paint. But when they hit four threes in the second quarter that gained ground and eventually took the lead, the Tigers couldn’t help it.
“I thought we had post position, we just didn’t go there,” Teagle said. “I thought we relied on the three a little bit too much, but we were hitting it — I admit that — but we always want to go to the post to size them up and then go outside.”
The second half was a good mixture of three-point baskets, two-point baskets and transition points — not to mention stellar defense.
That 19-12 spread in the first quarter seemed ancient, as Bluffton crushed Lakewood Park over the next 16 minutes. The Tigers scored 12 in the third quarter and picked up a big fourth with 22 points. Marshall Gerber continued to feast from beyond the arc, making four threes (one in each quarter) and finished with 14 points. Greiser made it to the free throw line and sprinted down the floor on numerous occasions for twos and finished with 25 points.
More impressively, Bluffton’s defense allowed only three shots made from its opposition in the second half and zero in the fourth quarter. The final spread in the second half became 34-10.
A big night for Grieser and Gerber.
The Grieser and Gerber had a great offense night for the Tigers.
Greiser has played the forward role as his graduated counterpart Tucker Jenkins did last season. Despite being 6’, Greiser has been a pain to guard as he delivers high points and rebounds totals.
“Declan just plays harder or faster than the guy playing or guarding him,” Teagle said. “The points he got tonight, eight might have been in transition just beating the guy down the court, and that’s helped a lot this year.”
On the other hand, Gerber has been one of Bluffton’s better defenders and more reliable players for Teagle. He’s an added bonus any time he can score. Saturday night, his 14 points and four threes were impactful for the Tigers in a big way to combine with his defense. His coach was very pleased, to say the least.
“Marshall is probably, if not, the hardest worker we have,” Teagle said. “He’s full speed all the time. He’s a little undersized, but you know what you’re getting from Marshall — full speed, grit and toughness. Him hitting threes really helps because we know he can, but now that gives us that other guy besides Nolan, which makes it harder for us to guard.”
Bluffton won the junior varsity game 50-15. Gavin Grieser was the top scorer for the Tigers with 15 points and Max White had 12.
Bluffton will play in one week at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 13 at Woodlan. The Tigers are the lone team in the ACAC at 2-0, while the Warriors are one of four teams that are currently 1-0.
BLUFFTON 71, LAKEWOOD PARK 40
At Bluffton
LAKEWOOD PARK (2-5): Davi Freitas 4-15 2-2 13, Avery MacFarlane 4-15 4-7 12, Andrew Nixon 3-10 0-0 8, Garrett Black 2-2 0-0 4, Carson Houser 1-3 0-0 3, Curtis Born 0-1 0-0 0, Caleb Shirar 0-1 0-0 0, Noah Carnahan 0-0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 14-47 6-9 40.
BLUFFTON (5-3): Declan Grieser 9-13 8-12 25, Marshall Gerber 5-7 0-0 14, Kaleb Green 4-7 0-0 8, Cameron Williams 2-3 0-0 6, Ben Maggard 2-3 0-0 6, Nolan Lambert 1-4 2-2 4, Austin Geimer 1-2 0-0 3, Griffin Morgan 1-2 0-0 2, Jonah Geisel 0-0 0-0 0, Gavin Grieser 0-0 0-0 0, Gibson Grieser 0-0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 25-42 10-14 71.
L. Park 19 11 8 2 — 40
Bluffton 12 25 12 22 — 71
Three-point Shooting: Lakewood Park 6-22 (Freitas 3-10, Nixon 2-5, Houser 1-2, Born 0-1, MacFarlane 0-2, Shirar 0-1), Bluffton 9-15 (Gerber 4-6, Williams 2-3, Maggard 2-3, Geimer 1-1, Lambert 0-2). Rebounds: Lakewood Park 19 (MacFarlane 12, Nixon 4, Born 1, Freitas 1, Carnahan 1), Bluffton 26 (Williams 6, D. Grieser 6, Green 5, Lambert 3, Gerber 2, Maggard 1, Morgan 1, Ga. Greiser 1, Gi. Grieser 1). Turnovers: Lakewood Park 11, Bluffton 11. Fouls: Lakewood Park 10, Bluffton 12. Fouled Out: None. Technicals: None.
JV Score: 50-15 Bluffton.
