By ANDREW FEEBACK
There are good teams, and then there are elite teams.
On Wednesday night, the Central Noble Cougars were elite, and the Bluffton Tigers had the misfortune of being in their path.
Ranked No. 1 in Class 2A, the Cougars improved to 10-0 and handed the Tigers a 90-31 shellacking.
“They’re a very good team,” coach Karl Grau said. “They out-sized us, out-skilled us, out-manned us at every position. They played an incredible game.”
The numbers reflected it.
Central Noble shot 70 percent from the floor and was a staggering 15 of 26 beyond the arc.
Much of that was the work of Connor Essegian, who hit 8 of 12 from deep on his way to leading all scorers with 36 points.
Essegian, who will be a Wisconsin Badger by this time next year, hit seemingly everything in the first half, where he scored 29 of his points.
He hit back-to-back triples to end the first quarter, which saw the visitors leading 27-9.
He book-ended a 12-3 run to end the first half with a couple more treys, putting the Cougars up 52-25 at the break.
Bluffton (2-7) never seriously threatened Central Noble in this game, but found itself down 40-22 after Tucker Jenkins hit a 3-pointer with 2:20 to play in the half.
Then, the Cougars flexed.
“They just kept making shots, and we didn’t,” Grau said. “They’re a very good team. Give them a lot of credit.”
Bluffton managed only 9 points the rest of the way and was outscored 38-6 in the second half.
Essegian beat the third quarter buzzer with a layup for his final points. He did not play in the fourth quarter, but for whatever reason, three of Central Noble’s starters remained in the game until their lead exceeded 50 points.
Ryan Schroeder added 14 points, Conner Lemmon had 11 and Logan Gard had 10. Andrew Ball topped the Tigers with 11.
Bluffton will host Woodlan Saturday night.
Central Noble took the JV game 61-45. For the Tigers, Hunter Wenger and Andrew Hunt both scored 10 points. Bluffton won the freshman game in double overtime.
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CENTRAL NOBLE 90, BLUFFTON 31
At Bluffton High School
CENTRAL NOBLE (10-0): Landen Vice 2-2 0-0 6, Ryan Schroeder 5-9 2-4 14, Aidan Dreibelbis 0-1 0-0 0, Connor Essegian 14-19 0-0 36, Jackson Andrews 3-4 1-1 7, Conner Lemmon 4-6 0-0 11, Redick Zolman 0-0 0-0 0, Noah Shepherd 0-0 0-0 0, Spencer Adams 0-0 0-0 0, Sam Essegian 2-2 0-0 4, Brayden Kirchner 1-2 0-0 2, Isaiah Gard 0-1 0-0 0, Logan Gard 5-5 0-0 10. TOTALS: 36-51 3-5 90.
BLUFFTON (2-7): Chanceler 0-0 0-0 0, Max Stoppenhagen 2-6 0-0 4, Eli Garrett 0-0 0-0 0, Harrison Schreiber 1-5 0-2 2, Sam Baumgartner 0-1 0-0 0, Fletcher Wenger 1-5 0-2 3, Markis Crosbie 0-0 0-0 0, Andrew Hunt 1-1 0-0 2, Hunter Wenger 1-7 0-0 3, Tucker Jenkins 1-10 1-2 4, Carter McConnell 1-3 0-0 2, Andrew Ball 3-8 3-3 11, Lukas Gehrett 0-1 0-0 0. TOTALS: 11-47 4-9 31.
Central Noble 27 25 19 19 –– 90
Bluffton 9 16 4 2 –– 31
Three-point Goals: Central Noble 15-26 (Connor Essegian 8-12, Lemmon 3-5, Vice 2-2, Schroeder 2-4, Andrews 0-1, Dreibelbis 0-1, Isaiah Gard 0-1), Bluffton 5-15 (Ball 2-3, Hunter Wenger 1-2, Fletcher Wenger 1-2, Jenkins 1-4, Stoppenhagen 0-3, Schreiber 0-1). Rebounds: Central Noble 33 (Logan Gard 11, Schroeder 5, Connor Essegian 5, Andrews 4, Dreibelbis 3, Sam Essegian 2, Lemmon 2, Kirchner 1), Bluffton 16 (Jenkins 5, Ball 4, Fletcher Wenger 3, Hunter Wenger 1, Stoppenhagen 1, McConnell 1, Schreiber 1). Turnovers: Central Noble 7, Bluffton 10. Fouls: Central Noble 7, Bluffton 7. Fouled out: None. Technicals: None.
JV: Central Noble 61, Bluffton 45.
