By JOSH BURRIS
The Bluffton Lady Tigers made life tough for the Eastside Lady Blazers in the opening game of Class 2A Sectional 36 at the Tiger Den Tuesday.
The Tigers found themselves ahead 25-23 a few minutes into the fourth quarter against one of the sectional’s best teams.
However, the Blazers outscored Bluffton 13-4 in the remaining 4:38 left in the fourth quarter to win 36-29.
The Tigers (7-15), held the Blazers to just 9-of-40 shootiing from the field (22.5 percent). But they also found it difficult to score on the Blazers (14-9) as they shot just 8-of-31 (25.8 percent) themselves.
Bluffton defeated Eastside 38-31 in last season’s sectional championship.
The loss this season ends a string of four straight runs to the sectional championship for Bluffton, but coach Eric Mounsey had nothing but praise for his team’s performance.
“I don’t think that anyone outside of our locker room believed we would fight and be in position like that (to win) towards the end of the game and throughout the game,” Mounsey said. “The coaches put together a great gameplan, and the girls executed it to a T, and they made it extremely difficult for Eastside to score. But on the flip side, Eastside makes it hard for you to score. So it was a defensive battle the whole entire game. There were several girls that just stepped up and just fought as hard as they possibly can. So I was just really proud of how they just didn’t back down. Their will tonight really came through. We told them it was going to be a tough, gritty fight, and you can’t back down from any punch they throw. And you’ve just got to keep fighting for 32 minutes. The girls did that. You never want to lose a game to end your season, but just the way that the girls carried themselves and represented not just the Bluffton Lady Tigers, but they represented Bluffton High School in an outstanding way. And I can’t be more proud to be their head coach.”
Tied 4-4 in the first quarter, Isabella Stout made a free throw and Maryn Schreiber got a put-back bucket in the final minute to give Bluffton a 7-4 lead.
Stout hit two free throws near the start of the second quarter to increase that lead to 5 points.
Eastside then went on an 11-0 run kickstarted by a 3-pointer and fastbreak layup from Paige Traxler. McKenna Hoffelder capped the run with a floater inside to give the Blazers a 15-9 lead with 2:15 left in the half.
Stout ended the run by making the second of two free throws, and Schreiber made one of two shots as well to make the halftime score 15-11.
The Tigers had opportunities to either hang with Eastside or extend their lead in that second quarter at the free-throw line. Eastside committed its seventh foul with 5:40 left to put Bluffton in the bonus and eventually in the double bonus. The Tigers shot just 4-of-9 from the stripe in that quarter though.
Free throws were a problem all night for the Tigers as they made just 11 of their 27 attempts. They also committed 30 turnovers – 13 more than Eastside.
“The free-throw line definitely hurt us,” Mounsey said. “If we make half of those, it’s a different ballgame. But the bottom line is we didn’t connect from the free-throw line tonight. We had opportunities, and we just came short there. But again, that doesn’t take away anything from the fight that the girls showed tonight.”
Bluffton showed a lot of that fight for most of the third quarter.
Monroe Heller hit a three, Haley Gibson hit a jumper, and Stout put back her own miss to put Bluffton on top 18-15 with 2:22 left in the quarter.
Hoffelder finally got the Blazers on the board in that quarter with two free throws. Marly Drayer got a free throw to fall for Bluffton, and Kaylie Hertig and Traxler each got one for Eastside to make it a 19-19 game.
Gibson drained a three for the final bucket of the quarter to put Bluffton on top 22-19.
A Schreiber free throw and layup sandwiched around a free throw by Grace Kreischer gave Bluffton a 25-20 lead 50 seconds into the fourth quarter.
Then the Tigers once again fell victim to another Eastside run – this time for 10 straight points. Sydnee Kessler capped the run with a three with 3:02 remaining to put the Blazers up 30-25.
Stout got another putback basket, and Gibson hit a free throw to make it a 2-point game. Skyelar Kessler made the score 31-28 with a free throw on the other side with one minute remaining.
The Tigers needed points, but Eastside’s pressure forced another turnover. Eventually the Tigers had to foul Skyelar Kessler with 26 seconds left. She made both shots to make the score 33-28.
Bluffton got the ball back, but a foul called on Haley Gibson gave the Blazers possession once again. Skyelar Kessler went to the line again and made one of her two shots with 10.9 seconds left on the clock.
Stout made one more free throw for Bluffton, and Skyelar Kessler made two more to get to the final score.
Stout led Bluffton with 11 points. Schreiber followed with 8 and pulled down a team-high 11 rebounds.
Skyelar Kessler scored 8 points to lead Eastside, and Traxler followed with 7.
Overall, Mounsey said he saw a lot of growth throughout the season from his young team that featured five freshmen on the varsity roster. He also complimented the leadership of his two seniors, Monroe Heller and Ryleigh Johnson.
“We grew throughout the entire season,” Mounsey said. “They (seniors) led the best I could possibly think up.
“The way we competed, it shows that we can grow throughout the season and still compete against the best in our sectional and be right there and could have very well won.”
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EASTSIDE 36, BLUFFTON 29
At Bluffton High School
EASTSIDE (14-9): Brittney Geiger 0-1 1-2 1, Sydnee Kessler 2-7 0-0 5, Skyelar Kessler 1-12 6-10 8, Paige Traxler 2-7 1-2 7, McKenna Hoffelder 1-4 2-2 4, Mataya Bireley 1-2 4-6 6, Grace Kreischer 0-3 1-2 1, Cadence Gardner 0-1 0-0 0, Kaylie Hertig 2-3 1-2 5. TOTALS: 9-40 16-26 36
BLUFFTON (7-15): Isabella Stout 2-4 7-10 11, Ryleigh Johnson 0-2 0-0 0, Monroe Heller 1-6 0-0 3, Maryn Schreiber 3-9 2-6 8, Haley Gibson 2-7 1-4 6, Tressa Renner 0-0 0-3 0, Lily King 0-1 0-0 0, Cayah King 0-0 0-0 0, Marly Drayer 0-2 1-4 1. TOTALS: 8-31 11-27 29
Eastside 4 11 4 17 –– 46
Bluffton 7 4 11 7 –– 29
Three-point Goals: Eastside 2-19 (Sy. Kessler 1-3, Traxler 1-5, Geiger 0-1, Kreischer 0-2, Sk. Kessler 0-8), Bluffton 2-7 (Gibson 1-1, Heller 1-4, L. King 0-1, Drayer 0-1). Rebounds: Eastside 27 (Kreischer 7, Hoffelder 4, Bireley 4, Traxler 3, Hertig 2, Geiger 2, Sy. Kessler 2), Bluffton 43 (Schreiber 11, Gibson 7, Stout 7, Johnson 4, Heller 2, Renner 2, Drayer 1). Turnovers: Eastside 17, Bluffton 30. Fouls: Eastside 22, Bluffton 20. Fouled Out: Heller, Gibson. Technicals: None.
