By RICK SPRUNGER
BERNE– Bluffton’s Lady Tigers made the short trip over to South Adams Friday night and got punched in the nose.
And coach Eric Mounsey wants to know what his girls are going to do about it.
The Tigers were beaten by South Adams, 44-23, in a game in which they were manhandled by the home-standing Starfires.
It was the Allen County Athletic Conference opener for both teams.
“South Adams was very physical; we knew they would be,” said Mounsey after a longer than usual post-game team meeting.
“They made it very tough for us to score.”
The tone was set in the first half.
Bluffton only put up 12 shots in the first half, hit on just two of those, and turned the ball over 18 times while falling into a 23-8 halftime hole.
The final numbers were 8-for-28, shooting for a meager .286 percentage and 29 turnovers.
“Early on in the first half, we were getting into our offense well enough,” continued Mounsey. “But once that turnover machine got going, we couldn’t collect ourselves.”
Bluffton hung tough at the beginning and trailed just 5-4 after getting two free throws apiece from Lily King and Isabella Stout.
But four turnovers allowed South Adams to achieve some separation at 12-4 before Stout’s 19-foot buzzer-beater trimmed the margin to 12-6 at the break.
Two more Tiger miscues started the second quarter, however, allowed the Starfires to stretch the margin to 15-6.
Bluffton got two points back on a Tressa Renner power move underneath.
But those were the Tigers’ only two points of the period as they committed a whopping nine more turnovers over the remaining six-plus minutes of the half while missing four more shots.
“Our team defense was really, really strong said a pleased South Adams coach Wayne Krieger. “Our defensive effort made the difference.”
Mounsey agreed with that assessment but had a little more to say about it.
“They played harder and tougher than we did, and we didn’t respond,” said the Bluffton mentor. “We have talent; we have ability; we have girls who can make plays. But we’re young, and we’re learning.” continued Mounsey.
South Adams stretched the margin to 27-8 at the outset of the fourth quarter on a rebound basket by Cora Baker and a steal and layup by Macy Pries, who led all scorers with 19 points for the Starfires.
Bluffton managed to cut the gap to 11 on a couple of occasions in the third quarter, the last time at 31-20 on a Stout shot with 0:18 remaining in the period.
But the Tigers didn’t score at all in the fourth quarter until Konley Ault got a three-pointer to stick with 0:15 left in the game.
Stout was the only player in double figures with 11 points off the bench.
She personally had four of Bluffton’s eight field goals in eight attempts and was a perfect 3-for-3 from the charity stripe.
Bluffton forced 15 turnovers of its own and actually outrebounded the Starfires 24-21.
South Adams also won the junior varsity contest by a 30-20 score.
Savanna Hughett scored 12 points to lead the Tigers, while Cayah King added four points, Eve Corkwell three, and Evie Schantz one.
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SOUTH ADAMS 44, BLUFFTON 23,
At South Adams High School
BLUFFTON (3-2, 0-1 ACAC): Lily King 0-8 2-2 2, Marly Drayer 0-0 0-0 0, Maryn Schreiber 1-3 1-2 3, Haley Gibson 1-4 0-0 2, Tressa Renner 1-2 0-0 2, Konley Ault 1-3 0-0 3, Isabella Stout 4-8 3-3 11. TOTAL: 8-28 6-7 23.
SOUTH ADAMS (4-2, 1-0 ACAC): Lexi McKibben 0-1 0-0 0, Macy Pries 6-12 7-10 19, Peyton Pries 2-7 5-8 9, Delaney Dunnuck 1-4 0-0 2, Cora Baker 3-4 0-0 6, Emmerson Smith 1-3 0-2 2, Liz Gerber 2-2 0-0 4, Kenzie Neuenschwander 1-1 0-0 2. TOTAL: 16-34 12-20 44.
Bluffton 6 2 12 3 — 23
South Adams 12 11 10 11 — 44
Three-point shooting: Bluffton 1-11 (King 0-5, Gibson 0-2, Ault 1-2, Stout 0-2), South Adams 0-5 (McKibben 0-1, M. Pries 0-2, P. Pries 0-1, Smith 0-1). Rebounds: Bluffton 24 (Renner 5), South Adams 21. Turnovers: Bluffton 29, South Adams 15. Personal fouls: Bluffton 15, South Adams 11. Fouled Out: None. Technical fouls: None.
Junior Varsity: South Adams 30, Bluffton 20.
