By ANDREW FEEBACK
A poor fourth quarter cost the Bluffton Lady Tigers Saturday night as the visiting Heritage Patriots rallied to hand them a 38-34 setback.
Bluffton (8-10) took a nine-point lead into the final stanza, only to see the Patriots (5-14) surge in front in the final minutes.
It came as a bit of a surprise after a third quarter in which the Tigers had outscored the Patriots 13-5.
“The third quarter, I thought we played hard, we played more intense, we were more aggressive,” coach Eric Mounsey said. “We just didn’t put that together for four full quarters. You just can’t play hard, like we know that we can, for just one quarter and expect to come out with a win.”
The offense was a problem for Bluffton in this one. The Tigers finished 13 of 44 overall and missed their first nine shots. That allowed the Patriots to take an early 6-5 lead, which they widened to 13-7 early in the second.
The Tigers used a strong finish to end the first half and led 15-14 at the break.
Three straight buckets in the paint from Maryn Schreiber and a jump shot from Marly Drayer gave Bluffton a 28-19 lead.
In the fourth, the Patriots’ Clair Bickel single-handedly took over the game, scoring 13 of her team-leading 18 points.
Her two free throws and layup early on cut the lead to five. Then she got loose for a three-pointer that brought Heritage within 30-26.
She got fouled on a three-point shot the next possession, sinking two of the free throws. When an inadvertent whistle on the rebound after her third shot gave Heritage the ball out of bounds, she scored underneath to tie the game at 30 with 4:54 to play.
Raelyn Mullins’ free throw put the Patriots in front. Schreiber tied the game by making one of two at the line.
Bickel drew another foul with 2:46 to play and made both shots to put the Patriots up 33-31.
The Tigers only made two shots in the fourth quarter and did themselves no favors at the foul line, missing two front ends of one-and-one bonuses.
Four straight Heritage free throws in the final minute from Kendall Zelt and Ava Pilon put the Patriots up six.
Isabella Stout’s three-pointer with 13 seconds left cut the lead in half, but Pilon made another free throw, and the Tigers turned the ball over to end it.
“Heritage was more aggressive consistently throughout the night,” Mounsey said. “Bickel hit some big shots, and we didn’t do a very good job of containing her. They just fed off of her and made plays. That’s what it comes down to; their players made plays, and we did not.”
Schreiber led the Tigers with 13 points, while Stout had eight.
Bluffton will travel to Manchester Tuesday night.
The JV game was two quarters, with Heritage winning 21-10.
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HERITAGE 38, BLUFFTON 34
At Bluffton High School
HERITAGE (5-14): Ava Pilon 1-3 3-4 5, Claire Bickel 5-18 7-12 18, Kendall Zelt 1-5 2-2 5, Natalie Otte 0-1 0-0 0, Madilyn Scheumann 0-0 0-0 0, Lucy Buuck 0-3 0-0 0, Corinne Bowers 0-0 0-0 0, Danica Fuller 2-3 0-0 6, Lydia Schultz 0-1 1-2 1, Carly Gerardot 0-0 0-0 0, Grace Guenthner 0-0 0-0 0, Raelyn Mullins 1-1 1-2 3. TOTALS: 10-35 14-22 38.
BLUFFTON (8-10): Isabella Stout 3-3 0-0 8, Lily King 0-7 1-2 1, Marly Drayer 2-5 0-1 5, Maryn Schreiber 6-10 1-3 13, Haley Gibson 1-10 3-4 5, Tressa Renner 0-2 0-0 0, Evie Schantz 0-0 0-0 0, Cayah King 0-0 0-0 0, Konley Ault 1-7 0-0 2, Kennedy Nash 0-0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 13-44 5-10 34.
Heritage 6 8 5 19 — 38
Bluffton 5 10 13 6 — 34
Three-point Goals: Heritage 4-16 (Fuller 2-3, Zelt 1-5, Bickel 1-5, Buuck 0-2, Pilon 0-1), Bluffton 3-10 (Stout 2-2, Drayer 1-2, Lily King 0-3, Gibson 0-2, Renner 0-1). Rebounds: Heritage 21 (Mullins 9, Bickel 5, Schultz 3, Zelt 2, Pilon 1, Scheumann 1), Bluffton 30 (Schreiber 8, Lily King 7, Stout 6, Drayer 4, Ault 3, Renner 1, Gibson 1). Turnovers: Heritage 12, Bluffton 13. Fouls: Heritage 13, Bluffton 18. Fouled out: Drayer. Technicals: None.
JV: Heritage 21, Bluffton 10.
