By ANDREW FEEBACK
The Bluffton Lady Tigers dropped a tough 57-50 decision to the Adams Central Lady Jets in the sectional semifinals Friday evening.
The Tigers struggled with foul trouble and also had a hard time making shots in the first half.
Offense became more difficult when point guard Marly Drayer went to the bench with two early fouls.
“It threw us off a bit,” coach Eric Mounsey said. “I thought Konley (Ault) did a good job adjusting to that; it just took her a little bit to feel comfortable.”
Ault came off the bench to lead Bluffton (11-11) with 17 points. She helped the Tigers claw their way back in the second half, but Bluffton just wasn’t able to get over the hump.
Haley Gibson opened the game with a 3-pointer, and her second field goal gave the Tigers an early 7-4 lead. After the Jets scored the next six points, Bluffton never led again.
The Tigers stayed within striking distance in the first half, never trailing by more than five.
“We were right there, even with Marly sitting on the bench for most of it,” Mounsey said. “We felt pretty good going into halftime that even with her out, we stayed right with them.”
But when the Jets’ Addie Baker got back-to-back layups to begin the second half, the Tigers found themselves down 29-22.
Ault scored the next seven points to tie the game up.
“I was honestly impressed with how Konley, as a freshman, just stepped up in the moment,” Mounsey said. “She hit some big shots for us and kept us in it.”
Gracie Garwood scored the next six points for the Jets. She led all scorers with 19.
Bluffton pulled within two early in the fourth quarter, but Ava Stafford made four straight free throws.
Baskets from Ault and Maryn Schreiber brought the Tigers within 41-39 with 5:06 to play, but Garwood drew a foul and made the first shot. When she missed the second, a jump ball on the rebound kept it with the Jets. Garwood took an inbounds pass and drilled a three from the wing to put Adams Central up by six.
Drayer answered that with a trey of her own before Baker scored the last of her 18 points on a layup.
Garwood hit another three to put the Jets up 50-44. Isabella Stout got loose for a layup, but Garwood hit a one-handed floater in the lane to give Adams Central a 52-46 lead with just under three minutes left.
The Tigers failed to make a field goal the rest of the game and managed only four free throws. Eight of their 18 turnovers occurred in the fourth quarter, several of them on key possessions, and kept them from coming all the way back.
“I tip my hat to them,” Mounsey said. “They played hard and were the more physical team all throughout the game, and they came away with a win.”
The Tigers ended with season with a record of 11-11. The Jets (7-15) advanced to tonight’s sectional final against Fort Wayne Bishop Luers.
Seniors Kennedy Nash, Lily King, and Evie Schantz will be moving on.
Mounsey was pleased with how his team improved over last season’s seven wins.
“You always want to see improvement, and we did that,” he said. “We did that in the win column, but I thought that several girls stepped up and grew individually and grew in their roles. It’s unfortunate that we came out on the short end of this game, but sometimes you win it, and sometimes you don’t. I’m extremely proud of the girls. It’s a long season, and we just kept fighting and growing together.”
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ADAMS CENTRAL 57,
BLUFFTON 50
At Bluffton High School
ADAMS CENTRAL (7-15): Ashlyn Doster 0-0 0-0 0, Lillee Dull 0-0 0-0 0, Macy McClure 0-0 0-0 0, Ava Stafford 0-0 5-6 5, Athena Schwartz 2-11 2-3 6, Grace Fisher 2-4 3-4 7, Alexa Brotherton 0-5 0-1 0, Gracie Garwood 5-8 6-10 19, Ellie Ogg 0-0 0-0 0, Kate Fisher 0-0 0-0 0, Addie Baker 8-12 2-4 18, Hailey Heller 0-2 2-3 2, Audrey Eisberg 0-2 0-0 0, Reese Hunter 0-0 0-0 0, Sophia Ward 0-0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 17-44 20-31 57.
BLUFFTON (11-11): Isabella Stout 2-11 1-2 5, Lily King 0-1 0-0 0, Marly Drayer 1-2 4-4 7, Maryn Schreiber 5-12 2-3 12, Haley Gibson 3-17 0-0 7, Tressa Renner 1-1 0-0 2, Evie Schantz 0-0 0-0 0, Cayah King 0-0 0-0 0, Konley Ault 6-8 4-4 17, Kennedy Nash 0-0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 18-52 11-13 50.
Adams Central 11 14 12 20 — 57
Bluffton 9 13 11 17 — 50
Three-point Goals: Adams Central 3-10 (Garwood 3-3, Schwartz 0-5, Heller 0-1, Brotherton 0-1), Bluffton 3-15 (Drayer 1-2, Ault 1-2, Gibson 1-10, Stout 0-1). Rebounds: Adams Central 26 (Grace Fisher 11, Baker 6, Schwartz 4, Brotherton 3, Heller 2), Bluffton 31 (Schreiber 10, Stout 9, Lily King 3, Drayer 3, Gibson 2, Renner 2, Ault 2). Turnovers: Adams Central 12, Bluffton 18. Fouls: Adams Central 17, Bluffton 22. Fouled out: Drayer, Schwartz. Technicals: None.
