Konley Ault scores 15 points in her return
By RYAN WALKER
PONETO — The first quarter was all Bluffton needed in a 70-27 victory over Southern Wells during Round 1 of the ACAC Tournament.
It was a night-and-day difference on offense for Bluffton (14-4), who shot a measly 6-37 with 24 points last Friday against Jay County. Haley Gibson led the charge with four three-pointers to open the floodgates to a 29-point first quarter. Isabella Stout added four buckets as Southern Wells had 18 total turnovers in the first half.
The offensive spark might of had something to do with Konley Ault, who returned for the first time since a wrist injury sidelined her over the past 10 games. Ault, before the injury, was the No. 1 player on her team in field-goal percentage, assists and steals and top-three in every just about other category.
She tallied 15 points in the contest with seven made shots and seven rebounds, even hitting a free throw with her left hand, the one she didn’t hurt.
“Obviously very happy that she’s able to get cleared to play today,” Bluffton head coach Doug Curtis said. “We’ve had that tough stretch without her. We were hoping she’d get cleared and have a chance to play today and then get a win.”
Curtis made note that before Ault even went in off the bench, Gibson and Stout were tearing it up on the scoreboard. Gibson finished with a game-high 20 points and Stout was second at 16.
Once Ault did check-in, the team was able to spread the floor better and he said “That’s when we’re smoother all the way around, and it looked like that tonight.”
With Stout, Gibson and Ault all on the floor, Bluffton was hard to stop on both ends of the floor.
“It’s super difficult,” Southern Wells head coach Jessica Killingbeck said. “We started out in our zone, then they were hitting shots so we had to adjust to a man-to-man. We were allowing middle drives, so we made an adjustment at halftime talking about adjusting and forcing them baseline.”
The Tigers finished the first quarter at 12-14 from the floor, and picking up 15 more points in the second. The Raiders (4-13) had five made shots by the break.
Killingbeck and the coaching staff were looking for an answer, breaking out of their defensive game plan at halftime.
For most of the third quarter, it worked, allowing its lowest total at 10 points.
Ashlie Needler limited forward Maryn Schreiber to just two points on the night and also had a team-high 11 points. Killingbeck’s biggest shoutout however went to a pair of freshman.
Aubrey Meyer and Kaylea Coffel have inched their way to more playing time down the stretch, and both cracked the starting lineup in recent weeks.
Killingbeck said that the two provide energy and toughness, working hard in every practice. She decided to give them a go in the lineup on this night.
“Gibson and Stout killed us in that first half, and then I thought Meyer and Coffel did a really nice job slowing them down a little bit, giving us the opportunity to get support offensively,” Killingbeck said.
But by that time, it was too late for the Raiders with a running clock in the second half but that was when they turned it up a notch.
“I think it was a good adjustment by our coaching staff, and they made good adjustments at halftime,” Killingbeck said. “We just can’t wait until halftime to do those things.”
Bluffton’s semifinal matchup with Woodlan will be at Heritage High School at 6 p.m. The first meeting between the two went by way of the Tigers in a close 47-44 final score. This time, they’ll have Ault though, who missed that game.
“We’ve had that tough stretch without her. We were hoping she’d get cleared Monday and get a chance to play today and get a win, get through a couple of practices and be ready to go against Woodlan,” Curtis said.
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BLUFFTON 70,
SOUTHERN WELLS 27
At Southern Wells
BLUFFTON (14-4): Haley Gibson 8-14 0-0 20, Isabella Stout 8-17 0-0 16, Konley Ault 7-11 1-2 15, Madyson Ssonnigsen 4-5 0-0 9, Tressa Renner 1-2 0-0 3, Marly Drayer 1-6 1-2 3, Maryn Schreiber 1-5 0-0 2, Sophie Eisenhut 1-1 0-0 2, Cayah King 0-2 0-2 0, Madelyn Funk 0-2 0-0 0, Isla Gibson 0-0 0-0 0, Addison Yates 0-0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 31-65 2-6 70.
SOUTHERN WELLS (4-13): Ashlie Needler 4-15 3-4 11, Kaylea Coffel 2-4 0-0 5, Gracie Reeves 1-6 0-0 3, Kyah Thomas 1-2 0-0 3, Erika Beavans 1-4 0-0 2, Aubrey Meyer 0-1 0-0 0, Collena Reeves 0-1 0-0 0, Karlee Warner 0-3 0-0 0, Kenzie Paxson 0-1 0-2 0. TOTALS: 10-42 3-6 27.
Bluffton 29 15 10 16 –– 70
So. Wells 9 5 5 8 –– 27
Three-point FG: Bluffton: 6-15 (Gibson 4-5, Sonnigsen 1-1, Renner 1-1 Stout 0-3, Ault 0-1, Drayer 0-2, Funk 0-1), Southern Wells 4-11 (Thomas 1-1, Coffel 1-3, G. Reeves 1-4, Meyer 0-1, C. Reeves 0-1). Rebounds: Bluffton: 38 (Ault 7, H. Gibson 6, Drayer 5, Schreiber 5, Stout 4, Sonnigsen 4, King 3, I. Gibson 1, Eisenhut 1), Southern Wells 22 (Paxson 7, Needler 5, Coffel 3, G. Reeves 2, Warner 1, C. Reeves 1). Turnovers: Bluffton: 15, Southern Wells 30. Fouls: Bluffton: 5, Southern Wells 7. Fouled Out: None. Technicals: None.
