By RICK SPRUNGER
Bluffton Tigers continued their hot start Saturday night, racking up their fifth win in six games with an easy 77-43 walk in the park over North Miami on the home hardwood.
The Tigers burst out to a 17-2 lead late in the first quarter and got good scoring balance with five players either in or near double figures.
Maryn Schreiber paced the home team with 19 points on perfect shooting from everywhere (7-for-7 from the field, 5-for-5 from the line), while Isabella Stout and Konley Ault each added 16.
Madyson Sonnigsen and Tressa Renner just missed double digits with each of them scoring nine points in the blowout win.
“I thought it was interesting to see how we would come out,” said a very pleased Bluffton coach Doug Curtis after it was over. “We had focused so much on the big Huntington North game last night (a 66-45 win), and we wanted to see how they would respond to playing on a Friday-Saturday.”
It didn’t take him long to find out.
Bluffton raced to an early 8-0 advantage and forced four North Miami turnovers before the Warriors were finally able to get on the board. By the time they scored again, they had three more turnovers and were in a 17-2 hole.
“We try to be relentless on defense,” said Curtis of his charges. “At this point, we are pretty even production-wise from whoever we put out there, so they’re willing to gamble a little bit more and be more aggressive when they’re in there. We have depth, height, and scoring options. Tonight, (North Miami) was better on defense inside than we thought they would be. But we had some girls come off the bench and do a good job of creating space and getting on the three-point line. Madyson knocked down a couple of threes, Tressa came in and did a really nice job, Konley took over the game, and Bella did her usual.”
North Miami didn’t go down without a fight, however.
Riding three second-quarter three-pointers by Laney Musall, the Warriors twice fought their way back to within four points, the latter time at 23-19 midway through the period.
But Khloe Dick canned a 17-footer from the right baseline, Schreiber knocked down a jumper from the free throw line, Renner took a pretty pass from Stout for an easy bunny and Stout herself nailed a three from the left wing to make it 32-19 and rescue the Tigers from danger.
North Miami was never closer than nine points after that.
“We let No. 10 (Musall) get loose a little bit in the second quarter, and we talked about her at halftime,” said Curtis of his defensive adjustments at the break.
Sure enough, she didn’t score at all in the second half until managing a consolation basket midway through the fourth quarter with the score 72-40.
Musall finished with a team-high 15 points, and Grace Sailors added 10 with eight of them coming on free throws.
Bluffton connected on 29-60 shots for the game for a solid 48% shooting percentage while outrebounding the Warriors, 38-26, and committing just 12 turnovers.
North Miami was 12-40 from the field for a 30% accuracy rate.
But not only did the Warriors shoot poorly from the field, they also took 20 fewer shots than the Tigers — thanks to 25 turnovers against suffocating defensive pressure and that crippling Bluffton edge on the boards.
Bluffton also won the junior varsity contest by a score of 49-41.
Kamryn Ault finished with 17 points and Grace Fry 10 to lead the Tigers.
Bridget Steffen added six points, Krista Blair five, Isla Gibson four, Madelyn Funk three, and Piper Morgan and Cora Kunkel two apiece.
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BLUFFTON 77, NORTH MIAMI 43
At Bluffton
NORTH MIAMI (2-3): Victoria Masters 1-5 0-0 3, Jordyn Hackworth 2-3 1-2 5, Grace Sailors 1-8 8-12 10, Laney Musall 6-13 0-0 15, Kayden Donaldson 1-2 0-0 2, Layla Hampton 0-2 4-4 4, Jlynn Piercy 1-2 2-2 4, Porscha Pickett 0-2 0-0 0, Laina King 0-1 0-0 0, Audi Medina 0-2 0-0 0. TOTAL: 12-40 15-20 43.
BLUFFTON (5-1): Isabella Stout 5-10 5-6 16, Konley Ault 7-15 2-4 16, Marly Drayer 1-2 1-2 3, Maryn Schreiber 6-6 5-5 17, Sophie Eisenhut 1-2 0-0 2, Khloe Dick 2-6 0-0 5, Madyson Sonnigsen 3-7 0-0 9, Tressa Renner 4-7 1-4 9, Kamryn Ault 0-3 0-0 0, Madelyn Funk 0-0 0-2 0, Isla Gibson 0-2 0-0 0, Grace Fry 0-0 0-0 0. TOTAL: 29-60 14-23 77.
North Miami 4 19 12 8 — 43
Bluffton 17 18 26 16 — 77
Three-point shooting: North Miami 4-14 (Masters 1-4, Musall 3-7, Pickett 0-1, Medina 0-2), Bluffton 5-17 (Stout 1-2, Kon. Ault 0-1, Dick 1-3, Sonnigsen 3-7, Renner 0-1, Kam. Ault 0-3). Rebounds: North Miami 26 (Musall 6, Masters 5), Bluffton 38 (Kon. Ault 8, Stout). Turnovers: North Miami 25, Bluffton 12. Personal fouls: North Miami 16, Bluffton 22. Fouled Out: None. Technical fouls: None.
Junior Varsity: Bluffton 49, North Miami 41.
