By ANDREW FEEBACK
BERNE— Scoring 34 straight points in the first half, the Bluffton Lady Tiger basketball team took control early and never looked back on the way to an 81-19 win over the host South Adams Starfires Friday night.
“We were hoping we would come out super-aggressive and get away from them early,” coach Doug Curtis said. “We did what we wanted to do on both ends.”
Three days after beating New Haven by nearly the same score (84-16), points were plentitul for the Tigers once again in this one.
South Adams (1-5) took a 3-2 lead on a bucket from Bekah Patterson. Bluffton scored the next 34 points, many of them on fast breaks following Starfire turnovers.
South Adams finished the game with 38 miscues, while Bluffton had only eight.
Three-point shooting had been a bit of a concern early in the season for the Tigers, but they were 8 of 14 beyond the arc in this one, with five of those coming during that run.
Four Tigers reached double figures, led by Isabella Stout with 25, Khloe Dick with 16, Konley Ault with 13 and Tressa Renner with 11.
Leading 52-9 at the half, the Tigers continued to shoot a high percentage in the second half and were able to go deep into their bench.
The lead grew to 69-15 by the end of the third quarter. While the Tigers never had another run anything like the 34-0 stretch early on, the Starfires never had a run of more than two consecutive points the entire game.
South Adams made only eight field goals in just 24 attempts. Laney Trausch scored 10 points for the hosts while Ana Lehman added seven.
Bluffton will host Blackford Thursday night.
The Tiger JV team won 50-11 in a game that was only two quarters. Kamryn Ault led the way with 20 points and Madelyn Funk added eight. Isla Gibson, Bridget Steffen and Addison Kauffman each had six while Piper Morgan and Cora Kunkel both scored two.
BLUFFTON 81,
SOUTH ADAMS 19
At South Adams
BLUFFTON (7-1): Isabella Stout 11-20 0-0 25, Konley Ault 5-7 2-2 13, Marly Drayer 1-4 0-0 2, Maryn Schreiber 2-4 2-2 6, Khloe Dick 7-10 1-2 16, Tressa Renner 4-7 2-2 11, Madyson Sonnigsen 2-3 0-0 6, Madelyn Funk 0-2 0-0 0, Sophie Eisenhut 1-3 0-0 2, Isla Gibson 0-0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 33-61 7-8 81.
SOUTH ADAMS (1-5): Lucy Schwartz 0-0 0-0 0, Kendall Minger 0-0 0-0 0, Shaylee Sprunger 0-4 0-0 0, Bekah Patterson 1-6 0-0 2, Laney Trausch 4-7 2-2 10, Ana Lehman 3-5 1-2 7, Hadassah McKinley 0-0 0-0 0, Adalyn Smith 0-0 0-0 0, Charlee Bollenbacher 0-2 0-0 0, Kenley Geels 0-0 0-0 0, Danika Brown 0-0 0-0 0, Mariana Tenorio 0-0 0-0 0.
TOTALS: 8-24 3-4 19.
Bluffton 34 18 17 12 – 81
South Adams 3 6 6 4 – 19
Three-point Goals: Bluffton 8-14 (Stout 3-6, Sonnigsen 2-2, Dick 1-2, Renner 1-2, Ault 1-1, Funk 0-1), South Adams 0-3 (Trausch 0-1, Patterson 0-1, Lehman 0-1). Rebounds: Bluffton 20 (Stout 4, Eisenhut 4, Alt 3, Schreiber 3, Dick 2, Renner 2, Sonnigsen 1, Drayer 1), South Adams 15 (Trausch 6, Sprunger 3, Bollenbacher 2, Patterson 2, Lehman 2).
Turnovers: Bluffton 8, South Adams 38. Fouls: Bluffton 6, South Adams 10. Fouled out: None. Technicals: None.
JV: Bluffton 50, South Adams 11.
