By Evan Skilliter
Shots were not falling and points were not adding up for the Pirates as they played host to the Kenton Wildcats on Tuesday night, Jan. 27, but a strong defensive effort from the home team helped tame a physical Wildcats offense and helped lead BHS to a low scoring, 43-37 victory.
The win pushed the Pirates record to 11-3 (1-2 NWC) and helped them extend their record to 3-1 against Western Buckeye League opponents this season.
Brett Rumer started the scoring for the Pirates after a steal and lay-up combination early in the first quarter. Bluffton outscored Kenton 8-5 for the remainder of the opening frame, capped by a three-quarter court shot by Levi Kistler at the buzzer, to take a 10-5 lead into the second quarter.
The Wildcats came out hot in the second quarter, starting the period on a two minute, 6-0 run to take an 11-10 lead. After junior Joel Siefker ended the run with a jumper from the elbow, Kenton’s Austin Phillips, a 6’4” senior, scored five straight points to give his team a 16-12 lead with just over two minutes left in the half. However, back-to-back buckets from Mitchell Ault and Nick Friesen helped the Pirates even the score at 16 before the end of the quarter.
The BHS defense continued to make things difficult in the Wildcats’ backcourt for the duration of the third quarter, causing turnovers and keeping the visitors from getting much separation on the scoreboard.
After Kenton managed a five point lead at the 3:15 mark in the third, the Pirates finished the half on an 8-3 run with help from a Rumor three pointer, a fast break lay-up from Siefker after a nice steal and assist from Kistler, and a three from Ault. That run helped the Pirates tie the score at 29 heading into the final quarter of play.
Siefker started the fourth quarter scoring with a three pointer, assisted by Rumer, and the Pirates never looked back, maintaining the lead for the duration of the game, forcing turnovers and making clutch free-throws down the stretch en route to the 43-47 victory.
The Pirates forced 17 turnovers on the night, controlling the low-post and the perimeter on the defensive end to counter the physical play of the Wildcats.
“I thought we competed pretty hard on the defensive end all night,” said Head Coach Todd Bobblitt. “We made it difficult for them to get anything easy, which was something we were concerned about going in.”
Offensively, the Pirates finished 29 percent from the field, their second lowest shooting percentage of the season.
“We were slow getting into our sets, we didn’t screen as hard as we should have and we weren’t physical enough. We allowed Kenton to push us off the spot and it was a tough night,” said Boblitt.
Siefker finished the night as the Pirates leading scorer, tallying a season high 16 points. Siefker shot 46 percent from the field including a 3-of-7 performance from behind the arc.
Ault turned in an admirable performance as well, scoring 12 points and grabbing 10 boards for his second double-double of the season.
Other Pirates scoring were Kistler and Rumer with five points each, Austin Bricker with three points and Nick Friesen with two.
Bluffton was outrebounded 32-28, but committed just nine turnovers to Kenton’s 17.
BHS will be on the road Friday as they travel to Allen East and will travel to Van Buren on Saturday. The next home game will be Friday, Feb. 6, when the Pirates welcome the Ada Bulldogs.
