Note from BHS athletic director Alex Hanna:
“Both O-G and Bluffton participated in the Eli Jones student section theme, where we remembered the Bluffton sophomore who tragically lost his life this week.
“His passing has left a hole in the heart of the Bluffton community. Eli was a son, a brother, and a friend to so many.
“For those who didn't know Eli, there is one word we can use to describe him and that is "good," he was a good friend, good teammate, good student, from a good family. We lost a good one this week.
“Huge thank you to the Titan Boys Basketball team for donating over $300 to the Eli Jones Memorial Fund.”
By Cort Reynolds
BLUFFTON__The Bluffton boys basketball team led much of the game, but a fourth quarter flurry by visiting perennial power Ottawa-Glandorf led to a 45-40 Titan victory Friday night, December 8.
The Pirates led the tight contest 35-32 heading to the final period. But a 9-0 Titan run to start the fourth quarter spelled the difference, and O-G won the decisive final period by a 13-5 count.
Titan 6-6 senior Colin White scored 19 second half points to lead the Ottawa comeback win.
The Pirates fell to 2-1 after the heartbreaking non-league loss, while the Titans improved to 2-0 after the hard-earned victory.
Bluffton jumped on top early and led throughout the entire first quarter.
Blake Sommers started the game by nailing a triple. Wade Ginther drove and scored to make it 5-0. A basket by John-Paul Yoder made it 7-2.
A trey by Grant Schroeder pulled O-G within 7-5, but Terron Boblitt drained a triple. White answered with a traditional three-point play.
Pirate guard Marek Donaldson split a pair at the charity stripe to make it 11-8. White sank a 15-footer to inch within a point. But Brody Sommers scored off a pick and roll.
A turnaround shot by 6-4 Caden Erford cut the Pirate lead to 13-12 at the end of the first period.
Donaldson lost his defender with a head fake and drilled a 10-footer to open the second stanza. Blake Sommers scored on a putback to provide a 17-12 Pirate advantage.
O-G went scoreless for much of the second period. Erford sank a jumper to finally break the ice after seven straight scoreless possessions and pull within three at the 1:30 mark.
Ginther canned two foul shots with 59 seconds left in the half. White split a pair at the charity stripe to edge within 19-15. Bluffton then broke the Titan zone press, which resulted in a Boblitt layup.
Erford sank a double-pump, three-point drive to cut their deficit to 21-18. O-G then held for the last shot of the half, and Erford bounced in a 23-foot desperation trey at the buzzer to tie it at intermission, 21-21.
After going scoreless for most of the second period, the Titans scored eight points in the final 90 seconds. Erford ended the half with consecutive three-point plays to tie it up after the Pirates almost the entire first 16 minutes of play.
The Titans managed to tie it at the break despite shooting just 35 percent from the field in the first half, including just two of 15 beyond the arc.
Erford scored eight of the nine points for O-G in the second stanza, and had 12 at halftime.
Ginther broke the tie with a basket early in the third period. Senior scoring ace White made a transition bucket to even the score 23-all. Ginther drove the lane and finished to put the Pirates back on top.
White nailed a fadeaway shot to give O-G its first lead at 26-25. A floating banker by Donaldson was answered by a driving shot from White.
Alex Wagner finished a third-try opportunity to put O-G ahead 30-27 with just over three minutes left in the third period.
Landen Worcester banked in a shot over the 6-6 White to pull Bluffton within a point.
Blake Sommers nailed a step-back shot to put the Pirates back in front by a point. But White hit again from the pivot for a 32-31 Titan edge.
Kerry Wright drove the lane and made a layup to provide a 33-32 Pirate lead. Donaldson was fouled and sank two foul shots to end the seesaw quarter with the hosts on top, 35-32.
There were six lead changes in the back and forth third period, but Bluffton finished on an 8-2 run to earn a 14-11 quarter edge.
White laid in an alley-oop pass to pull within 35-34 in the fourth quarter. White then muscled in a basket to put O-G ahead with 5:25 remaining.
White made it three straight baskets to provide a 38-35 lead. Six Pirate turnovers against Titan fullcourt pressure in the period were costly.
Schroeder stole the ball, and Erford converted an old-fashioned three-point play to give O-G its biggest lead at 41-35 with 3:10 left to play.
Ginther ended the scoreless drought with 1:55 left by sinking two foul shots. Blake Sommers netted a layup off a turnover to inch within 41-39 with 1:09 remaining.
White was fouled and converted both foul shots with 48 seconds to go. White blocked a Sommers shot out of bounds at the 25-second juncture.
Worcester drew a foul and split a pair at the 20.4-second mark to make it 43-40.
Whit drained two more charity stripers with 11.8 seconds left for a five-point lead. A Pirate turnover sealed the verdict.
White scored 19 of his game-high 25 points in the second half. He tallied 19 of the 24 Titan points after intermission.
Erford tallied 15 markers as the duo combined to register 40 of the 45 O-G points.
Ginther led the Pirates with 10 points. Blake Sommers netted nine and Donaldson added seven.
The Pirates canned 13 of 26 deuces (50 percent), and splashed two of just nine treys (22 percent). Bluffton converted eight of 10 free throws (80 percent).
Overall, the Pirates sank 15 of 35 shots from the field (43 percent).
The Titans sank a sizzling 15 of 23 two-point goal attempts (65 percent), but drained just two of 20 trifecta tries (10 percent). They made nine of 11 foul shots (82 percent).
O-G made 17 of its overall 43 field tries (40 percent).
O-G committed just six turnovers, while Bluffton was guilty of 12 miscues. The Pirates won the rebound battle, 22-19.
Traditional powerhouse O-G has now won all 17 meetings between the two programs, but this was one of the closest games in the series.
1 2 3 4 F
Blf 13 8 14 5 40
O-G 12 9 11 13 45
JV: O-G 54, Bluffton 43.
Bluffton 40 (2-1)
Ginther 3 4-4 10, Donaldson 2 3-4 7, Blk. Sommers 4 0-0 9, Bro. Sommers 1 0-0 2, Boblitt 2 0-0 5, Worcester 1 1-2 3, Wright 1 0-0 2, Yoder 1 0-0 2.
Totals: 15-35/8-10/40. 3-pointers (2-9): Bl. Sommers 1, Boblitt 1.
O-G 45 (2-0)
Erford 6 2-2 15, White 9 7-9 25, Schroeder 1 0-0 3, Wagner 1 0-0 2, Toumazos 0 0-0 0, Maag 0 0-0 0, Kitchen 0 0-0 0, Fortman 0 0-0 0.
Totals: 17-43/9-11/45. 3-pointers (2-20): Schroeder 1, Erford 1.
Bluffton (1-0 road) plays its Northwest Conference opener at Delphos Jefferson (1-1) Friday, December 15. DJ defeated Fairlawn 50-36 Friday.
