By Cort Reynolds

KENTON – The visiting Bluffton Pirate girls basketball team lost 54-34 at streaking non-conference foe Kenton on Saturday, December 21.

The Pirates trailed 13-9 after the opening quarter. Kenton used an 8-0 run late in the second period to build a 26-17 advantage at halftime. 

Wildcat Sidney Payne got hot in the third stanza and shot Kenton to a 44-23 cushion. Payne scored 10 of her game-high 22 points in the third period.

The Pirates won the final stanza, 11-10.

Bluffton dropped to 5-4 overall after the defeat. Kenton improved to 6-2 with the decisive win, their third victory in five days.

Bluffton senior post Ayla Grandey scored seven of her nine points in the first half.

“She's a great player,” said Kenton coach Jay Bostelman of Grandey. “She's tough to guard.”

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Grandey tied it 2-2 with a pair of free throws, but the Pirates never led. Larrabee fed Heckathorn inside for a basket. Larrabee then sprinted behind the Bluffton defense for a layup. Payne got a steal and scored to make it 8-2.

Grandey sank a putback to slice Kenton's lead to 8-4 with 2:34 left in the first quarter. Larrabee followed with an easy layup.

Macy Schaadt canned a pair of charity stripers to cut the deficit to 10-6 with 1:36 left in the first frame. Kyla Bostater drained a trey for a 13-6 lead.

Grandey converted a traditional three-point play with 52 seconds remaining in the first quarter to make it 13-9. 

Bluffton's Gracie Warren knocked down a triple to begin the second quarter, but Bostelman responded with her own trey. 

Grandey cut it to 16-14 with two free throws. Heckathorn finished a tough acrobatic layup to provide an 18-14 Kenton lead. 

Bluffton's Blair Utendorf drilled a mid-range shot off of an inbounds play to inch within 18-16. However, that was as close as the Pirates would get the rest of the way.

Nolting nailed a trifecta to give Kenton a 21-16 edge. 

Heckathorn made a steal and tossed it ahead to Payne for a conventional three-point play with 2:56 left in the second quarter. A mid-range shot from Payne made the lead 10.

Grandey split a pair from the stripe at the 1:06 mark, and Bluffton went into the half down 26-17. 

Grandey had a block and made two free throws in the first two minutes of the third quarter. But Kenton's swarming defense limited her over the final 14 minutes.

Payne splashed a triple for a 29-19 advantage. Bostelman passed to Payne for a layup at 31-21. 

Utendorf made two free throws to edge within 31-23. Nolting and Bostelman each made triples to extend Kenton's lead to 37-23 midway through the third quarter. 

Larrabee sank a putback shot for a 39-23 margin. Payne canned another bucket for a 42-23 cushion. 

Payne made a layup with four seconds left to put Kenton ahead 44-23 after three periods.

Bluffton outscored Kenton in the final quarter, 11-10.

Lainey Grandey finished with seven points for the Pirates. Schaadt netted five points, while Utendorf and Greta Myers both tallied four points. Warren scored three points, and Lauren Dearth added two.

Macee Heckathorn netted nine points, and Olivia Nolting scored eight for the Wildcats. Sadie Larrabee contributed seven markers, and Rylee Bostelman added six.

The Pirate girls play Saturday, Dec. 28 at tough non-league foe Miller City (8-2).

1 2 3 4 F

Blf 9 8 6 11 34

Kent 13 13 18 10 54