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By Cort Reynolds

DEFIANCE–The Bluffton High School girls basketball team led by 12 at halftime but went cold after intermission and lost 42-35 to Defiance Tinora in Div. III sectional semifinal action Wednesday evening, February 15 at Ayersville High School in Defiance.

The Pirate girls led 21-9 at halftime yet got outscored 33-14 in the second half as the Rams rallied for the victory. A game-changing 19-7 Tinora third period tied it up 28-28 heading to the final stanza.

The Rams then closed the game on a 10-1 run to break up a very close game and win by a deceptive total of seven points. Tinora won the fourth period, 14-7. Overall, they outscored Bluffton 13 to four at the foul line.

Bluffton finished its season 13-10 after the tough loss eliminated them from the tournament. 

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By Cort Reynolds

The visiting Bluffton High School boys basketball team shot its way to a big early lead and swarmed Elmwood 70-40 to win a rare Thursday night contest in their regular season finale, February 16. 

Balanced Bluffton canned 11 three-pointers to help post the 30-point blowout.

The Pirates raced to a 22-6 lead after the first period as Marek Donaldson and John-Paul Yoder each scored six points.

Carson Soper nailed two of his three first-half triples in the second stanza to extend the margin to 38-21 at the half.

Bluffton outscored the Royals 32-19 after intermission. Terron Boblitt nailed two of the four Pirate triples in the fourth period.

Soper led four Pirates in double figures with 16 points. Yoder tallied a season-best 15 points. Landen Worcester netted 13 points, and Boblitt chipped in with 10 markers.

Donaldson added nine points on three treys.

Bluffton finished its regular season with a solid 14-8 record after the convincing non-league win.  

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Grandey named honorable mention 

By Cort Reynolds

Bluffton senior guard Sami Scoles was named first team All-Northwest Conference in voting recently conducted by the league basketball coaches.

The smart southpaw playmaker was a second team all-league pick last season.

Scoles led the Pirates in scoring, assists and free throws. She controlled the game with solid floor play, and was the Bluffton Holiday tournament MVP in November.

Sophomore post Ayla Grandey was voted honorable mention all-league. She led the Pirates in rebounding and was the team's number two scorer.

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By Ethan Stearns, sports information assistant

NORTH MANCHESTER, Ind. –The Bluffton University men's basketball team fell to 5-19 overall and 3-14 in the Heartland Conference following its matchup at Manchester University on Tuesday Feb. 14, 2023. The Spartans improved to 15-9 overall and an impressive 13-4 in conference play. A Friday night victory over Anderson would send Manchester into the HCAC Tournament as the number 1 seed and tourney host.

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By Cort Reynolds

The visiting Bluffton High School boys basketball team rode a big third period to defeat Van Buren 60-49 in a non-league bout Tuesday night, February 14.

The Pirates trailed just 28-26 at halftime, and took control of the game with an 18-8 third stanza. They then won the fourth quarter 16-13 to capture the contest going away by 11.

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TERRE HAUTE, Ind.--Day two of the 2022-23 Heartland Conference Swimming and Diving Championship saw freshman Riley Bruns (Maria Stein/Marion Local) earn three points with his 12th place finish in the 100 yard breaststroke. He swam a 1:25.70 in the prelims and then a 1:23.48 in the finals, shattering his previous personal best by nearly five seconds.

Bruns' times place him 3rd and 4th all-time for the 100 yard breaststroke at Bluffton. Bruns will cap off the Heartland Conference Championship on Saturday, Feb. 11, when he swims the 100 yard freestyle.

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