At the end of three quarters, the defending league champion Bluffton High School boys basketball team was tied with first-place Spencerville in a Northwest Conference showdown on Friday night, January 27. But the Bearcats outscored Bluffton 23-12 in the final quarter and posted a 58-47 win.
Bluffton led 13-9 after one quarter before 6-5 junior Carter Sudhoff scored eight points in the second stanza to lead the hosts to a 16-5 period and a 25-19 halftime lead.
The Pirates overcame a seven-point deficit to forge a 35-35 knot heading to the final stanza.
Pirate sophomore Marek Donaldson netted eight of his 13 points in the third quarter.
Bluffton fell to 8-6 overall and 4-2 in the NWC with the defeat. First-place Spencerville improved to 15-1 overall and 5-0 in the NWC after the win.
The Bluffton University men's basketball team slipped to 4-14 overall and 2-9 in the Heartland Conference after falling 85-78 following an exciting double-overtime matchup in Sommer Center against Anderson University on Thursday, Jan. 26, 2023. HCAC-heavyweight Anderson University improved to 12-6 on the season and 10-1 to remain at the top of the conference.
The Bluffton High School girls basketball team lost to visiting Spencerville 53-47 in a Northwest Conference matchup Thursday evening, January 26.
Bluffton fell to 12-7 overall and 2-5 in the NWC with the defeat. The Bearcat girls improved to 9-10 overall and 2-4 in the NWC following the upset win.
Spencerville moved into seventh place in the league with the road win, while Bluffton fell to eighth.
The Bluffton High School boys and girls swim team competed on Saturday, January 21 in the Allen County Invitational hosted by Bath High School at the Lima YMCA. The girls team finished in first with 453 points, ahead of Elida’s 447 points. The Lima Shawnee team finished in third place with 351 points.
The boys team finished third with 304 points. Shawnee boys won with 551 points, with Bath in second with 334 points.
Combined, the Bluffton Pirates finished second with 757 points. Shawnee finished in first with 902 points and finishing in third overall was Elida with 595 points.
The visiting Bluffton High School girls basketball team built a lead with strong defense and held off a late Riverdale charge to win 25-21 in a low-scoring non-conference contest Saturday afternoon, January 21.
The Pirate girls limited the Falcons to just 18 percent field goal shooting and only nine points in the second half to post the road win.
Bluffton held Riverdale without a basket in the third quarter, and to one point in the period to build a 10-point lead going to the fourth quarter.
Riverdale scored the first eight points of the final stanza to pull within a basket, but came up short.
Falcon Maddie Biltoft bounced in two foul shots with 1:42 remaining to inch the Falcons within 23-21.
At the 1:26 mark, Pirate post Ayla Grandey was fouled on a half hook and swished a pair of free throws to build the lead back to four. Riverdale’s Mariah Bonham missed a triple, and Pirate Sami Scoles rebounded.
