By Cort Reynolds - Ada Icon sports writer
Visiting league co-leader Bluffton outscored Ada by 22 points over the middle quarters to post a convincing 69-41 girls basketball win over the Lady Bulldogs in Northwest Conference play Thursday evening.
The purple and gold fell to 7-13 and 1-6 in the NWC after their fourth straight defeat, while the visitors improved to 15-4 and 7-0 in the league with the victory.
Bluffton will face co-league unbeaten Columbus Grove (6-0 NWC) in the conference finale to decide the championship.
Pirate sophomore point guard Alivia Koening poured in a game-high 32 points, including seven three-point goals, to lead the Bucs to victory.
"Koenig does everything well, we had no answer for her; even if she did not score a point she would still be a good player," said Bulldog head coach Bill Taflinger. "This is a tough stretch for our girls, we have to keep our heads up and keep playing hard.
"We were hoping to be able to play with Bluffton and upset them, but it wasn't meant to be."
Ada pulled within 31-26 with 2:19 left in the first half on a three-point goal by Alyssa Vore.
But then Koenig stole the ball off a Bulldog defensive rebound and laid it in to reverse the momentum. Vore canned a fast break layup to cut the deficit to five. Yet Pirate freshman Kayla White buried a trifecta to build the margin to eight.
Then Bluffton sophomore Averey Rumer splashed a high-arching trey four seconds before intermission to give Bluffton a 39-28 cushion at halftime.
"We got it down to five late in the half, then they hit two big three's right before the half to go up 11," said Taflinger. "That made a big difference."
The Pirates outscored Ada 30-13 in the second half and 54-27 after the opening stanza.
"The 8-0 run they had to begin the third period kind of sealed it," said Taflinger.
Haley Wyss was the lone Bulldog in double figures with 11 points. Teara Coulson added nine points on three treys.
Parkins added 11 points to support Koenig's 32-point outburst.
Bluffton canned 12 three-point goals and 10 two-pointers. They also converted 13 of 18 at the charity stripe. Ada sank five deuces and eight triples, as well as seven of 13 at the foul line.
Bluffton also won a two-quarter reserve contest, 20-2.
