You could call the span of seasons from 1994-95 through 1999-2000 the golden age of Bluffton High School girls’ basketball.

During those six seasons Bluffton won five Northwest Conference titles, qualified for the regional tournaments five times, the state tournament two times and set many records still in the books.

The 1999-2000 team will be recognized during the halftime of Saturday’s varsity boys’ basketball game versus Pandora-Gilboa. It is the first-ever reunion of that team.

Alex Hanna, BHS athletic director, said, “We plan to extend halftime to include the recognition.

During the recognition, the ’99-00 team members will walk to half court and face the home bleachers. 

“We will give a summary of their seasons and introduce players and coaches." 

As of Jan. 27, Hanna said that the following players plan to attend: Abbie (Fett) Myers, Abbey Schaaf, Caity (Matter) Henniger, Rachel (Holt) Terlecky, Tara (Buroker) McCullough, Kelly Ann, Lauren Potts, Dennis Lee, Cindy Lee, Pat Prichard, and Jim Raabe. 

Among team records during the 1994-2000 era:

Overall records
1994-95 21-4
1995-96 17-4
1996-97 23-1
1997-98  20-5
1998-99  22-4
1999-2000 26-1

Most victories: 26, 1999-2000
   Previous record, 23 games set in 1996-97
Most points per season: 1,786, 1998-99
Highest point average: 71.5, 1996-97
Most points scored in NWC contests: 769, 1998-99
Highest field gold percentage for a season: 49.1 percent, 1998-99
Highest free throw percentage for a season: 67.9 percent, 1999-2000
   Previous record, 66.9 percent, 1996-97

Bluffton placed 11 players on all-state honor lists from 1994-95 to 1999-2000. Those include:
1994-95 – Crystal Bennett, Division IV honor mention
1996-97 – Caity Matter, Division IV honorable mention
1996-97 – Ann Stechschulte, Division IV, third team
1997-98 – Caity Matter, Division III, second team
1998-99 – Caity matter, Division III, first team
1999-2000 – Caity Matter, Division III, first team, Division III player of the year, Associated Press Ms. Ohio runner-up, Ohio High School basketball Coaches Association, Ms. Ohio
1996-99 – Caity Matter had 50 consecutive double figure games

Other honors awarded during this era:
1996-97 – Dennis Lee, Division IV, state coach of the year
1996-97 – BHS team Division IV second in the final state AP poll
1999-2000 – BHS team, Division III first in final state AP poll
1999-2000 – Dennis Lee, Division III state co-coach of the year

Game attendance
1999 state semi-finals 8,800 vs Cleveland Villa-Angela St. Joseph
2000 state semi-finals 6,6776 vs Eastern Brown
2000 state finals 5,777 vs. South Euclid Regina

The story behind the Lady Pirate mascot
The Bluffton Lady Pirate logo is not clip art. It’s one of a kind. Here’s the story.

As girls’ athletic teams developed in the early 1970s many high schools adopted “Lady” or a variation of the word for their girls’ teams.

Prior to 1994 the Bluffton Lady Pirates lacked their own logo. Instead the teams simply used the familiar Pirate logo also used by boys.

In the fall of 1994 Crystal Bennett, a senior on the girls’ team, approached Matt Richards (brother of BHS football coach Jeff Richards), also a senior that year, to draw a picture of a Lady Pirate.

The intention was to use the logo on shirts for the girls’ basketball team for the 1994-95 season.

Richards returned a drawing of his Lady Pirate to Bennett. Her mother, Cheryl McFadden, took the drawing to the House of Awards to have the drawing placed on shirts for the girls.

The rest is history.