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.
Elmwood dropped to 4-16 after the loss.
Kade Lentz led Elmwood with 16 points and three triples.
Bluffton connected on 25 field goals. The Pirates sank 14 two-pointers, and drained 11 three-point goals.
Bluffton converted nine of 16 attempts from the foul line (56 percent).
Elmwood canned 14 shots from the field. The hosts connected on nine two-point goals and drilled five treys.
Elmwood converted seven of 14 shots from the charity stripe (50 percent).
The Pirates committed just five turnovers, and the Royals made eight errors.
Elmwood 40 (4-16)
Harrison 2 0-0 4, Lentz 5 3-6 16. Curtis 1 0-0 3, Wickard 3 2-2 8, Sterling 2 0-0 5, Childress 0 1-2 1, May 1 1-3 3.
Totals: 9-5/7-14/40. 3-pointers: Lentz 3, Curtis 1, Sterling 1.
Bluffton 70 (14-8)
Donaldson 3 0-0 9, L. Ginther 0 0-1 0, Soper 4 3-6 14, W. Ginther 1 0-0 2, Worcester 4 3-4 13, Boblitt 4 0-0 10, Wright 1 0-0 3, Yoder 7 1-3 15, Hilty 1 2-2 4.
Totals: 14-11/9-16/70. 3-pointers: Donaldson 3, Soper 3, Boblitt 2, Wright 1, Worcester 2.
1 2 3 4 F
Elm 6 15 12 7 40
Bluf 22 16 13 19 70
On Wednesday, February 22 at 6 p.m. in the Elida Fieldhouse, the Pirates will play fifth-seeded Allen East (13-7) in the first round.
The Pirates beat local rival AE 61-54 Feb. 10.
The Pirate/Mustang survivor advances to play the winner between seventh seed LCC and eighth seed Coldwater Friday, Feb. 24 at 7:30 p.m.
Sectional winners move on to the Lima Senior district March 1.
Ottawa-Glandorf (16-3) is the top seed, with Spencerville second (18-2). Carey (18-3) is third and Liberty-Benton (18-2) fourth in the 13-team sectional.
