By Cort Reynolds
ADA - Visiting Bluffton pulled away late from spunky local rival Ada to post a deceptive 60-39 Northwest Conference girls basketball win Thursday night.
The purple and gold cut Bluffton's lead to 40-33 early in the fourth quarter when sophomore guard Kirsten Poling drained a right side 17-footer.
But then the Lady Pirates reeled off 12 unanswered points to secure a 52-33 margin with just over three minutes left, sealing the verdict. Playing well in transition, Bluffton wore down short-handed Ada to win the fourth quarter by a 20-8 count.
The defeat dropped the Lady Bulldog record to 2-4 overall and 0-2 in NWC play. Meanwhile, the Pirates improved to 5-1 overall and 2-0 in league play with their fifth straight win.
"The game was closer than the score, Ada handled our diamond press in the first half pretty well," said Pirate head coach Eric Garmatter. "(Courtney) Sumner is already pretty good. We will take the win and move on."
The Pirates dominated the offensive glass as powerful senior post Libby Schaadt muscled her way to a season-best 28 points inside.
"If we play anyone bigger and more physical than us, it is a problem - but I was proud of our effort," said Lady Bulldog second-year head coach Morgan Bass.
"We are getting better," she continued. "I thought we got tired. We have a short bench, especially with Miranda (Wills) hurt, and she is our best post defender."
Bulldog freshman point guard Courtney Sumner hit a trifecta and a basket in the first period. Junior Alexis Waugh canned her second field goal inside on a fine Sumner diagonal pass from her knees to give Ada an 11-10 lead after the first period.
Schaadt netted four baskets and Brinkley Garmatter sank one goal for the Pirates in the opening stanza. Schaadt converted two free throws, and Garmatter buried a left wing triple to give Bluffton a 15-11 lead in the first minute of the second period.
But Sumner splashed a left corner trey at the 7:02 mark. The plucky freshman then banked in a lane shot 22 seconds later to give Ada the lead back at 16-15.
"She is a gamer," said Garmatter of Sumner.
But it turned out to be the last time the Bulldogs were ahead. Bluffton ran off a 10-0 spurt to seize control, and they led the rest of the way by no less than seven points.
Schaadt started the flurry with a layup at the 6:30 point. Sophomore Kylie Monday blocked a shot and turned it into a breakaway layin. Senior Kayla White then sliced through the defense for a driving layin.
Garmatter sank a transition layup left-handed, and Schaadt ended the run with another bunny shot with four minutes left in the half. Slick passing and crisp ball movement helped the Pirates pull ahead, 25-16.
"We take pride in sharing the ball," Garmatter noted.
Ada junior Megan Light sank a layin to end the spurt at the 3:22 juncture. Schaadt answered with an inside score, yet Sumner responded with short turnaround bank shot half a minute later.
Schaadt responded by knocking down a left-handed putback inside for a 29-20 margin. "She was a beast inside and on the boards," Bass said.
Bulldog junior Kylie Acheson split a pair of foul shots, but Pirate sophomore Kylie Stackhouse netted a layup to give the visitors a 31-21 cushion at intermission.
A reverse layin by Schaadt and a coast-to-coast runner from Monday extended their lead to 35-21 with 5:25 left in the third stanza.
Waugh scored inside off a nice dish from Sumner to spark a 6-0 Bulldog spurt. Poling then threaded a pretty pick-and-roll feed to Waugh for another layin at the 3:51 juncture.
A pretty floater by Sumner cut the deficit to 35-27 with 3:30 left. But Pirate junior guard Laykin Garmatter splashed a triple to restore the lead to 11 with 2:59 to go in the third.
A Poling layup made it 38-29 at the 1:42 mark. Schaadt converted another stickback layin, yet Poling canned a driving layup at the 44-second juncture to edge the hosts within 40-31 heading to the final period.
Poling finished her personal six-point run by draining a long deuce to open the fourth period. But then Schaadt scored inside to ignite the decisive 12-0 Pirate flurry. Monday scored off a steal, followed by short buckets from Stackhouse and Schaadt.
Another Stackhouse layup ended the run with Bluffton on top by 19. Sumner sank one of three foul shots, and then Schaadt posted up to score inside left-handed.
Riley Busch canned a fast break layin for a 56-34 margin. Acheson hit one free throw and Sumner added two more free tosses sandwiched around a Haelyn Bischoff basket.
Bluffton tallied one last bucket in the final seconds to win going away in a contest closer than the score indicates.
Sumner led Ada with 19 points, while Waugh and Poling contributed eight apiece.
"We threw two or three different girls at her and she still kept coming," said Garmatter of Sumner. "Ada is going to be good in the future with a few more players. Morgan is doing a good job rebuilding the program."
Stackhouse supported Schaadt with eight points, while Monday added six. Both Garmatter girls tallied five markers.
Bluffton sank 28 field goals, including two treys. Ada canned 16 baskets, 14 from two-point range and two beyond the arc, both by Sumner.
The Bulldogs converted five of 11 foul shots (45 percent). Bluffton made two of its mere six charity stripers (33 percent).
Ada played its second straight game without starting junior post Miranda Wills, who broke her nose last Saturday at Perry.
The Bluffton reserves also won a two-quarter game, 21-4.
Ada 39 (2-4, 0-2 NWC)
Sumner 7 3-5 19, Poling 4 0-2 8, Light 1 0-0 2, Blankenship 0, Phillips 0, Waugh 4 0-0 8, Acheson 0 2-4 2.
Totals: 16/5-11/39. 3-pointers: Sumner 2.
Bluffton 60 (5-1, 2-0 NWC)
Bischoff 1 0-0 2, B. Garmatter 2 0-0 5, L. Garmatter 2 0-0 5, White 1 0-0 2, Mittendorf 1 0-0 2, Stackhouse 4 0-2 8, Busch 1 0-0 2, Monday 3 0-0 6, Schaadt 13 2-2 28.
Totals: 28/2-6/60. 3-pointers: L. Garmatter 1, B. Garmatter 1.
1 2 3 4 F
Ada 11 10 10 8 39
Bluf 10 21 9 20 60
JV: Bluffton 21, Ada 4.
Ada (1-2 road) visits Van Buren Monday, December 16 in a non-league encounter. The Bulldog girls lost 65-26 at home to VB last year, but Bass expects this year's game to be much more competitive.
Bluffton looks to extend its win streak to six when they visit North Baltimore Saturday, Dec. 14.
