Bath’s Claire Foust battles Bluffton’s Ayla Grandey for inside position during Thursday night’s game at Bath.
Jose Nogueras | The Lima News
BATH TOWNSHIP — In a game dictated by defense, Bath saved its best effort for last.
Going into the final stanza, the Wildkittens held a 26-25 but in the final eight minutes limited Bluffton to three points to pull away and record a 41-29 victory in a non league affair Thursday night.
With the win, Bath remains unbeaten at 10-0. Bluffton falls to 7-3 on the year.
The 29 points by Bluffton matches its lowest offensive output of the year.
“Defense has been our M.O. all year long,” Bath head coach Greg Mauk said. “Our kids, no matter what defensive they play they are going to play hard. I give Bluffton credit. In the first half they did a real nice job of attacking our zone and because they did we had to play some man defense in the second half and our kids really sat down and played hard.”
Scroll down for more of the story
It was a 10-0 run to open the fourth quarter that sunk the Pirates as solid free throw shooting paved the way for the points. Bath, who outscored Bluffton 14-3, in the fourth quarter, was 10 of 12 from the charity stripe with Anne Oliver, hitting 7 of 8, and finishing with 11 points. Claire Foust led the team in scoring with 12 points and she grabbed eight rebounds and had two blocks. Elena Oliver finished with nine points and seven caroms.
“Our kids shoot the foul shoots really well,” Mauk said. “We had a less than normal night for 3-pointers. We were 1 of 12 and that is something we normally rely on that but I thought our kids stepped up and did what they had to do to win the game.”
While the Pirates had their issues offensively, Bath wasn’t exactly lighting up the scoreboard like a Christmas tree either.
Both teams came out strong and after the first eight minutes, the Wildkittens led 15-11. However, both teams struggled in the second period as Bluffton managed six points and Bath scored four. Both teams picked it up in the third period but neither found the consistency to pull away.
Bluffton’s Samantha Scoles scored nine points on the strength of a trio of treys but failed to score in the second half. Riley Eachus also had nine points and she grabbed seven rebounds.
“We had some looks but we just couldn’t buy a basket,” Bluffton head coach Eric Garmatter said. “We missed that layup there at the end of the third quarter that would have given us the lead. You can’t fault the effort because we played hard and four of the girls never came off the floor.
“Defensively I am happy but you have to play both ends of the court,” Garmatter said. “We did some good things but they are a tough matchup.”
Bluffton’s defensive effort, like Bath’s, put in a solid effort as they kept Bath from establishing an inside game while at the same time, containing the Wildkittens’ outside shooters.
“I still think there are some things we have get better at,” Mauk said. “i thought in the second half we did some of those things.that I wasn’t sure we could do. When they take away your two perimeter players — they were chasing Elena (Oliver) and Rachel (Clark) all over the floor — and I wasn’t sure how we would handle that but our kids came out and really attacked that pressure and scored that is the kind of things you have to be able to do.”
Reach Jose Nogueras at 567-242-0468.
