drives to the hoop
Maybe it was the back to back setup. Maybe the cold outside leaked in. Who knows, but for whatever reason, scoring on the second night of the McDonald’s Holiday Tournament was hard to come by. Bluffton and Arlington duked it out in an old fashioned tug of war, with the championship eventually landing in the Red Devil’s lap by a score of 39-32. Cory Rawson won the consolation game by a nearly identical score of 40-32. The game marked the third straight year Bluffton and Arlington have locked horns for the title with Arlington winning two of those contests. Bluffton claimed the title last year.
Defense was the name of the game this year as Arlington relied on their ‘D’ to keep their lead. Bluffton point guard Matt Gillett cut the Arlington lead to 35-32 with 1:26 left. On Bluffton’s next possession, tourney MVP Kevin Rogers stole a post entry pass. The next time down the floor, fellow all tournament team member Thayne Recker blocked a Pirate shot away. Arlington was able to make enough free throws to take the trophy back up Route 103.
Defense ruled the roost early on as Arlington battled to a 5-4 first quarter lead. Bluffton used a 3-2 zone to collapse on Arlington’s 6’4” sophomore Recker. The strategy worked as Arlington clanked away from three point land, shooting just 1/7 in the first quarter. Bluffton was equally stymied by Arlington’s rugged man to man defense. The second quarter wasn’t much better for Arlington as they continued to be mired against the Pirate zone. For the half the Devils shot 3 of 19 from the field and scored just 9 first half points. Bluffton meanwhile started to find some rhythm on the offensive end. Cory Hilty, who was named to the all tournament team along with Levi Gleason, scored the opening four points of the second. After Arlington scored four points of their own, Bluffton ended the half on a 7-0 run on a bank shot by Kyle Siefker, two free throws and a ‘3’ from Matt Gillett, off a nice kickout from Gleason. Bluffton took a 15-9 lead to the break, but it wouldn’t last long.
Arlington figured out the zone in the third and won the quarter 16-4, turning a six point halftime deficit into a six point lead heading into the fourth. The main change was that shots began to fall the Devils. AHS connected on three 3s in the first three minutes of the half, opening the way for the big quarter. Mixed in the third was a 9-0 Red Devil run but Bluffton still hung in. RJ Stratton fed Kyle Siefker for a baseline jumper to cut the lead to six after three quarters. Senior Tyler Breidenbach took a charge on the next Arlington possession and momentum looked to be swinging back in the Pirates' favor heading into the fourth.
Bluffton got within two points twice in the fourth quarter but couldn’t get over the hump. A Gleason up-and-under move against Rogers brought BHS to within 25-23. Arlington then went on a 8-0 jaunt to extend their cushion to 33-23. Gleason knocked down a ‘3’ to close the gap, followed by back to back layups by Siefker and Stratton. Gillett’s two free throws made the score 35-32 with just 1:26 left but that was as close as the Pirates would get.
Levi Gleason scored 9 points and led the rebounding brigade with 6. Matt Gillett scored 7. Cory Hilty and Kyle Seifker each added 6. Cory rebounded the ball strongly as he collected 5 caroms. Michael Donley and RJ Stratton each scored 2 points to round out the scoring.
Bluffton takes to the road for the first time since early December when they travel to Kenton next Tuesday. Friday they’ll travel to Spencerville in a NWC affair.
Click here for game photos from Marvin Foster and Troy Breidenbach
Tags: Levi Gleason, Cory Hilty, Matt Gillett, Kyle Siefker, RJ Stratton, Michael Donley, Tyler Breidenbach
Teams: Basketball (B)