SPENCERVILLE-The Spencerville Bearcats looked to stay in first place in the NWC on Friday night when they hosted second place Bluffton Pirates. The Bearcats used a strong fourth quarter to pick up the 58-47 victory.
It was a battle of runs in the opening quarter as both teams traded punches. Spencerville started the game on a quick 5-0 scoring run on a three pointer by Josh Henline and a basket by Dylan Smith.
Bluffton came back with a 9-0 scoring run with seven points coming from Carson Soper. A pair of free throws from Dylan Cook got the hosts within two before the visitors extended their lead to four at 13-9.
“I didn’t think we came out with our best defensive energy in that first quarter,” said Spencerville head coach Kevin Sensabaugh.
Spencerville brought their A game on the defensive end in the second quarter as they limited Bluffton to five points in the quarter. Spencerville used the size advantage of Carter Sudhoff and went right to work.
Sudhoff tallied eight points in the quarter and brought the hosts back on top. Carder Orr also chipped in four points to give Spencerville a 25-18 halftime lead.
“He’s getting better and better every week,” Sensabaugh said of Sudhoff’s performance. “I thought he rebounded very well and he changed the game in a lot of ways tonight by blocking some shots and changing some shots too.”
Bluffton was able to crawl their way back in the game in the third quarter. The Pirates connected on three pointers that included two from Marek Donaldson to get the game close. The Bearcat lead was trimmed to two before a pair of steals and points from Henline and Smith gave them a 35-29 lead.
“It’s a funny story because Dylan Cook was on the bench and he looked at me and said we need to put the game in the hands of Josh and Dylan,” Sensabaugh explained. “ I said we are trying to get them the ball and all of a sudden Dylan got a steal and a layup and Josh had a steal and a layup so he was right and I’m glad that they were able to make plays when we needed to.”
Spencerville put the final dagger in the final quarter to give them a big conference win. Baskets by Sudhoff and Henline stretched the lead to 39-35 before a three pointer by Landen Worcester cut the lead to 39-38.
Bluffton nabbed a quick 41-40 lead on a three pointer before a basket by Smith regained the Spencerville lead at 42-41. A basket by Sudhoff and a three pointer from Henline extended the lead to 47-41.
Bluffton got as close as 47-44 before a basket by Sudhoff and a basket by Carder Orr made it 51-44. The Pirates went cold in the final minutes as the hosts made the final plays to give Spencerville the win.
“It feels great and every time you get a conference win” Sensabaugh said. “It was a good atmosphere tonight and we were able to play well down the stretch to pull away tonight.”
Spencerville improves to 15-1 on the season and are now winners of nine in a row. They will return to action on Saturday when they visit New Knoxville.
Bluffton 13 – 5 – 17 – 12 – 47
Spencerville 9 – 16 – 10 – 23 – 58
Bluffton (47)
Marek Donaldson (13) Carson Soper (12) Landen Worcester (9) Wade Ginther (7) Terron Boblitt (5) John-Paul Yoder (1)
Spencerville (58)
Carter Sudhoff (18) Josh Henline (15) Dylan Smith (14) Carder Orr (9) Dylan Cook (2)
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