Preview: Bluffton Pirates vs. Allen East Mustangs
Bluffton is 8-2 against Allen East since February of 2017, and they'll have a chance to extend that success on Thursday. The Bluffton Pirates will head out on the road to challenge the Allen East Mustangs at 6:00 p.m. The teams are rolling into the game with opposing streaks: Bluffton has struggled recently with six losses in a row, while Allen East will arrive with ten straight wins.
Last Thursday, Bluffton was beaten by Columbus Grove 52-19. The result shouldn't come as a shock considering that's the fewest points Bluffton has scored all season.
Meanwhile, Allen East stacked a tenth blowout win onto their ever-increasing hoard on Saturday. Everything went their way against Botkins as Allen East made off with a 50-27 win. The contest was all but wrapped up at the end of the third, by which point Allen East had established a 22 point advantage.
Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Allen East to victory, but perhaps none more so than Rilynn Jones, who scored 19 points along with three steals. Jones is on a roll when it comes to steals, as she's now grabbed three or more in the last three games she's played. Soraya Jackson was another key contributor, scoring eight points along with 13 rebounds.
Bluffton has not been sharp recently as the team has lost seven of their last eight games, which put a noticeable dent in their 7-14 record this season. As for Allen East, their victory was their fifth straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 18-2.
Bluffton ended up a good deal behind Allen East in their previous matchup back in November of 2023, losing 55-37. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Allen East's Aubrey Young, who scored 13 points along with eight steals and five assists. Now that Bluffton knows the damage she can cause, will they be able to stop her this time? There's only one way to find out.
