By Cort Reynolds
ADA - The Ada boys basketball team lost a 57-56 overtime nailbiter to visiting Ottoville Saturday night in a non-league clash.
The Bulldogs fell to 1-2 with their second close home defeat in as many nights, while the Big Green improved to 3-1.
Ottoville sank its final 12 free throw tries, including eight in overtime, to advance to a 57-53 lead. Ada's Ethan Swaney canned a desperation three-pointer at the buzzer to cut the final margin to one.
Big Green junior post Logan Kemper was unstoppable inside as he tallied 33 points. "He is a good player," noted Ada head coach Dre White. "They made some shots down the stretch and executed pretty well."
The 6-3 Kemper hit on 11 field goals and converted 11 of 12 at the charity stripe. The southpaw scored eight of the 12 Ottoville points in OT, including four of four at the line.
Ada reeled off eight unanswered points in the third period to seize a 40-32 lead, but then went scoreless for nearly seven minutes to lose control of the game. Ottoville surged in front with an 11-0 spurt to take a 43-40 advantage.
"That bad stretch killed us," noted White. "We have to get some more offense from somewhere."
Senior Seth Evans tied it on a triple with 3:18 remaining in the fourth quarter for Ada to end the long drought. Big Green point guard Andy Schimmoeller canned a difficult driving scoop down the lane off glass to put the visitors back on top 45-43 at the 1:44 mark.
Bulldog hustlers Jakob Hoschak and Swaney each split two foul shots to knot the score once more in the final minute. Ottoville ran off the final 57 seconds before a last-second three try came up short to force the extra session.
To open the OT, Kemper drained two foul shots but Swaney gave Ada the lead on a trey off a nice rebound and kickout by Hoschak with 2:55 to go.
Kemper sank a short banker in transition yet Owen Conley made a layin off a nice back cut and feed from Evans for a 51-50 edge with 1:11 left.
Green guard Nick Moorman drilled two foul shots and then Evans split two. Two Kemper charity stripers stretched the lead to 55-51 yet Hoschak pulled Ada within a deuce with a pair of clutch foul shots with 17.3 ticks to go.
But Moorman made it 8-8 from the line in OT by calmly draining a pair with 15.4 left to make it a two-possession lead. Ada missed a shot, and by the time Swaney chased down the loose ball and tossed in a long right wing trifecta the horn sounded to make the final margin just one.
Conley netted the first eight Ada pointsa with a pair of three balls as the hosts raced to an 8-2 lead. Kemper and Conley each ended up with 11 points after one stanza as Ada held a 17-16 edge.
A left corner trey and two foul shots by Swaney, plus another trifecta by Conley, gave the Bulldogs a 27-22 lead midway through period two.
Evans sank two charity stripers and drained a trey from the top of the key to extend the margin to 32-24. Yet Kemper tallied six straight points to give him 21 at intermission and pull the Green within 32-30 at the half.
Schimmoeller tied the game on a drive to start the second half. But then Ada senior Jordan Bailey netted five points in an 8-0 Ada flurry, capped by his left elbow pull-up shot with three minutes left in the third stanza.
Kemper ended a drought of over four minutes with a layup and two foul shots to inch Ottoville within 40-36 heading to the fourth period.
Two Moorman free throws and a triple by Zane Martin, the lone trifecta of the night for the visitors, gave the Green their first lead since the opening minute of period two at 41-40.
A driving layup by Moorman gave the visitors a 43-40 advantage and capped their key 11-0 run. Evans finally ended the scoreless span of 6:42 by hitting a trey to set up the last stretch of back and forth play.
Both teams appeared to tire somewhat in the second half on the back end of consecutive game nights. Ottoville outscored Ada 15-13 in low-scoring third and fourth periods after a relatively high-scoring 32-30 first half.
The purple and gold canned 10 triples yet sank just seven two-point goals. The Bulldogs hit on 12 of 20 at the foul line (60 percent). Ottoville sank 17 baskets, only one of which was a three. The Green shot 88 percent at the line, converting 22 of 25.
"They shot big-time at the line," said White. "Hoschak played his butt off, he competed. We had 17 turnovers, which is kind of uncharacteristic. We only had 13 turnovers combined over our first two games."
Conley led Ada with 16 points, including 14 in the first half. He rolled his ankle in the fourth period and was able to return later. Evans netted 14 and Swaney added a dozen points.
Moorman supported Kemper with 15 points as only four Ottoville players scored.
The Ada reserves lost a shortened two-quarter contest, 18-14. Connor Frazier led the Bulldog JV (0-3) with five points.
Ada 56 (1- 2)
Conley 6 0-0 16, Swaney 3 3-4 12, Klingler 0, Hoschak 1 3-5 5, Evans 3 5-7 14, Bailey 3 1-2 7, Mullins 1 0-0 2, Frazier 0, Conrad 0.
Totals: 17/12-20/56. 3-pointers: Swaney 3, Evans 3, Conley 4.
Ottoville 57 (3-1)
Kemper 11 11-12 33, Martin 1 0-0 3, Moorman 3 9-11 15, Schimmoeller 2 2-2 6, Von Sossan 0.
Totals: 17/22-25/57. 3-pointer: Martin 1.
1 2 3 4 OT F
Ada 17 15 8 5 11 56
Ovl 16 14 6 9 12 57
JV: Ottoville 18, Ada 14.
Ada (0-2 home) looks for its first home win when they host league foe Paulding (0-3) in the Northwest Conference opener Friday, December 16.
ARLINGTON - The short-handed Ada girl cagers lost at powerful Arlington 99-24 Saturday afternoon. Junior Maddie Gossard led the purple and gold with eight points.
The Lady Bulldogs (1-2) open NWC play at Paulding Thursday, Feb. 15.
