By Cort Reynolds
ADA - Hot-shooting Paulding came to Ada and buried the Bulldog boys basketball team 78-46 Friday night in a surprisingly lopsided Northwest Conference lidlifter.
The Panthers connected on 10 of 16 shots beyond the arc and shot 54 percent overall from the field to post the win handily. The visitors outscored the Bulldogs 26-8 in the third period to seal the outcome.
"We gave up 26 points in the third to a team that came in averaging 49 points a game," noted new Ada head coach Dre White. "We were not ready to play and didn't compete well. Paulding shot very well."
The Bulldogs fell to 1-3 and 0-1 in the NWC following their third straight defeat at home, while the Panthers improved to 2-3 and 1-0 in league play.
Paulding guard Marcus Miller tallied a layup three seconds into the fray off the center jump to set the tone. Yet Ada rallied to take a 10-6 lead after senior Jordan Bailey canned two three-pointers.
A driving banker by sophomore guard Cade Mullins gave the hosts a 14-13 edge, but it would prove to be their last lead. Paulding ran off the final eight points of the opening stanza, capped by a Kameron Echols trey with five seconds left, to take a 21-14 advantage.
Junior post Jakob Hoschak sank a banker early in the second period, but then Ada went scoreless for over six minutes as the Panthers took control of the contest by continuing on a 14-2 flurry.
"We are inconsistent offensively," said White.
Ada senior Owen Conley converted a three-point layup off a nice backdoor cut and feed from Bailey to cut the deficit to 27-19.
But Panther reserve guard Jaret Miller responded with his third straight triple of the half to help put the visitors on top 31-19. Bailey drilled a long right wing trey just three ticks before intermisson to give Ada some hope and momentum as they went to the locker room down nine at the half.
The Bulldogs needed to come out strong to begin the second half, but instead it was Paulding who reeled off an 8-0 starting spurt.
Preston Ingol sank a left corner trey, followed by a spinning drive from Ethan Rhonehouse that bounced in. A layup by Ethan Swaney eventually stopped the run and brought Ada within 39-24 at the six-minute mark.
However, Paulding responded with an 11-0 splurge to put the game out of reach. Ingol connected on a drive and Rhonehouse canned a follow shot inside. Another triple and two free throws by sharpshooting Jaret Miller extended the margin to 51-24 with 2:19 left in the decisive period.
Mullins scored a driving layin and Conley sank a hanging 15-footer to stem the tide briefly for Ada. Foul-plagued Seth Evans converted two foul shots sandwiched around two Logan Bradford interior buckets to make the score 57-30 heading to the final stanza.
Conley and Swaney each buried three-pointers early in the fourth, and Bailey sank two foul shots to make it 61-38. Ada senior Mason Klingler swished a left wing triple, followed by another Swaney three.
Bulldog sophomore Connor Frazier converted two foul shots while Shull came off the Panther pines to bury two trifectas and provide the final margin of 32. Ada hit four triples in the fourth quarter.
"We did not make shots or execute," summed up White. "We were not very tough at either end of the floor. We did not come to play in a league opener; they scored right from the opening jump. This is a big game to learn from."
Ada sank eight two-point field goals and seven triples, and drained all nine of their free throw attempts in the lone bright spot. Paulding canned 20 deuces and drained 10 triples in 16 tries (63 percent), and added eight of 13 from the charity stripe.
Jaret Miller led 11 Panthers in the scoring column with 14 points. Rhonehouse tallied 13 markers, Ingol netted 11 and Marcus Miller added 10 to give the Panthers four players in double digits. Bailey topped Ada with 13 points while Swaney added 10.
The Ada reserves also lost, 58-32. Freshman post Kyle Zimmerly led the Bulldog JV (0-4) with six points.
Ada 46 (1-3, 0-1 NWC)
Conley 3 1-1 8, Swaney 4 0-0 10, Klingler 1 0-0 3, Hoschak 1 2-2 4, Evans 0 2-2 2, Bailey 4 2-2 13, Mullins 2 0-0 4, Frazier 0 2-2 2, Conrad 0.
Totals: 15/9-9/46. 3-pointers: Bailey 3, Swaney 2, Conley 1, Klingler 1.
Paulding 78 (2-3, 1-0 NWC)
Johanns 1 0-0 2, Doster 0 1-2 1, Echols 1 0-0 3, Harder 2 0-0 4, Ingol 3 3-5 11, Nichols 1 0-0 3, Rhonehouse 6 1-1 13, Bradford 4 1-2 9, M. Miller 5 0-0 10, J. Miller 4 2-2 14, Shull 3 0-0 8.
Totals: 30/8-13/78. 3-pointers: J. Miller 4, Ingol 2, Shull 2, Echols 1, Nichols 1.
1 2 3 4 F
Ada 14 8 8 16 46
Pau 21 10 26 21 78
JV: Paulding 58, Ada 32.
Ada (1-0 road) visits talented Perry (4-0) Saturday night. "It definitely doesn't get easier," warned White. The Commodores won an early-season NWCC showdown at USV Friday night, 71-61.
Ada then hosts non-league local foe Cory-Rawson Wednesday, December 21.
