By Cort Reynolds
Senior guard Seth Evans enjoyed a career-best scoring night to lead the host Ada boys basketball team past scrappy Waynesfield 71-68 in a very hard-fought contest Tuesday night.The Bulldogs snapped a six-game losing skid and improved to 3-9 with the non-league victory, while the Tigers dropped to 1-11 following the defeat.
"Evans was definitely a sparkplug; he can shoot," said Ada first-year head coach Dre White. "We knew Waynesfield would give it all they had. Give them credit, they had guys step up and make shots. They made it tough on us and attacked the offensive glass in the first half.
"I was not extremely pleased to give up 68 points, but we will take the win," White added.
Evans netted 16 of his game-high 22 points in the first half, and ended up shooting 7-14 from the floor, including 4-7 from three-point land. Still, Ada could not put away the Tigers easily. W-G scored eight straight points early in the fourth period to forge a 54-54 tie with 5:22 remaining after consecutive driving layins by Kurtis Bowersock.
Evans sank a driving layup to give Ada the lead back, but the Tigers knotted it 57-all. Cade Mullins sank a layup but Brock Waitman provided W-G its last lead at 60-59 with a conventional three-point play inside at the 3:28 mark. Evans gave the Bulldogs the lead back by canning two foul shots, followed by two more Mullins charity stripers. Tiger guard Jaden Maxwell was fouled shooting a three and sank all three free shots to tie it with 2:19 left.
Mullins again converted a pair of foul shots. Ethan Swaney sank a breakaway left-handed layup when the Tigers gambled for a pressing steal and missed, giving Ada a 67-63 edge with 1:50 to play. Britton Elliott canned a driving layup for W-G, yet Bulldog Jackson Conrad responded with a layin of his own. Tiger Tanner Hurley drained a right wing triple to close to 69-68 with 61 seconds remaining.
The Tigers were then called for traveling with 7.4 ticks to go after trying to hold for the last shot. Ada missed two foul shots at the 5.8 mark, but the rebound caromed out of bounds off two Tigers. Waynesfield coach Josh Hollar was whistled for a technical arguing the call, but again the hosts missed both free throws to keep the margin at one.
Bulldog Owen Conley was then fouled with 2.3 seconds left, and the senior calmly drained two free throws for a 71-68 edge. Maxwell tossed up a running halfcourt heave at the buzzer, but his desperation shot bounced away off the top of the backboard as time expired. "Owen hit two big free throws late to top it off," said White. "We'll take it. Everyone that played scored."
The game was close throughout, with the Tigers holding a 16-14 edge after the opening period. Evans drained two triples and Mason Klingler came off the bench to score four points. A Hurley 12-foot left baseline shot gave W-G the slim quarter lead.
Evans heated up in the second stanza, scoring 10 points. His right wing trey and a stickback by sophomore Connor Frazier put Ada in front, 19-18. Evans then tallied seven points in a row. He sank two foul shots, canned a pull-up 14-footer and splashed a left corner trey for a 26-20 Bulldog lead.
Maxwell halved the lead with a right wing triple, yet Conley sank a one-footed lane runner 1:37 before intermission. The visitors scored the final four points of the half to creep within 29-27.
Evans continued his hot shooting by hitting a 10-footer to open the second half. Three Maxwell foul shots inched W-G within 33-32. Swaney canned a driving shot and Conley hit a short banker. Mullins added two foul shots for a 39-32 bulge at the 5:48 mark.
Kale Kaufman sank a right wing trey for the Tigers, but Ada built its biggest lead of 10 at 45-35 on a 6-0 spurt. A Frazier lane pull-up shot and a Swaney driving layup capped the mini-flurry.
The feisty Tigers responded with a 7-0 spurt of their own to edge back to a 45-42 deficit. Bulldog Jakob Hoschak sank a third effort putback, and Conley buried a left wing trey for a 50-44 lead.
After two Tiger foul shots, Swaney stole the ball and scampered in for a layup and a 52-46 lead heading to the final period. A lane floater by Klingler gave Ada an eight-point edge to start the final quarter before W-G went on its tying 8-0 flurry.
The Bulldogs outscored W-G 17-14 down the stretch to pull out the hard-earned three-point win. "Cade, Seth, Connor and Mason all stepped up with Jordan (Bailey) out sick," White noted. "Mason gave us six big points and did not turn the ball over. Cade did a nice job and started out 8-8 at the foul line."
Conley tallied 13 points while Swaney and Mullins each added 10. Maxwell netted 13 points to pace four Tigers in double figures. Bowersock scored a dozen, Hurley tallied 11 and Kaufman added 10.
The Bulldogs out-rebounded W-G, 31-30. Conley grabbed 10 rebounds while Mullins and Frazier each yanked down six boards. "It was nice to see Connor get on the glass," said White. "Rebounding was a point of emphasis for our team."
Ada committed just 12 turnovers. The 6-5 Frazier added three blocked shots. Ada canned 24 of 51 from the field, including 19 of 33 on two-pointers and 5-18 beyond the arc. The Bulldogs converted 18 of 24 at the foul line (75 percent).
W-G sank 22 baskets, including four treys, and hit on 20 of 23 at the charity stripe (87 percent). Ada is now 2-5 at home this season.
Ada 71 (3-9)
Mullins 1 8-10 10, Swaney 5 0-0 10, Evans 7 4-5 22, Conrad 1 0-0 2, Conley 4 4-5 13, Hoschak 1 0-0 2, Frazier 3 0-0 6, Klingler 2 2-2 6.
Totals: 24/18-24/71. 3-pointers: Evans 4, Conley 1.
W-G 68 (1-11)
Elliott 2 0-0 4, Bowersock 3 6-8 12, Bly 4 1-2 9, Searson 1 0-0 2, Hurley 4 2-2 11, Kaufman 3 2-2 10, Maxwell 2 8-8 13, Waitman 3 1-1 7.
Totals: 22/20-23/68. 3-pointers: Kaufman 2, Maxwell 1, Hurley 1.
1 2 3 4 F
Ada 14 15 23 19 71
W-G 16 11 19 22 68
No JV contest.
Ada (0-3 NWC) visits Delphos Jefferson (4-8, 2-1 NWC) in a tough conference battle Friday night.
