By Cort Reynolds
Ada junior Maddie Gossard tallied 18 first-half points and the Lady Bulldogs routed visiting Waynesfield-Goshen 54-29 in a girls basketball non-league mismatch Tuesday night. The Lady Bulldogs improved to 6-7 overall with the surprisingly lopsided victory, while the Lady Tigers fell to 6-7 with the defeat.
Ada raced to a 34-13 halftime lead as Gossard canned four of five launches beyond the arc. The Bulldog press also forced several W-G turnovers and led to easy Ada points. "We came out and jumped out to a nice start," said Bulldog head coach Bill Taflinger. "Our press bothered them more than I thought it would. It was one of those nights when everything we tried worked.
"We shot it well early which got us going and opened things up for everything else," he continued. "Give the girls the credit, they were ready to play and I am proud of them."
Ada jumped to a 13-2 cushion and was never headed. Gossard sank a three, two foul shots and a layup off a pass from Alyssa Vore. Madison Buffenbarger drained the lone Tiger trifecta of the night, yet Gossard drilled another triple for a 16-5 edge after one period of play.
A Gossard drive, two Haley Wyss foul shots and another triple by Gossard stretched the lead to 23-7. Wyss canned a layup and Gossard splashed yet another three to give Ada a 28-7 bulge. Vore added a driving scoop shot, but the visitors sank a basket at the buzzer to pull within 34-13 at the break.
Early in the third quarter, Wyss converted an old-fashioned three-point play and two charity stripers to extend the margin to 39-15. Gossard drained a left wing trey and Anney Archer sank a bank shot for a 45-18 advantage.
Gossard converted two technical foul shots, and Archer bounced in a right side shot to make it 49-18 heading to the fourth stanza. Wyss sank a three-point drive and another pair at the foul line for a 36-point lead, their biggest of the night.
Aubrey Biederman, a 5-11 junior, then tallied eight consecutive points for W-G. Two foul shots from Tiger guard Megan Barden made it 54-28. W-G capped a game-ending 11-0 run on a Lynsey Lowe foul shot to cut the final margin to 25. "We held Buffenbarger, their good shooter, to three points with a box and one," noted Taflinger. "And they missed a lot of point-blank shots."
Gossard and Wyss combined to score 42 points. Wyss netted 10 of her 19 points after intermission to keep the visitors at bay. Archer added seven markers. Biederman scored 11 points and was the only Tiger to tally more than five.
Ada canned 17 baskets and six trifectas, plus sank 14 of 18 at the charity stripe (78 percent). W-G made only 10 field goals, with one trey, and struggled at the foul line. The cold-shooting Tigers converted just eight of 22 free tosses (36 percent).
Ada improved to 3-3 at home with the win.
Ada 54 (6-7)
Vore 2 0-1 4, M. Gossard 7 4-4 23, Newland 0 1-2 1, Archer 3 1-2 7, Coulson 0, Conley 0 0-1 0, Wyss 5 8-8 19, S. Gossard 0.
Totals: 17/14-18/54. 3-pointers: Gossard 5, Wyss 1.
W-G 29 (6-7)
Buffenbarger 1 0-0 3, Barrington 1 1-2 3, Lowe 0 1-4 1, Wicker 2 1-4 5, Barden 0 2-2 2, Biederman 5 1-5 11, Craig 1 2-4 4, Carmean 0 0-1 0.
Totals: 10/8-22/29. 3-pointer: Buffenbarger 1.
1 2 3 4 F
Ada 16 18 13 7 54
W-G 5 8 5 11 29
No JV contest.
The Lady Bulldogs (0-3 NWC) host league foe Delphos Jefferson (6-7, 2-2 NWC) Thursday. "They are a pretty good team," Taflinger noted. "Hopefully we can shoot well again."
