By Cort Reynolds
Visiting Spencerville started and finished very strongly to post a convincing 74-42 victory over the Ada boys basketball team in a Northwest Conference bout Friday night. Following a fifth consecutive defeat, the Bulldogs fell to 2-8 overall and 0-3 in the NWC. Meanwhile, the league-leading Bearcats improved to 8-2 and 3-0.
"Spencerville is a good team, you have to credit them," said Ada first-year head coach Dre White. "They have some big-time players who can make shots. And they made some second half adjustments when we went zone for a bit. We can't take possessions or minutes off; we have to play hard for 32 minutes," White added. "We came out flat and it cost us."
The hot-shooting Bearcats raced to a 14-2 lead out of the gate, capped by three-pointers from Dakota Prichard and Gary Schrolucke, and never trailed. "We are not a team who can afford to dig ourselves a big hole," noted White.
Left side three-pointers by Jordan Bailey and Ethan Swaney edged Ada within 18-9 after one period of play. Seven points by 6-4 Bearcat senior Prichard early in the second stanza catapulted the visitors to a 25-12 bulge. Owen Conley tallied a three-point play inside off a nice backdoor cut and Bailey dish.
Conley also nailed a left side 13-footer, but a short jump hook by Ben Dues and a Bailey Croft trey extended the lead to 33-14. Bailey drained a right corner triple 22 seconds before intermission to get the purple and gold within 16 points at the break.
Seven quick points by 6-6 senior post Bailey Croft helped the Bearcats go ahead 40-21 despite a Conley bucket and a short banker from Bailey.
Ada senior Seth Evans then caught fire to ignite a 13-3 Bulldog flurry. He nailed a jumper, then swished a right side triple. After Schrolucke splashed a three, Conley drilled a top of the key triple. Evans then buried a right corner trey as he was fouled, then converted the free toss for a rare four-point play that pulled the hosts within 10 points. Conley added a free throw moments later to inch within 43-34 as 2:54 remained in the third period, but that was as close as Ada would get.
"We did well to fight back within nine," offered White.
Prichard stopped the run with a three-pointer from the top of the key. Yet Conley responded by knocking down a left corner triple to make it 46-37 at the 1:54 mark. But the Bearcats regained control of the contest by finishing the period on a 10-1 spurt. Jacob Propst sank a trey and Prichard converted a driving left-handed three-point play with 5.7 seconds left to provide a 56-38 lead.
Ada sophomore Connor Frazier scored inside to cut the deficit to 58-40, yet the Bearcats reeled off the next 14 points unanswered to put the game well out of reach.
Prichard drained a trey from the left side early in the run. Meanwhile Griffen Croft contributed a short baseline jumper and Brady Nolan added a layin before Dues drained a long deuce to extend the margin to 72-40.
Bulldog senior Mason Klingler ended the splurge by canning a bank shot in the lane. Bearcat guard Nolan splashed a 19-footer to end the scoring.
"We gave up nine offensive rebounds in the first half, but only one in the second half," White observed. "We did a good job of fighting back in the third quarter as we cut down on our turnovers."
"It got away from us in the fourth quarter," he continued. "We just had too many bad stretches. Spencerville is a well-balanced team."
Scoring from outside and on drives, the versatile Prichard led all scorers with 25 points. Bailey Croft contributed 15 markers. Conley topped Ada with 16 points. Evans added nine points and Bailey eight.
Spencerville canned nine treys among its 24 field goals, and converted 17 of 21 from the charity stripe. Ada nailed 15 baskets, including seven triples, and hit on half of its 10 foul shots.
The Bulldogs scored as many points in the high-scoring third period (21) as it did in the other three quarters combined. The Ada reserves also lost the JV contest 56-38, which was the same score as the varsity game after three periods. Bulldog freshman Phillip Coulson led the purple and gold with 13 points.
Ada 42 (2-8, 0-3 NWC)
Mullins 0, Swaney 1 1-2 4, Evans 3 1-2 9, Conrad 0, Bailey 3 0-0 8, Conley 6 2-3 16, Hoschak 0 1-2 1, Frazier 1 0-0 2, Klingler 1 0-0 2.
Totals: 15/5-10/42. 3-pointers: Bailey 2, Conley 2, Evans 2, Swaney 1.
Spencerville 74 (8-2, 3-0 NWC)
Corso 1 3-3 5, Schrolucke 2 3-4 9, Propst 1 0-0 3, Nolan 2 0-0 4, Prichard 8 5-7 25, B. Croft 5 3-3 15, G. Croft 2 1-2 5, Dues 3 2-2 8.
Totals: 24/17-21/74. 3-pointers: Prichard 4, B. Croft 2, Schrolucke 2, Propst 1.
1 2 3 4 F
Ada 9 8 21 4 42
Svl 18 15 23 18 74
JV: S'ville 56, Ada 38.
Ada (1-4 home) hosts non-league arch-rival USV Saturday night. The Rams improved to 8-3 after mauling Ridgemont 67-43 Friday.
"It is a big rivalry game," White agreed. "The kids are pumped up for it. We have to put together a good 32 minutes. We are excited for the game, and are hoping for a good environment."
