By Cort Reynolds
Visiting McComb scored the last 10 points of overtime to pull out a comeback 58-50 victory over Ada in a hard-fought girls basketball battle Saturday afternoon. The Lady Bulldogs fell to 5-7 overall with the difficult defeat. Meanwhile, the Lady Panthers improved to 5-7 with their fifth consecutive win. "If you can't rebound, you can't win," said Ada head coach Bill Taflinger. "We have to win the close games. We just didn't come up with the key rebounds when we needed to."
Ada rallied from a 15-11 deficit after one period with a big second quarter. Maddie Gossard sank two early treys and Teara Coulson added one three-pointer. Panther senior ace Jenna Herr scored eight points on two treys and a deuce in the opening stanza, while McComb point guard Nora Hemminger added a three. Bulldog junior Sydney Newland started the second quarter by sinking a left wing trey. Junior Anney Archer then scored nine points in the second period. The speedster canned two driving layups and a right wing triple to put Ada ahead 25-23 wih 46 seconds left before intermission.
McComb regained the lead on a Jenna Herr left corner trifecta 16 ticks later. But Archer responded with another basket to give Ada a 27-26 edge at halftime. Haley Wyss nailed a three-pointer from over the Panther zone to open the second half and give the Bulldogs a four-point lead. Herr then scored on a layup off a steal. Gossard swished a right wing triple at the six-minute mark to extend the lead to 33-28.
Southpaw Newland weaved left through the Panther zone and banked in a short shot for a seven-point cushion at the three-minute mark. Herr pulled McComb within four on a three-pointer with 2:26 to go in the period. After a couple good loose ball saves by Wyss and Gossard, Wyss canned a big right side triple to rebuild the lead to seven. Herr canned a nice driving banker with just under a minute left in the period to cut the purple and gold lead to 40-33 heading to the fourth quarter.
Herr scored again to open the final stanza, igniting the run that got McComb back in the contest. She then netted a left side triple to cut the deficit to two. Hemminger later splashed two foul shots to tie it 40-all.
Maddie Buck splashed a right wing triple to give McComb the lead and cap a 10-0 spurt to begin the period. But Wyss converted a pair of free throws to cut inch within 43-42. "They got 10 points right away to start the fourth and sort of controlled the game after that," said Taflinger.
Yet senior guard Alyssa Vore banked in a short putback with 3:09 left to put Ada back on top. Hemminger tied it with a free throw 16 seconds later, and Alyssa Herr sank a stickback layup to put the Panthers on top 46-44 with 2:44 remaining.
Wyss spun and made a nice baseline-driving layin to knot it 46-46 with 2:21 left. Hemminger nailed a driving layup with 1:16 left, but Vore tied it again seconds later on a clutch basket at 48-48.
McComb tried a shot with 11 seconds left but missed. Ada rebounded and called timeout with 8.9 seconds left to set up the final play of regulation. Wyss got off a running three from the top of the key at the buzzer, but it caromed off the backboard and rim to force overtime.
"On the last shot we didn't have anything set up specifically, we just wanted to get a good shot," said Taflinger. "It almost banked in."
To open the extra session scoring, Wyss made a nice pass to a cutting Vore in the center of the zone, and the senior guard swished a short shot from the center of the lane. But the 50-48 edge would out to be the last Ada lead.
Jenna Herr countered by nailing a left side 17-footer that tied it seconds later. Then came the decisive play of the game. After Ada secured a defensive rebound under the basket, they lost the ball out of bounds on a controversial no-call. Hemminger sank a short banker off the ensuing in-bounds pass and was fouled. Taflinger then received a technical foul with 48.9 seconds left in OT. Hemminger sank three consecutive foul shots to complete, in effect, a five-point play for a 55-50 lead.
"That was a big play; I need to control myself better in that situation," admitted Taflinger, who was more upset about the previous whistle that gave the visitors a key possession back than the foul.
Panther Kadalena Duran then split a pair at the stripe to extend the lead to six. Jenna Herr later added two more charity stripers with 27.5 ticks left to close the scoring as McComb tallied the last 10 points to win.
Jenna Herr led all scorers with 27 points while Hemminger added 15. Wyss topped the Bulldogs with 14 markers. Archer and Gossard each added nine points.
Ada sank 18 field goals and McComb knocked down 20 fielders. The Bulldogs hit eight triples while the Panthers sank seven shots from beyond the arc. McComb converted 11 of 13 at the foul line while Ada sank six of eight.
The Bulldgs won a two-quarter reserve game, 14-7. Ada outscored McComb 11-0 in the second stanza.
Ada 50 (5-7)
Vore 4 0-0 8, M. Gossard 3 0-0 9, Newland 2 0-0 5, Archer 4 0-0 9, Coulson 1 0-0 3, Conley 1 0-2 2, Wyss 3 6-6 14.
Totals: 18/6-8/50. 3-pointers: Gossard 3, Wyss 2, Coulson 1, Newland 1, Archer 1.
McComb 58 (5-7)
J. Herr 9 4-4 27, Schroeder 1 0-0 2, L. Grubb 2 0-0 4, Hemminger 4 6-7 15, A. Herr 3 0-0 6, Duran 0 1-2 1, Buck 1 0-0 3.
Totals: 20/11-13/58. 3-pointers: J. Herr 5, Buck 1, Hemminger 1.
1 2 3 4 OT F
Ada 11 16 13 8 2 50
McC 15 11 7 15 10 58
JV: Ada 14, McComb 7.
The Lady Bulldogs (2-3 home) host non-league foe Waynesfield (6-6) Tuesday in the opener of a girls/boys, varsity-only doubleheader at 6 p.m.
