By Cort Reynolds
ADA - Host Ada pulled away in the third quarter to defeat rival Allen East 59-44 in a Northwest Conference girls basketball contest Thursday night.
The Lady Bulldogs improved to 7-9 and 1-5 in the NWC with their initial conference win. Meanwhile, the youthful Lady Mustangs fell to 3-15 and 0-6 in the NWC with the defeat.
"We had four in double figures and all the girls gave us good minutes," said Ada head coach Bill Taflinger. "I am happy with their effort. It was nice for us to get that first league win."
Ada led 23-18 at halftime, but was never seriously threatened after ending the third period on a 10-2 run that led to a 13-point bulge.
The clubs were stuck on 27-22 for quite a while when Bulldogs Raina England and Maddie Gossard buried back-to-back triples to extend the lead to 11 with 1:38 left in the third.
"Those three's were big," Taflinger noted.
Gossard netted an 18-footer from the circle and Alyssa Vore canned two foul shots to cap the flurry and give the hosts a 37-24 cushion heading to the fourth period.
Sophomore post Lauren Criblez canned a runner to open the fourth quarter well for AE. Gossard answered by swishing a left wing triple at the 7:11 mark. Mustang guard Kate Newland drained a left side trey, but Gossard responded by hitting from the left elbow for a 42-29 margin.
Criblez converted two foul shots yet Ada junior Anney Archer swished a driving runner. Newland swished a lane floater of her own seconds later. But Ada senior Haley Wyss splashed a three-pointer for a 47-33 lead with 5:23 to go.
Archer canned two charity stripers. Newland drained a top of the key trey and Criblez hit two foul shots to edge AE within 49-38 at the 3:50 mark.
Archer responded by sinking a basket while the 5-9 Criblez netted a stickback inside. Gossard sank a baseline driving layin before Tori Newland sank a lane banker with 2:33 left for a 53-42 score.
Ada sank six of eight at the foul line down the stretch to extend the final margin to 15.
Wyss started the Bulldogs off strong by hitting a long three from out top. AE took its first lead on an Alyssa Young steal and layup. Archer put Ada back in front by sinking a left side 15-footer.
Vore buried a left wing trey and Teara Coulson drained a triple from the top of the key for an 11-4 purple and gold lead.
Archer canned a short banker before Young nailed a left corner three for the Mustangs and Ada took a 13-9 advantage after one stanza.
Vore's triple opened the second stanza well for Ada. Young sank a left wing 17-footer, followed by a bank shot from Allyson Richardson. A left baseline shot by Young pulled AE within 16-15 at the 4:22 mark.
Wyss hit a foul shot and Archer scored a putback after grabbing a weakside rebound. Lakin Basham hit from deep for AE, but Ada took a 23-18 lead to intermission on four straight foul shots by Wyss.
Tori Newland scored all six AE third period points, but the Mustangs netted just two points in the final six minutes. Coulson hit a trey to start the second half well for Ada, but then both clubs went cold from the field for a while until the consecutive Bulldog treys sparked a 10-2 run to end the period ahead by 13.
Archer scored a career-high 15 points to lead four Adaites in double figures. Gossard and Wyss each added a dozen points while Vore added 11.
"Anney had her best game and Alyssa played a good floor game," Taflinger noted. "We needed them to step up and they did. We didn't rebound well."
Criblez and Tori Newland each tallied 10 points to pace AE. Kate Newland added eight.
Ada connected on 17 field goals, nine of which were treys. The Bulldogs canned 16 of 22 foul shots (73 percent).
AE tallied 15 field goals, including four triples. They converted just 10 of 27 at the charity stripe (37 percent).
The Bulldog JV lost a two-quarter reserve game, 16-11.
Ada 59 (7-9, 1-5 NWC)
Vore 2 5-6 11, M. Gossard 5 0-0 12, Archer 5 5-6 15, Coulson 2 0-0 6, Conley 0, Wyss 2 6-8 12, England 1 0-0 3, Newland 0.
Totals: 17/16-22/59. 3-pointers: Wyss 2, Vore 2, Coulson 2, Gossard 2, England 1.
AE 44 (3-15, 0-6 NWC)
A. Young 3 0-0 6, C. Lawrence 0 0-1 0, Richardson 1 0-0 2, G. Young 2 0-3 5, Criblez 2 6-13 10, K. Newland 3 0-0 8, Basham 1 0-0 3, O. Lawrence 0 0-4 0, T. Newland 3 4-6 10.
Totals: 15/10-27/44. 3-pointers: K. Newland 2, G. Young 1, Basham 1.
1 2 3 4 F
Ada 13 10 14 22 59
AE 9 9 6 20 44
JV: AE 16, Ada 11.
Ada visits former league arch-rival USV Tuesday, January 31. "It was a good win to get tonight because our schedule coming up is tough," said Taflinger.
The Arcadia at Ada game postponed early in the season will be made up Tuesday, February 14. Drawing for the AE/Bath super-sectional will be held Sunday, February 5 at Wapakoneta.
