By Cort Reynolds
RIDGEWAY - Host Ridgemont rode strong offensive rebounding and a big third period run to break open a close game and defeat Hardin County rival Ada 65-55 in a girls basketball battle Monday night.
The Lady Bulldogs fell to 6-9 overall with the defeat. Meanwhile, the board-banging Lady Golden Gophers improved to 13-5 by out-rebounding Ada 44-27 to post the win.
"We got killed on the glass," said Bulldog head coach Bill Taflinger. "That was the difference in the game, basically."
The Lady Gophers grabbed a whopping 22 offensive rebounds, half of their total. Ridgemont also broke a 30-30 tie with a decisive 14-0 flurry that propelled them to victory.
The Gophers jumped out to a 5-0 lead as Priscilla Howland opened the game, fittingy, on an offensive rebound basket.
Ada tied it on two Haley Wyss free throws and a trey by Maddie Gossard. Ridgemont reeled off seven unanswered points on consecutive treys by Jen Jordan and Syd Totten to grab a 12-5 lead.
Gossard swished a corner triple and Howland splashed two foul shots to give the hosts a 14-8 lead after one period.
Anney Archer's short shot pulled Ada within 14-12 early in the second stanza. Alyssa Vore canned a baseline shot but consecutive putbacks by Howland helped the Gophers lead 21-17.
Another inside basket by Howland kept Ridgemont up by four. Faith Jenkins then scored five straight points on two foul shots and a trey from out top to give the hosts their biggest lead at 28-19.
However, Ada climbed within three by halftime as Vore and Gossard each swished three-pointers to make it 28-25 at intermission.
Wyss splashed a three to tie it at the start of the second half. Howland gave Ridgemont the lead back with yet another stickback basket on the 14th Gopher offensive rebound of the game.
Archer's driving layup knotted it again 30-all, but then the bottom fell out for Ada. Meadow Cromer responded by canning a corner trey to regain the advantage and ignite the decisive spurt.
Totten splashed a three off another second-rebound effort and kickout for a 36-30 Gopher lead.
Shaylee McGrath knocked in another offensive rebound basket to prompt an Ada timeout with 3:46 to go in the third quarter. Junior Meadow Cromer stole the ball and made a layup to extend the lead to 10.
Cromer then made a nice backdoor cut and sank a layin from a Howland assist for a 42-30 bulge. McGrath scored on still another putback to cap the 14-0 run.
Gossard swished her fourth triple to stop the flurry and pull to 44-33 with 1:50 to go in the stanza. McGrath scored on a fine transition basket to make the hosts 6-8 from the field shooting inside the arc in the period, which ended with them on top 46-33.
Gossard hit two foul shots to open the fourth quarter. Cromer scored inside on a high-low pass after Ridgemont broke the Ada press. Junior guard Teara Coulson scored for the Bulldogs.
Two Jenkins free throws made it 50-38. Howland scored again on a stickback shot for a 14-point edge. Wyss split a pair at the stripe to cut it to 52-39.
Ridgemont beat Ada pressure for a driving layin and a 15-point bulge. Bulldog junior Sydney Newland scored on an offensive follow-up shot.
Vore sank two free throws yet the Gophers answered with a three. Archer sank a 10-footer but the hot-shooting hosts hit again from the elbow midway through the period for a 61-45 advantage.
Wyss sank a runner off glass with 3:42 remaining. Archer canned two foul shots to cut the deficit to 61-49 with two minutes left to play.
Jenkins buried a 16-footer yet Wyss knocked in a follow shot. Ridgemont senior Keegan McKee scored on a breakaway and Wyss converted a three-point play with 49 seconds left to pull within 65-54.
Wyss split two foul shots with eight seconds left to provide the final margin of 10.
Both teams were three-happy against the zone defenses. Ada hit on eight of 41 from three-point land, and nine of 20 inside the arc. The Bulldogs converted 13 of 16 at the charity stripe.
The Gophers sank 18 of 33 two-point tries and hit seven of 32 on three-pointers. They added eight of 10 from the charity stripe. Ada, which dropped t 3-5 on the road, committed 13 turnovers to 11 miscues by Ridgemont.
Wyss led Ada with 21 points while Gossard added 14. Archer netted eight points and Vore contributed seven.
Junior post Howland topped the green and gold with 16 points and 13 rebounds.
The Bulldgs won a two-quarter reserve game, 23-14.
Ada 55 (6-9)
Vore 2 2-2 7, M. Gossard 4 2-2 14, Newland 1 0-0 2, Archer 3 2-2 8, Coulson 1 0-0 3, Conley 0, Wyss 7 5-7 21.
Totals: 17-61/13-16/55. 3-pointers (8-41): Gossard 4, Wyss 2, Vore 1, Coulson 1.
R'mont 65 (13-5)
Howland 6 4-6 16, Jenkins 3 4-4 12, McGrath 4 0-0 8, Totten 3 0-0 9, Jordan 1 0-0 3, Cromer 4 0-0 9, McKee 3 0-0 6, Martino 1 0-0 2.
Totals: 25-65/8-10/65. 3-pointers (7-32): Totten 3, Jenkins 2, Cromer 1, Jordan 1.
1 2 3 4 F
Ada 8 17 8 22 55
Rmnt 14 14 18 19 65
JV: Ada 23, Ridgemont 14.
The Lady Bulldogs (0-5 NWC, 3-4 home) host backyard rival Allen East Thursday in a Northwest Conference battle.
"They have good physical rebounders, we must hold our own on the glass," said Taflinger of the rival Mustangs. "We got destroyed on the glass by Ridgemont."
