By Cort Reynolds
ADA - Three-point bombing Lima Temple Christian took control with a 13-0 second quarter run and cruised to a 63-39 victory at Ada in non-conference boys basketball action Saturday night.
The loss in the regular season home finale dropped the Bulldog record to 4-17 overall, while the Pioneers improved to 10-11 with the victory.
"It was another game with a bad second quarter," lamented Ada first-year head coach Dre White, whose team was out-pointed 17-9 in that decisive stanza.
"We have got to get better defensively," he continued. "We didn't shoot well, but our rebounding wasn't bad. Temple shot the three well (10-for-21)."
Ada senior Owen Conley scored the first two baskets of the game on two mid-range jump shots to give the hosts a 4-0 lead. LTC took its first lead on a triple by sophomore guard Brody Bowman at 5-4.
Two Pioneer layups extended their edge to five. Conley then buried a right wing trifecta to set the Bulldog career mark for made three-point goals with 91. He broke the previous mark of 90 set by Mitchell Faine from 2006-10.
LTC senior guard Seth Hohlbein drained the first of his six triples, and Adrian Williams sank a 12-footer to give the visitors a 14-7 lead after one period of play.
Ada freshman guard Phillip Coulson came off the bench and canned two baskets, a follow-up layin and an off-balance, driving banker. Two Cade Mullins foul shots sliced the purple and gold deficit to 16-13 with 5:19 still left in the second period.
But then the Pioneers reeled off 13 unanswered points to take command. Hohlbein banked in a left wing trey and Ty Callahan converted a traditional three-point play inside for a 22-13 edge.
Two Hohlbein foul shots and a 15-footer from Bowman kept the run going. A putback layin by Callahan capped the 13-0 spurt and gave Temple a 29-13 cushion with 33 seconds left before intermission.
Coulson drained a right side trey at the 22-second mark to stop the flurry. But Bowman drilled a 15-footer just before the halftime buzzer to give LTC a 31-16 advantage.
"Coulson played well in the second quarter," White noted. "We had some good minutes from our younger guys."
Bowman began the second half where he left off by hitting a trifecta. Bulldog senior Jordan Bailey responded by canning a layup. But hot-shooting Hohlbein sank consecutive triples to stretch the lead from 16 to 22 at 40-18.
Bailey answered by hitting a driving layin. Ada junior post Jakob Hoschak canned two foul shots, and Conley buried a right side trey to inch within 46-26 at the 3:01mark.
Pioneer senior Taran Zwiebel splashed a right wing trey, and Bailey converted a nice drive along the right baseline off glass. Hohlbein ended the period by rattling in a right wing three at the buzzer to provide a 52-29 cushion.
Hohlbein hit three of the five Pioneer treys in the third quarter. The last one at the horn went halfway down and rimmed out before it nestled back into the basket.
Conley and Bulldog guard Seth Evans each drained three-pointers early in the fourth period. But in response, Bowman and Hohlbein both hit from beyond the arc for a 61-35 lead.
Senior Evans canned his last field goal at home, and sophomore post Connor Frazier knocked down a putback layup to close the scoring.
Conley led Ada with 14 points and nine rebounds. Coulson scored seven points in the second period over limited action. Hohlbein topped all scorers with 20 points while Bowman added 14.
LTC narrowly out-rebounded the purple and gold, 33-31. The Bulldogs committed 11 turnovers while Temple made a mere four miscues.
Cold-shooting Ada sank just 27 percent from the field (14-51), including five of 15 from three-point land (33 percent). The Bulldogs were successful on six of 10 at the foul line (60 percent).
Temple canned 23 of its 56 field tries (41 percent) and drained 10 of 21 beyond the arc (48 percent). TC also made seven of 12 from the charity stripe (58 percent).
It was the last home game for the five Ada seniors: Conley, Bailey, Evans, Mason Klingler and the injured Jackson Secor.
Ada won the reserve game 57-46 as Coulson poured in 31 markers.
Ada 39 (4-17)
Conley 5 1-3 14, Bailey 3 0-0 6, Conrad 0, Evans 2 0-0 5, Mullins 0 3-4 3, Frazier 1 0-1 2, Hoschak 0 2-2 2, Klingler 0, Coulson 3 0-0 7.
Totals: 14-51/6-10/39. 3-pointers (5-15): Conley 3, Evans 1, Coulson 1.
LTC 63 (10-11)
Zwiebel 1 0-0 3, Hohlbein 6 2-2 20, Williams 1 0-0 2, Howell 2 3-4 7, Bowman 5 1-2 14, DJ Clay 3 0-0 6, Callahan 4 1-3 9, D. Clay 1 0-0 2.
Totals: 23-56/7-12/63. 3-pointers (10-21): Hohlbein 6, Bowman 3, Zwiebel 1.
1 2 3 4 F
Ada 7 9 13 10 39
LTC 14 17 21 11 63
JV: Ada 57, LTC 46.
Ada finished 2-9 at home, and is 2-8 on the road. They visit Columbus Grove (6-14, 2-5 NWC) in the regular season and league finale Friday, Feb. 24.
"Until we play better defense and rebound better, we are going to struggle," said White. "We played better defense early in the season."
