By Cort Reynolds
WAYNESFIELD - Ada defeated host Waynesfield-Goshen 45-38 in the semifinals of the inaugural Border Battle girls' basketball tournament Thursday evening.
The Lady Bulldogs advance to the finals and improved to 2-6 with the victory, while the Lady Tigers fell to 2-7 and into the consolation game after the defeat.
Junior guard Raina England poured in a career-high 18 points to pace Ada to victory. The Bulldogs outscored W-G 27-16 over the middle quarters to provide the impetus to victory.
A 19-12 second quarter outburst gave Ada a 24-20 halftime edge, and they held onto the lead from there.
"We did a much better job rebounding," said Ada head coach Bill Taflinger. "We had good scoring balance with a bunch around five to eight points."
Bulldog senior Maddie Gossard snared a dozen rebounds and scored six points to aid England. Senior guard Teara Coulson tallied eight points and junior Rilan Conley contributed six points. Senior Anney Archer added five markers.
Allen East beat USV 48-36 in the first Border Battle semifinal to set up an all-Northwest Conference championship game.
1 2 3 4 F
Ada 5 19 8 13 45
W-G 8 12 4 14 38
Ada next plays Allen East (3-4) in the finals of the four-team tournament Saturday night at 6 p.m. in Waynesfield. The Lady Bulldogs look to avenge a 63-35 loss at the Mustangs on Dec. 14.
"We are going to have to take better care of the ball and rebound with AE to have any chance," warned Taflinger.
The third-place game will take place at noon on Saturday in Waynesfield between the hosts and USV (2-7) in an all-NWCC bout.
