By Cort Reynolds
DOLA - Ada senior Maddie Gossard sank a short bank shot as time expired to give the Lady Bulldog basketball team a 34-33 non-conference victory at county rival Hardin Northern Tuesday evening.
Winless HN scored a basket with 7.9 seconds left to regain the lead, 33-32. After a timeout, junior point guard Raina England broke Polar Bear pressure and passed to Teara Coulson, who dished to Gossard on the right side for her winning shot at the buzzer.
"I was a little surprised they pressed," said fourth-year Bulldog head coach Bill Taflinger of the last possession. "Raina did a nice beating their pressure. I didn't expect to get a short shot, but I think the fact that they pressed helped us get a good shot.
"It was a much-needed win, obviously," he added. "It was a close game all the way, and it is nice to get away with a win."
With their first victory of the young season the purple and gold improved to 1-1, while the Lady Polar Bears fell to 0-5 with the difficult defeat.
Ada led Northern 7-2 early before HN rallied to take a 15-14 lead at halftime. The Bulldogs regained the lead 22-21 after three periods.
Senior Gossard led all players with a dozen points and 11 rebounds. Senior teammate Anney Archer tallied 11 points and made six steals. Junior Rilan Conley added seven points and nine rebounds, while England doled out six assists.
Freshman guard Maddie Grappy led HN with 11 points, while Bear junior post Quinn Stewart-Evans added 10 markers.
Both teams canned 13 field goals and six foul shots, but the Bulldogs hit two treys, both by Gossard.
Ada also won the two-quarter reserve game, 10-8.
HN broke a long losing streak to Ada with a minor 60-49 upset in last season's sectionals. They played Tuesday without injured guard Ashton Dye (knee), who scored 25 points to help beat the Bulldogs in the tournament.
Ada 34 (1-1)
M. Gossard 5 0-0 12, Coulson 0 1-2 1, Archer 4 3-6 11, England 0 1-2 1, Conley 3 1-2 7, Wills 1 0-0 2.
Totals: 13/6-12/34. 3-pointers: M. Gossard 2.
1 2 3 4 F
Ada 10 4 8 12 34
HN 8 7 6 12 33
JV: HN 10, Ada 8.
Ada (0-0 NWC) hosts local rival Bluffton (3-1, 0-0 NWC) Thursday in a varsity-only contest at 7 p.m. "Bluffton has a lot of girls back, and we are not shooting well yet," said Taflinger. "We will have to pick up our game Thursday."
The lone Pirate loss came in the championship game of the Bluffton Holiday Tournament to Arlington, 60-42. They have defeated Cory-Rawson (55-26), USV (71-49) and Ft. Jennings (55-33). C-R defeated Ada 53-45 last week in the Bulldog opener.
Ada (0-1 home) then entertains county foe Riverdale in a rare non-league matchup Tuesday, Dec. 12. HN lost at Riverdale 53-27 November 28.
The Polar Bears (0-1 away, 0-1 NWCC) play at league rival Riverside (0-2, 0-1 NWCC) Thursday in DeGraff.
