By Cort Reynolds
ADA - Visiting Arlington outscored Ada by 13 points after intermisison to post a hard-fought 57-47 non-conference boys basketball victory Tuesday night.
The purple and gold fell to 3-12 with the loss, while the Red Devils improved to 8-6 with the tough win.
The Bulldogs led 30-24 early in the third period when the game turned. Arlington reeled off a 14-1 spurt to take a lead it never relinquished. The Bulldogs did rally to tie the game early in the fourth quarter and trailed just 45-44 midway through the fourth period.
But then the Red Devils responded with consecutive corner three-point goals by Caleb Price and Jared Vermillion to spark the visitors to a game-ending 12-3 flurry.
"For the most part we did a good job taking away their strengths," said Bulldog second-year head coach Dre White. "We did a good job executing the scouting report, but we had a few mental lapses that cost us."
Arlington led 4-0 early before Ada took a 12-10 edge behind four Connor Frazier baskets. The Devils tied it at the first period buzzer when Jacob Russell's lane floater bounced in.
Senior Ethan Swaney nailed a pull-up jumper to open the second stanza. Ivan Berry tied it on a half-hook, but Ethan Hall scored inside for the Bulldogs on a nice pass from Jackson Conrad.
Ada sophomore Phillip Coulson made a nice baseline driving reverse layup to give the hosts an 18-14 lead. Moments later, the Bulldogs built their biggest cushion.
Junior Cade Mullins rattled in a 15-foot left baseline shot, then assisted Frazier on a layup for a 22-16 advantage. Berry ran off four quick points before Mullins splashed a right wing triple a minute before halftime.
Russell canned a layup to pull the Devils within 25-22 at intermission. "We played well in the first half," White noted. "We played with some spark and energy. We also had some good looks early that just didn't go down."
Hustling senior Seth Conley made a nice steal and subsequent assist on a Swaney layin to open the second half well for Ada. Berry sank two foul shots, yet Swaney buried a right wing triple to give the purple and gold a 30-24 bulge at the 7:11 mark.
Devil sophomore point guard Jaret Vermillion drained a left wing trifecta to cut the lead in half and ignite the decisive 14-1 splurge. Berry canned a left-handed layup and Ryan Metzger scored inside to put Arlington ahead, 31-30.
Frazier tied it by splitting a pair at the charity stripe. But then Ty Webb drilled a left corner trey, followed by a southpaw layin from Metzger.
A fast break layup by Vermillion capped the big run and prompted an Ada timeout with 2:12 to go in the third. Senior post Seven Williams hit a basket to stop the spurt, and Mullins sank a right wing triple to pull resilient Ada within 38-36 heading to the fourth quarter.
Frazier tied it by knocking down an 11-footer just 10 seconds into the final period. Metzger nailed a lane shot, and Price swished a big right corner trey after Arlington grabbed three offensive rebounds on a determined possession.
"That corner three in the second half after all those offensive rebounds was a dagger," White recalled.
Frazier scored inside to cut the lead to 43-40 with 5:47 remaining. Price continued to run hot as he drilled a pull-up 14-footer just 27 seconds later.
Coulson answered by hitting a lane floater with five minutes to go. A minute later, Williams drained an 18-footer from the circle to inch Ada within a single point.
But then Price ran the baseline and swished a quick-release left corner trey at the 3:15 juncture. After a costly Ada turnover, Vermillion swished a three from the opposite right corner to rebuild the lead to 51-44 with 2:50 to play.
After running a couple minutes of clock with a delay game, Arlington hit three of six free throws to extend the lead to 54-45 with 35 seconds to play.
Coulson tallied a double-pump layin in transition with 25 ticks left to get within seven. But Price converted two foul shots and Metzger added one to provide the final margin as Ada went cold down the final stretch.
Berry led a balanced Devil attack with 14 points. Price netted 13 clutch markers, 11 of which came in the fourth period. Metzger added 11 points.
Frazier compiled a game-high 15 points to go with six rebounds and two blocks. Mullins contributed 10 points. Swaney scored eight points, grabbed five rebounds and doled out four assists.
Coulson and Williams added six points and six caroms apiece. Williams also blocked a pair of shots.
Ada was out-rebounded by the smaller but athletic Devils, 35-27. Arlington pulled down 13 costly offensive boards. "Getting out-rebounded by a smaller team like that is unacceptable, inexcusable," said White. "Rebounding is effort.
"We missed a couple of free throw box-outs too," White observed.
The Bulldogs committed 11 turnovers to 10 by the Devils, who outscored Ada 35-22 after intermission.
Ada connected on 18 of 37 two-point field goal tries (49 percent) and drained three three-point goals. The Bulldogs converted two of their mere five foul shot attempts (40 percent).
Arlington canned 20 shots from the field, including five from beyond the arc. The Red Devils 12 sank of 18 at the charity stripe (67 percent) and held a 10-point edge at the foul line.
The Ada junior varsity won a close game, 52-49. Freshman Brandon Hull topped the Ada reserves (9-4) with 12 points, and Xavier Hollinger added 10.
Ada 47 (3-12)
E. Swaney 3 1-2 8, Mullins 4 0-0 10, Frazier 7 1-3 15, Coulson 3 0-0 6, Williams 3 0-0 6, Hall 1 0-0 2, Z. Swaney 0, Conrad 0, Conley 0.
Totals: 21/2-5/47. 3-pointers: Mullins 2, E. Swaney 1.
Arlington 57 (8-6)
Vermillion 3 0-0 8, Metzger 5 1-4 11, Russell 2 0-0 4, Price 4 3-4 13, Berry 4 6-8 14, Webb 2 0-0 5, Sheets 0 2-2 2.
Totals: 20/12-18/57. 3-pointers: Vermillion 2, Price 2, Webb 1.
1 2 3 4 F
Ada 12 13 11 11 47
Arl 12 10 16 19 57
JV: Ada 52, Arlington 49.
Ada (0-6 away, 1-2 NWC) looks for its first road win of the season when the Bulldogs visit Paulding (5-8, 3-1 NWC) Friday in a league encounter. The Panthers are 3-2 at home, where they posted NWC wins over Columbus Grove and Allen East.
"Paulding is a long trip, and it is never easy going there," said White. "It is a winnable game, but on the road in the NWC you have to be mentally tough."
Ada then visits county rival Kenton (8-4, 5-1 home) Saturday night. "Kenton has a good freshman guard and they have tough, big kids," White added
