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Ada boys fall late to Grove

By Cort Reynolds

ADA - Visiting Columbus Grove outscored Ada 9-1 down the final stretch to pull out a hard-fought 51-41 Northwest Conference boys basketball win before a big crowd Friday night.  

 

The purple and gold dropped to 4-16 overall and 2-5 in the NWC with the defeat. Meanwhile, a young Grove squad improved to 9-11 and 4-3 in league play after their fourth victory in five outings.  

 

"I thought the difference in the game was that Grove was the tougher and more physical team," said Ada second-year head coach Dre White. "For the most part, we executed our game plan pretty well.

 

"But until we learn how to win close games, we are going to struggle," he continued. "Grove made some plays down the stretch, and we did not."

 

CG's pressing defense helped force some costly turnovers in the final period. Yet Ada managed to pull within 42-40 on a trifecta from the top of the key by senior Seven Williams with 2:48 remaining.

 

But two consecutive turnovers, the last of which led to a three-point fast break drive by CG freshman Blake Reynolds, proved to be the backbreaker for Ada.

 

His conventional three-point play gave Grove a bit of breathing room, up 46-40 with 2:10 left to play. Ada sophomore Phillip Coulson split two foul shots, but then Grayson Flores canned two big free tosses for CG at the 1:09 juncture.

 

Two more free throws by Reynolds and another by Cody Johnson in the final minute finished the scoring as Ada went scoreless over the last 1:52.

 

"We feel like we are in pretty good shape, and I like our chances to wear people out by the end of games," said Grove mentor Chris Sautter, who coached Ada for 14 seasons up through 2016.

 

"We started the year out pressing after making the decision to push the tempo, play fast and get up plenty of shots," he added. "Tonight we couldn't get in much flow offensively due to their zone and bigs. I probably used the press more tonight than in 14 years at Ada," he said, half-jokingly.

 

Grove outscored Ada 19-11 in the decisive final stanza.

 

Ada led 4-0 early after a reverse layup putback by Williams, but the hosts didn't capitalize on very cold shooting at the start by Grove to build a bigger lead.

 

CG finally scored on a fast break layin from Dane Selby 4:16 into the fray, and then they began to shoot well from deep. A triple by Logan Schroeder and another trey by freshman Tayt Birnesser tied it 8-8.

 

But Ada junior Cade Mullins banked in a desperation triple at the first period horn to give the hosts an 11-8 advantage.

 

Birnesser's right corner trifecta tied it early in the second stanza. Ada junior post Connor Frazier followed in his own miss with a layin. Reynolds nailed a bucket to tie it, and Birnesser's third trey gave Grove its first lead at 16-13.

 

A Seth Conley putback got Ada within a point but Dylan Mason answered by splashing a three. Reynolds knocked down a triple from the top of the key to build the CG lead to 22-15 with 1:47 left in the half.

 

Coulson sank a determined drive to stop the 9-2 run. CG junior southpaw Flores then swished a right wing trey. Senior guard Ethan Swaney hit a long trey that didn't count, then nailed another long triple at the halftime buzzer that did count to inch Ada within 25-20.

 

"We knew they liked to play off the bounce, and they hit some big shots in the first half," said White. "Birnesser played well, he hit some big shots."

 

Determined Ada came out firing in the third period. Frazier sank a layin before Garrett Nemire splashed a left baseline 11-footer for Grove.

 

Frazier scored on a strong drive to the hoop. Coulson hit a foul shot, and his runner moments later bounced in to tie it 27-27 midway through the third quarter.

 

Williams split a pair at the foul line to give Ada its last lead at 28-27. Burly junior post Cody Johnson came off the Grove bench to sink a power layup, giving CG the lead back for good.

 

Another critical Birnesser trey from the right wing extended the lead to 32-28 at the 1:22 mark. Swaney's lane runner 21 seconds later cut the margin to 32-30, and that is how it stayed until the final period.

 

At the start of the fourth quarter, Johnson muscled his way inside for a traditional three-point play that gave CG a 35-30 cushion with 7:38 to play. Coulson sank a short right side banker off a nice interior feed from Brandon Hull.

 

Johnson countered with a jump hook, followed by a Reynolds free throw. Birnesser's fifth trifecta lengthened the lead to 41-32 with 4:50 left.

 

A left side triple from Swaney cut the deficit to six at the 4:36 mark. Then a layup off a nice back cut by Williams edged Ada within four points with 3:44 to go.

 

Flores split a pair at the line before Williams nailed his triple to get Ada within 42-40 with 2:55 remaining. But then the hosts went cold as Grove went on its finishing 9-1 run, keyed by the Reynolds three-point transition drive, to take control.

 

Ada committed three costly turnovers in the home stretch, and scored just one point over the final 2:54. "Much like the Lincolnview game, we made consecutive mistakes that snowballed and hurt us," White lamented.

 

Grove's top two scorers in the game were freshmen. Sixth man Birnesser scored a game-high 15 on five triples, while Reynolds added 11 markers.

 

"Birnesser has been playing well the second half after starting much of the season," said Sautter. "We hit some free throws down the stretch. Johnson has been hit or miss this year, but tonight he gave us a lift in the second half."

 

Seven of Johnson's nine points came in the fourth period.

 

Ada found the bottom of the net on 13 of 36 two-point field goal tries (36 percent), and they splashed four of 13 three-point attempts (31 percent). Overall, the hosts connected on 17 of 49 floor shots (35 percent).

 

"I thought we missed a lot of bunnies in the first half," said White.

 

The purple and gold converted three of seven from the foul line (43 percent).

 

CG knocked down 16 of 44 from the field (36 percent), including nine of 25 behind the arc (36 percent). Grove sank only seven of 19 two-point tries (37 percent). CG converted 10 of 18 from the charity stripe (56 percent).

 

"We have to stay consistently locked in on defense," said White. "We gave up only eight and seven points in the first and third quarters. But we allowed 17 in the second, and 19 in the fourth.

 

"We also had goals to shoot at least 15 free throws and give up less than five offensive rebounds, which we did not meet," added White.

 

Grove committed only eight turnovers while Ada was guilty of 13 miscues. Ada out-rebounded CG, 37-32. Williams topped the purple and gold with a dozen boards.

 

"Seven played well before fouling out," noted White. Williams and Swaney led Ada with 10 points apiece.

 

It was the final home game for seniors Swaney, Conley, Jackson Conrad and Williams. Ada ended up 3-7 at home this winter.

 

Grove also staved off a late Ada rally to win the junior varsity game, 59-55. Freshman guard Zac Swaney led the Ada reserves (10-8) with 20 points, while Kyle Zimmerly added 11.

 

Ada 41 (4-16, 2-5 NWC)

E. Swaney 4 0-0 10, Frazier 3 0-1 6, Coulson 3 2-4 8, Conley 2 0-0 4, Williams 4 1-2 10, Mullins 1 0-0 3, Hall 0, Hull 0.

Totals: 17-49/3-7/41. 3-pointers (4-13): Swaney 2, Mullins 1, Williams 1.

 

Col. Grove 51 (9-11, 4-3 NWC)

Mason 1 0-0 3, Reynolds 3 4-6 11, Flores 1 3-6 6, Schroeder 1 0-0 3, Birnesser 5 0-0 15, Masalm 0, Nemire 1 0-0 2, Selby 1 0-0 2, Johnson 3 3-6 9.

Totals: 16-44/10-18/51. 3-pointers (9-25): Birnesser 5, Mason 1, Reynolds 1, Schroeder 1, Flores 1.

 

1 2 3 4 F

Ada 8 12 10 11 41

CG 8 17 7 19 51

JV: CG 59, Ada 55.

 

Ada visits solid Lima Temple Christian (10-10) in a non-league contest Saturday night, Feb. 17. "Temple Christian is a tough place to play," said White. LTC lost at home to Sidney-Lehman Friday night, 57-46.

 

Grove plays at solid Miller City (12-8) Saturday. "We are playing pretty well of late; we have won four of five with the only loss to Pandora-Gilboa, who is 18-1," Sautter noted.

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