By Cort Reynolds
ADA - Visiting Ottoville put together a 14-0 fourth quarter spurt to pull away from feisty Ada and defeat the Bulldogs 63-43 in non-league boys basketball action Saturday night.
Ada fell to 0-4 with their second tough home defeat in as many nights, while Ottoville improved to 2-1 with the win.
"Fatigue played a factor," said Bulldog third-year head coach Dre White. "We made a run to get it down to seven early in the fourth, but then it got away.
"They ran nine or more guys at us. We have to develop more depth and get more scoring."
Ottoville outscored Ada 35-16 in the second half, including an 18-5 closing flurry, to pull away from a one-point intermission lead.
Ada senior post Connor Frazier banked in a half hook to begin the fourth period, cutting the Big Green lead to 45-38. Sophomore Josh Thorbahn split two charity stripers with 7:04 remaining to start the 14-0 spurt, and teammate Ryan Suever splashed two foul shots to ignite the decisive run.
Suever then snaked down the right side and sank a nice driving finger roll. Southpaw Thorbahn drove right and bounced in an old-fashioned three-point play to build a 53-38 lead with 6:01 left to play.
Thorbahn posted up and scored in the lane to up the margin to 17. Two Thorbahn foul shots increased the run of unanswered points to a dozen.
Two more Thorbahn free tosses extended the margin to 59-38 with 4:26 remaining. Ada junior Phillip Coulson converted a pair at the line to stop the 14-0 run with 3:36 left to play, but by then the outcome was decided.
Grant Kortokrax sank a fast break layup, followed by a short Ty Miller banker for Ada. Trae Schlagbaum sank a layup for the Green, and Miller canned a late foul shot to cut the final margin to 20.
"I thought we played well and with a lot of energy in the first half," said White.
Frazier started the scoring with a power layup 15 seconds into the fray. Brandon Hull drove and banked in a runner for a 4-0 Bulldog lead.
Thorbahn swished a three-pointer from out top to get Ottoville on the board, but Ada senior Cade Mullins canned a driving layup. Burly lefty post Drew Fisher countered with an inside basket to make it 6-5.
Frazier made a follow stickback off a transition miss, and Fisher split a pair at the foul line. Suever canned a lefty reverse layup to tie it at eight-all. Suever then scored in transition to give the Green their first lead.
Coulson knotted it on a duck-in putback at the 2:22 mark. Fisher untied it with a spinning post-up move, followed by a Frazier finger roll that made it 12-12.
Thorbahn converted a pair of foul shots at the 1:42 juncture to put the visitors back in front. Coulson sank a reverse layin off a Hull backdoor feed to tie it once more.
Senior Jaden Schnipke untied it with a charity striper at the 47.7 mark. Fisher again spun to his left for a layin and a 17-14 lead after one period of play.
Suever split four foul shots early in the second stanza. Kortokrax sank a half hook, followed by a 16-footer from Coulson.
Schlagbaum hit a driving shot, and Bulldog Zac Swaney responded with a basket. Schnipke drove right baseline for a layup, but Coulson sliced throught the right side of the lane for a layin to cut it to 25-20.
Frazier was whistled for a costly second foul midway through the period and sat the rest of the half until the final Ada possession. Yet Coulson buried a 17-footer from the circle to cut the deficit to three at the 1:20 mark.
Suever split a pair at the line, but Mullins drove the left baseline to bank in a short floater and inch the hosts within 26-24 at the one-minute mark.
Thorbahn converted two foul shots, but Swaney drained a left corner trifecta with 12 ticks remaining to edge Ada to 28-27 at intermission.
Fisher scored inside to open the second half. Hull split two free tosses before Suever splashed a high-arching corner trey. Frazier canned a layup off a good Hull post entry pass to cut it to 33-30.
Fisher sneaked out in transition and got a fast break layup. Hull sank a foul shot. Thorbahn scored a bunny off an in-bounds pass. Coulson knocked down two at the stripe to stay within four.
Thorbahn drained a left wing trifecta to go up 40-33. Frazier was fouled pulling down a defensive rebound and split a pair of free tosses at the 2:39 mark.
Schnipke swished a left side triple to lead 43-34 with 2:05 left, prompting a Bulldog timeout. Manns hit a lane pull-up with a minute left to advance the lead to 11.
Frazier connected on a short right side banker with nine seconds left to bring Ada within 45-36 heading to the final stanza.
Coulson drew his second charge on Fisher to start the fourth quarter. But then the Green reeled off 14 consecutive points to put it out of reach.
"I thought we took a giant step forward this weekend," said White. "We have had a rough stretch against three straight good PCL teams, so we have some things to build on from that."
Ottoville canned four treys and connected on 17 field goals inside the arc. They shot 68 percent from the foul line (17-25).
Ada sank one triple and 16 two-point field goals. The purple and gold connected on eight of 16 charity stripe tries (50 percent).
"Ottoville hurt us at the foul line," said White. "They outscored us 17-8 at the line, and we only shot 50 percent."
Coulson tallied 14 points and Frazier contributed 13 markers. The same duo topped the Bulldogs on the boards with five rebounds apiece.
"I thought Ethan Hall played well off the bench but he couldn't stay out of foul trouble," said White. "Phil had a phenomenal weekend and has grown a lot; the guys feed off of him. Connor also played well."
Thorbahn paced Ottoville with 22 points and Suever netted 14. Fisher contributed 11 markers to their balanced attack.
The Bulldog junior varsity fell to the Green, 53-44. Micah Cook and Tristan Conley led Ada with 11 points apiece. Ty Miller added eight.
Ada 43 (0-4)
Mullins 2 0-0 4, Frazier 6 1-3 13, Coulson 5 4-4 14, Hull 1 2-7 4, Hall 0, Z. Swaney 2 0-0 5, Cook 0, Miller 1 1-2 3, Paul 0, Gautier 0.
Totals: 17/8-16/43. 3-pointer: Z. Swaney 1.
Ottoville 63 (2-1)
Manns 1 0-0 2, Schlagbaum 2 0-0 4, Suever 4 5-8 14, Fisher 5 1-2 11, Kortokrax 2 0-2 4, Thorbahn 5 10-11 22, Schnipke 2 1-2 6.
Totals: 21/17-25/63. 3-pointers: Thorbahn 2, Suever 1, Schnipke 1.
1 2 3 4 F
Ada 14 13 9 7 43
Ovl 17 11 17 18 63
JV: Ottoville 53, Ada 44.
Ada visits backyard rival Allen East (2-1) next Friday in the Northwest Conference opener. AE and Ada split two meetings last year, with the Bulldogs winning at home in the NWC and the Mustangs returning the favor in the Border Battle consolation game at Waynesfield.
"Allen East had a big win Friday over New Knoxville," said White. "That was a good win for them. It is a big rivalry game and I am excited for that one."
AE also beat Vanlue in their opener and lost to Pandora-Gilboa.
The Bulldogs (0-2 road) then visit Perry (3-1) next Saturday evening. "Perry is extremely athletic, they like to press and run," noted White.
