By Cort Reynolds
ADA - Visiting Upper Scioto Valley reeled off 30 early unanswered points and cruised to a 58-33 win over tournament host Ada in the semifinals of the second annual Border Battle tournament Friday night.
The purple and gold fell to 1-8 with the defeat, while the Rams improved to 6-2. USV advanced to the championship game Saturday night vs. Allen East with the decisive win.
"For a 25-point game, I was not that disappointed," said Bulldog third-year head coach Dre White. "USV shot it really well. I wasn't that upset with our effort. We got up 3-0 and then they made that big run.
"I thought we got wide-eyed during that run and backed down a bit," he continued. "We called two timeouts but couldn't stop the bleeding, and obviously it got out of hand early."
Ada junior Phillip Coulson gave the Bulldogs their lone lead by hitting a left corner triple to start the game.
Ram senior Wayne Lowery then buried back-to-back treys and a transition layup, and USV was never threatened. Teammate Wyatt Daniels sank a trey while post Quinn Sanders scored inside and Brady Hipsher made a left-handed drive to extend the lead to 17-3.
Sanders buried a foul line jumper, followed by two Dylan Thompson baskets. Thompson canned a backdoor layup and drained a long right wing trifecta to give USV a 24-3 cushion after one period of play.
Early in the second stanza, Lowery tallied a layin and netted a jump hook to cap the 30-0 run. Bulldog sophomore guard Zac Swaney ended the nine-minute drought by nailing a one-footed 16-footer from the left baseline.
Daniels and Sanders answered by sinking breakaway layups. Ada junior Ty Miller muscled in a tough bank shot amid traffic to cut it to 34-7. Yet Daniels drained a top of the key triple.
Swaney splashed a right wing trey and senior post Connor Frazier scored on a post-up move in the lane to get Ada within 39-12 at the half.
Sanders began half two by canning a reverse layup. The speedy Coulson netted a fast break layin, but USV ran off the next six points.
Frazier split two free throws, and Coulson scored off a steal and assist from sophomore playmaker Brandon Hull. Coulson later converted an old-fashioned three-point play off a driving bank shot.
Hipsher nailed a runner in the lane shortly before the buzzer to give USV a 52-20 bulge heading to the final stanza.
Frazier banked in a half-hook to start the fourth quarter, followed by a Josh Overs layin for the Rams. Swaney drained another right wing three-point goal to make it 54-25.
Three Ada foul shots and a right corner triple by Bryce Paul sliced the deficit to 25. Ram reserve Evan Thompson sank a left-handed stickback at the 33-second mark.
Ada sophomore Micah Cook converted a pretty left-handed layup off a baseline back cut feed from Paul to close out the scoring.
"We won the second half 21-19," White pointed out. "The second half was a positive to build on. We are getting close, the guys just have to believe they can compete with good teams."
Lowery led all scorers with 14 points. Daniels and Quinn Sanders each added a dozen markers, and Hipsher netted nine for the balanced Rams.
Coulson topped Ada with 12 points while Swaney added eight.
Ada drilled four triples and made eight two-point field goals, shooting a combined 12 of 46 from the field (26 percent). The Bulldogs were successful on five of eight attempts at the charity stripe (63 percent).
USV canned 24 field goals, including five treys, and converted five of nine foul shots (56 percent).
The Rams out-rebounded the Bulldogs, 25-18. Each team committed 10 turnovers.
Allen East (5-2) defeated Waynesfield 62-48 in the first BB semifinal game Friday night to advance to the title round against the Rams.
Ada 33 (1-8)
Mullins 0, Frazier 2 2-5 6, Hall 0, Coulson 4 3-3 12, Hull 0, Swaney 3 0-0 8, Miller 1 0-0 2, Cook 1 0-0 2, Paul 1 0-0 3.
Totals: 12/5-8/33. 3-pointers: Swaney 2, Coulson 1, Paul 1.
USV 58 (6-2)
E. Thompson 1 0-0 2, D. Thompson 2 0-0 5, C. Sanders 0 0-2 0, Lowery 6 0-0 14, Daniels 4 2-2 12, Overs 2 0-1 4, Hipsher 4 1-2 9, Q. Sanders 5 2-2 12.
Totals: 24/5-9/58. 3-pointers: Lowery 2, Daniels 2, D. Thompson 1.
1 2 3 4 F
Ada 3 9 8 13 33
USV 24 15 13 6 58
No JV game.
Ada (1-4 home) entertains Waynesfield (1-7) in the third-place consolation game of the four-team Border Battle tournament Saturday, Dec. 29 at 2 p.m.
"We have to come ready to play," said White. "Waynesfield gets excited to play us; they beat us in the Border Battle semifinals last year and again in the sectional tournament. They hit the boards well.
"They also have a really good player in Layton Campbell (a 5-10 sophomore guard), who had 24 or 25 points vs. Allen East."
USV will play AE in the boys Border Battle title game Saturday night at 8 p.m.
