By Cort Reynolds
ADA - Paced by junior Phillip Coulson's hot hand, host Ada rallied from a 12-point third period deficit to defeat Delphos Jefferson 47-45 in a nailbiting Northwest Conference boys basketball encounter Friday night.
The purple and gold improved to 1-7 and 1-1 in the NWC with their first victory, while the Wildcats fell to 0-7 and 0-1 in league play with the tough defeat.
Coulson led the late surge by scoring all 16 of his points in a row during the final nine minutes, including 13 straight in the decisive fourth period.
"Phil was huge down the stretch," said Bulldog third-year head coach Dre White. "He plays hard for 32 minutes and has played well all year."
Jefferson appeared headed for its first win after the Wildcats authored a 15-0 flurry in the third quarter to climb from a 25-21 deficit into a 36-25 lead.
But Ada buckled down on defense and limited DJ to just four fourth period points while Coulson caught fire to pull out the much-needed win.
"To come back from that big deficit was huge," said White. "We had talked about hanging together in those type of situations, so I was proud of how we battled back when we got that far down."
Wildcat junior post Doug Long's follow-up banker ended the 15-point flurry with DJ on top 36-25 at the 3:33 juncture of the third quarter.
Ada sophomore playmaker Brandon Hull then drove and spun in a driving shot to stem the tide. Bulldog senior Ethan Hall posted up, twisted across the lane and laid in a basket.
Yet Wildcat guard Ian Wannemacher canned a driving layin and J.T. Taviano drained a right wing trey to build the Jeff-Cat lead back to 41-29 with 1:49 left in the third.
Ada senior post Connor Frazier hit a foul shot and then Coulson swished a left corner triple with 25 ticks to go to start Ada on the comeback trail. The 20-9 Wildcat period gave the visitors a 41-33 bulge going into the final quarter.
Coulson buried another left corner trifecta with 6:11 left to get Ada within five points. He then stole the ball, drove coast to coast and sank a pull-up bank shot.
A third Coulson left corner triple swished through the nets to inch within 42-41 with 4:55 remaining. Coulson then deflected a pass, took a long feed from Swaney and made a fast break layin to give the Bulldogs the lead, 43-42.
After a tying foul shot by Wildcat Logan Hubert, Coulson took a kick-out feed from Frazier and drilled another three from out top.
His personal 16-point scoring binge took Ada from an 11-point deficit to a 46-43 lead with 2:45 to go.
"Phil spearheaded our run and he carried us," White noted.
Wannemacher drove the lane and scored to pull Jefferson within a point at the 1:44 mark. Ada turned the ball over twice in a row, but Delphos could not capitalize.
Ada senior guard Cade Mullins was fouled with 25 seconds left and hit the first free throw, but missed the second. Jefferson rebounded and worked the ball patiently for a good shot, yet Mericle's three-pointer came up well short.
Wannemacher grabbed the airball inside yet missed consecutive point-blank layups to narrowly miss tying it up and likely forcing overtime. Frazier rebounded the second miss and was fouled with 0.5 left.
But after he missed both shots, DJ rebounded and called timeout with 0.4 left. Having to go the length of the court with Bulldog junior Ty Miller hounding the Wildcat in-bound passer, DJ had little chanc eto score.
Bulldog defensive ace Zac Swaney was able to deflect the pass away as time expired to preserve the victory.
DJ sophomore Wannemacher scored 12 of his game-high 19 points in the first quarter on a series of driving baskets. "Wannemacher played well," said White. Yet the Bulldog defense held him to just seven points over the final three quarters.
Mullins splashed a left corner trifecta and canned a pretty lane-driving reverse layup to give Ada an early 9-7 lead.
But Wannemacher tallied seven consecutive points, including a trey, to shoot DJ into a 14-11 lead after one quarter. Three points by Hunter Mericle early in the second stanza were offset by a Miller layup and a short bank shot from Frazier.
A triple from Hull inched Ada within 19-18 midway through the second quarter. Sophomore guard Swaney splahed a left baseline 17-footer to give Ada the lead, 20-19.
Two Frazier foul shots capped a 7-0 run that gave the hosts a three-point advantage at the 1:17 mark. Wildcat Ashton Moore scored inside, but Hull converted two charity stripers to give Ada a 24-21 halftime edge.
Frazier split a pair at the line to open the second half. Yet then DJ reeled off 15 unanswered points to take control. Mericle sank a layup, a 14-footer and a three-pointer to key the run.
However, Coulson answered with his big outburst shortly thereafter and Ada held on for the victory.
"It was huge to get a win before the holiday break," summed up White. "More than that, it was also a league win."
Frazier contributed eight points, 10 rebounds and three blocked shots. Hull added nine points and Mullins netted eight.
The Wildcats out-rebounded Ada, 31-20. "Connor rebounded well; he has to be a force on the boards for us," said White.
Ada sank six triples and 11 two-point field goals. The Bulldogs were successful on seven of 17 attempts at the charity stripe (41 percent).
DJ sank 18 field goals, including three treys, and converted six of 12 foul shots (50 percent).
The win snapped a 12-game Bulldog losing skid dating back to the end of last season.
The Bulldog junior varsity (2-5) lost a close reserve contest, 35-32. Tristan Conley scored 10 points and Miller added nine for the purple and gold JV.
The Ada softball team that won the 2018 district title was recognized at halftime of the varsity game.
Ada 47 (1-7, 1-1 NWC)
Mullins 3 1-2 8, Frazier 2 4-10 8, Hall 1 0-0 2, Coulson 6 0-3 16, Hull 3 2-2 9, Swaney 1 0-0 2, Miller 1 0-0 2, Cook 0.
Totals: 17/7-17/47. 3-pointers: Coulson 4, Mullins 1, Hull 1.
D. Jeff 45 (0-7, 0-1 NWC)
Mericle 4 0-0 9, Long 1 0-1 2, Moore 3 1-2 7, Caputo 2 0-1 4, Hubert 0 1-2 1, Wannemacher 7 4-6 19, Taviano 1 0-0 3.
Totals: 18/6-12/45. 3-pointers: Wannemacher 1, Mericle 1, Taviano 1.
1 2 3 4 F
Ada 11 13 9 14 47
DJ 14 7 20 4 45
JV: DJ 35, Ada 32.
Ada (1-3 home) now has seven days off from game action. The Bulldogs host local rival USV (4-2) in the semifinals of the second annual, four-team Border Battle tournament Friday, Dec. 28 at 8 p.m.
The Bulldogs will then entertain either Allen East (4-2) or Waynesfield (1-5) Saturday, Dec. 29 at 2 p.m. in the third-place game, or at 8 p.m. in the title bout.
