By Cort Reynolds
ADA - Host Ada outscored Spencerville 16-9 in the fourth quarter, then held off a last-ditch Bearcat effort to pull out an exciting 50-48 Northwest Conference boys basketball victory Friday night.
Spencerville had a chance to tie or win in the final seconds, but Ada sophomore guard Zac Swaney stole the ball from Dalton Prichard with five ticks left to preserve the comeback win.
The Bulldogs improved to 3-13 and 2-3 in the NWC with the victory, while the Bearcats fell to 1-13 and 0-5 in the NWC with their 10th straight defeat.
"We didn't play our best for three quarters, but the highlight was how we finished the fourth," said Ada head coach Dre White. "It was good to come together at the end and finish strong; it was kind of a reveral of some of our losses where we started well and ran out of gas at the end.
"We finally figured out how to win a close game at the end," he added.
Bulldog senior post Connor Frazier tallied 19 points and seven rebounds to lead the victors.
Ada trailed 39-34 after three periods, but took control with an 8-0 run to start the decisive final quarter. Frazier made a foul shot, then sophomore playmaker Brandon Hull sank a power layup to cut the deficit to 39-37.
Hull then stole the ball and assisted Phillip Coulson on a game-tying transition layup with 6:44 remaining to play. A Coulson foul shot and Frazier's post-up layin gave Ada a 42-39 edge.
Bearcat guard Drew Armstead drove in for a layup at the five-minute mark, and the senior then tied it with 3:48 left on a free throw.
Frazier scored inside off a nice in-bounds lob pass 15 seconds later to put the Bulldogs back on top, 44-42. Hull muscled his way down the left baseline for a layup at the 2:55 juncture to give the Bulldogs a four-point cushion.
Bearcat guard Peyton Brown then banked in a tough runner high off glass at the 2:07 mark. Yet Frazier powered in for another layin with 1:32 left to rebuild the lead to four.
Prichard snaked through the Ada defense for a fine left-handed layup with 1:16 left. The Bulldogs then missed the front end of consecutive one-and-one free throw tries, but Armstead committed costly back-to-back turnovers.
Swaney split two foul shots with 29.1 seconds left, yet Armstead made a driving lefty layup at the 15.4-second mark to slice the Bulldog lead to 49-48.
Coulson was fouled a second later and split two charity stripers to provide a tenuous 50-48 edge. Prichard then hesitated briefly when he had an open look behind the arc, and when he put the ball on the floor to drive, the quicker Swaney came up with the big swipe.
"Zac has been our defensive guy all year, so it was pretty fitting that he made the play at the end," White noted.
Hull drove for three baskets whle Frazier scored two inside hoops to power Ada into a 10-4 lead out of the gate. "Brandon came out aggressive," noted White.
Coulson's left wing triple extended the lead to 13-5 before the Bearcats started to chip away.
Eli Harter, a 6-2 freshman post, netted two left-handed layups and a putback to edge the Bearcats within 13-11 after one period of play.
Prichard drained a left wing trifecta to open the second stanza and give the visitors their first lead. Frazier answered by hitting a short banker, followed by a Hull foul shot. Armstead tied it on two charity stripers, 16-all.
Frazier spun inside for another layup yet the Bearcats regained the edge on a driving Luke Falke layin. A left corner triple by Prichard put Spencerville in front, 22-18.
Swaney converted two foul shots but Harter tallied inside. Swaney canned a bank shot and Frazier hit two foul shots to get Ada within 27-24 at halftime.
Active Spencerville sophomore forward Keegan Goecke scored all eight of his points in the third quarter to power the visitors to the lead.
Frazier hit a power layup and Coulson drained a top of the key trey to inch within 33-32 at the 5:11 mark. "That was a big three by Phil," noted White.
Falke answered with a baseline driving layup but Ada senior Cade Mullins canned a fast break layup. Spencerville edged in front 39-34 at the end of the quarter after two Goecke foul shots and an Armstead transition basket.
But then Ada came out strong to start the fourth period on an 8-0 flurry, and the Bulldogs held on to snap a five-game losing streak.
"Connor played well, he really stepped up down the stretch and made some big buckets," said White. "He worked hard in the second half.
Coulson scored 12 points while Hull tallied 11. "Brandon has been locked in lately and has played well," White observed.
Harter led the Bearcats with a dozen points. Prichard and Armstead each added nine markers.
Ada shot an impressive 18 of 33 overall from the field (55 percent), including two of seven on treys (29 percent) and 16 for 26 inside the arc (62 percent). The Bulldogs converted 12 of 24 from the charity stripe (50 percent).
Spencerville sank 19 of 39 shots overall from the field (49 percent). The Bearcats canned a red-hot 17 of 24 two-point tries (71 percent), but hit just two of 13 treys (15 percent) and converted eight of 15 attempts at the free throw stripe (53 percent).
The Bearcats out-rebounded Ada 25-18 yet committed 19 turnovers to just 12 errors by the Bulldogs.
The Bearcats won the reserve contest, 60-22. Ty Miller led the Bulldog reserves with nine points.
Ada 50 (3-13, 2-3 NWC)
Mullins 1 0-1 2, Frazier 8 3-6 19, Hall 0, Coulson 3 4-7 12, Hull 5 1-2 11, Swaney 1 4-7 6, Cook 0 0-1 0.
Totals: 18-33/12-24/50. 3-pointers (2-7): Coulson 2.
Spencerville 48 (1-13, 0-5 NWC)
Armstead 3 3-4 9, Brown 1 1-3 3, Falke 2 1-2 5, J. Goecke 1 0-0 2, K. Goecke 3 2-4 8, Prichard 3 1-2 9, Harter 6 0-0 12.
Totals: 19-39/8-15/48. 3-pointers (2-15): Prichard 2.
1 2 3 4 F
Ada 1 8 1 16 50
Svl 1 1 1 9 48
JV: Spencerville 60, Ada 22.
Ada (2-3 NWC, 0-6 road) will visit Lincolnview (9-7, 4-2 NWC) in a league battle Friday. Before that on Tuesday, Feb. 5 they will also play at Arlington (12-4) in a non-league makeup battle.
