Ada girls cagers nip Falcons
By Cort Reynolds
ADA - The Ada girls basketball team held off a second half rally by county foe Riverdale to win an intense non-league battle 42-41 Tuesday night.
The victory upped the Lady Bulldog record to 2-3 overall, while the Lady Falcons fell to 3-3 with the close defeat.
Bulldog freshman point guard Courtney Sumner scored eight of the final 10 Ada points to keep the Falcons at bay.
Her left-handed baseline 10-footer gave the purple and gold a seemingly comfortable 42-35 lead with 41 seconds remaining. But feisty Riverdale wouldn't fold.
Danielle Searfoss drilled a three-pointer with 18 seconds left to cut the lead to four. Riverdale did not foul and when Ada missed an ill-advised driving shot, the visitors rebounded.
Falcon guard Hanna Breidenbach banked in a right wing triple to cut the lead to a single point with two seconds left. But Riverdale had no timeouts left. The clock ran out before Ada had to in-bounds the ball, preserving the hard-fought win.
"Sumner really stepped up, especially late in the game," said Lady Bulldog second-year head coach Morgan Bass. "She has a lot of pressure on her being a freshman and running the show, but she did well.
"I thought Lexi Waugh stood out and was good on the boards," she added. Ada was playing without starting junior post Miranda Wills, who broke her nose last Saturday at Perry.
Ada came out in a fullcourt press that disrupted the Falcons. As a result, cold-shooting Riverdale did not make its first basket until 2:14 remained in the first period.
Speedy Ada sophomore guard Timber Blankenship stole the ball and made a layup 23 seconds into the fray. Classmate Kirsten Poling then sank a basket off another steal to lead 4-0.
Waugh canned a layup off a Blankenship assist to make it 6-1 three minutes in. Riverdale scored its first four points on six free throw attempts.
Sumner also made a flying weakside blocked shot to take away what looked like a sure layup to keep the visitors basket-less in the early going.
Carrigan Vent finally netted the first Falcon field goal on a putback layin to tie it 6-6. But Ada answered with a 6-0 run to end the quarter strongly. Junior Megan Light sank a putback layup, and Poling hit a foul shot to put the hosts up by three.
Light converted a free toss and Poling drained a 10-footer to make it 12-6 after the opening stanza.
"I was pleased with our press, we just put it in the day before the game," said Bass. "We had a good start, which gave us confidence. The press upped our intensity level; we have come out flat early in games this year."
Falcon Reagan McKinniss sank two foul shots and a third-try stickback layup to cut the Ada lead to 12-10 with six minutes left in the half. Sumner banked in a right wing trifecta at the 5:11 mark.
The hustling Blankenship followed by drilling a right side triple 49 seconds later to extend the lead to 18-10. Falcon Payton Rodriguez sank a rebound basket, and McKinniss netted a post-up layin to edge within 18-14.
Sumner answered by sinking a bank shot. She then hit a floating banker to lead 22-14 with 1:44 left in the half. Sumner added a foul shot with 1.4 seconds left to give Ada a 23-14 cushion at intermission.
Sumner splashed a left wing trey at the 5:05 mark of the third period to give Ada its biggest lead of the contest, 27-16. Yet a Rodriguez stickback midway through the third quarter ignited a game-tying 13-2 Riverdale run.
Falcon Lanie Howell's steal and layup was answered when Sumner fired a long pass over the Falcon press to Waugh for a layin. McKinniss canned another layin off a rebound to inch within 29-22 at the 2:20 juncture.
Searfoss made a driving bank shot to slice the Falcon deficit to five 20 seconds later. Vent tallied yet another putback inside to edge within 29-26 as Riverdale continued to dominate the offensive glass.
A free throw and a driving shot by Howell with 33 seconds left capped the spurt and tied it 29-29 heading to the final quarter.
Waugh gave Ada the lead back by converting an old-fashioned three-point play 30 seconds into the fourth period. Vent hit a driving layup moments later, but Riverdale blew a chance to take the lead at the 6:30 mark when they missed an open layin.
Rothlisberger did give the Falcons their first and only lead of the night 33-32 on a baseline shot with 5:30 remaining. Yet Ada regained the advantage 19 ticks later when Sumner canned a lane runner, and they never trailed again.
A nice pick-and-roll pass from Sumner led to a Light layup and a 36-33 edge at the 3:33 mark. Sumner continued her strong play by knocking down a transition floater off glass with 3:13 left that put Ada on top by five.
Rodriguez hit a layup to stop the 6-0 Bulldog flurry with two minutes left. Sumner converted a pair of foul shots seven seconds later to rebuild the lead to five.
Poling came up with a big block inside to deny a Falcon layup with 1:15 left. Sumner then willed in a left baseline, left-handed shot with 41.3 ticks left to build a seven-point lead.
Riverdale nailed two trifectas down the homestretch, but Sumner's final basket provided just enough cushion to give Ada the one-point win.
"I was pretty pleased with our overall effort," said Bass. "The only real negative was that we gave up way too many offensive rebounds. We also need to recognize better when to slow it down on offense."
The athletic Sumner led all players with 19 points. Waugh added seven points. Light netted six and blocked three shots, while Blankenship and Poling each tallied five markers.
Rodriguez and McKinniss led Riverdale with nine points apiece. Searfoss and Vent added seven points each.
Both teams sank 16 field goals and seven free throws, but Ada drained one more trifecta (3-2) to provide the difference. The Bulldogs and Falcons each converted just seven of 18 foul shots (39 percent).
The Ada reserves won their first game in a two-quarter undercard, 12-10.
Ada 42 (2-3)
Sumner 7 3-8 19, Poling 2 1-3 5, Light 2 2-4 6, Blankenship 2 0-2 5, Phillips 0, Waugh 3 1-1 7.
Totals: 16/7-18/42. 3-pointers: Sumner 2, Blankenship 1.
Riverdale 41 (3-3)
Howell 2 0-0 4, Rodriguez 4 1-2 9, Breidenbach 1 0-2 3, Searfoss 2 2-6 7, Rothlisberger 1 0-2 2, Vent 3 1-2 7, McKinniss 3 3-4 9.
Totals: 16/7-18/41. 3-pointers: Searfoss 1, Briedenbach 1.
1 2 3 4 F
Ada 12 11 6 13 42
Rdale 6 8 15 12 41
JV: Ada 12, Riverdale 10.
Ada (1-1 home, 0-1 NWC) hosts talented Bluffton (4-1, 1-0 NWC) Thursday, Dec. 12 in a conference battle. The Lady Pirates have won four in a row, including a league-opening victory over Delphos Jefferson.
The lone Pirate loss came to Cory-Rawson at home in a season-opening upset.
"Bluffton is similar to Grove, and they are very athletic," warned Bass.
