By Cort Reynolds
ADA - Host Ada ground out a defense-oriented 44-35 win over New Knoxville in a non-league boys basketball battle Saturday night.
The Bulldogs pulled away from a low-scoring 13-12 halftime score with a 19-7 third period burst. The purple and gold never led by less than eight points in the fourth quarter and went on to post their fourth win in five games.
Ada improved to 5-6 with the victory. NK dropped to 2-7 after their fifth consecutive loss.
"We kind of caught fire in the third period with 19 points," said Bulldog fourth-year head coach Dre White. "Their (2-3) zone kind of slowed us down. We were not moving the ball and people well, or working the high post against the zone in the first half.
"We came out in the second half and picked up the tempo and pace," he continued. "We created some turnovers. But New Knoxville ran their stuff well and gave us some fits at times."
Leading 27-20 late in the third period, Ada held the ball for the last shot and executed perfectly. Bulldog junior guard Zac Swaney buried a left corner trifecta and was fouled at the buzzer.
He then hit the foul shot to complete a rare four-point play that extended the lead to 31-20.
The four-pointer proved to be a backbreaker for the Rangers. Carson Bierlein converted an old-fashioned three-point play inside to cut the deficit to 31-23 opening the fourth period, but that was as close as NK would get.
Swaney hit two foul shots and junior Micah Cook sank a reverse layup. Cook then stole the ball in backcourt and made a layin to stretch the lead to 37-23 with 5:30 remaining.
NK ran off five unanswered points to inch within nine at the 3:23 mark. But just 12 seconds later, senior Phillip Coulson nailed a three-pointer from the left wing to stop the momentum.
Sophomore Bierlein ran off seven points in a row, capped by a triple from the top of the key, to keep the Rangers within 43-35 with 1:22 to go. But he fouled out seconds later, and the Rangers did not score again.
"Carson came in averaging 20, and he probably could have scored 30 had he not been in foul trouble," White offered. "But I thought Cayden Murphy played well defensively on him. We changed it up too with Zac guarding him some. He is a good scorer.
"I thought our overall effort was good, it was a grind-it-out win," he continued. "With no JV game tonight, no Friday game and being out of routine over the holiday break, we came out a little low-energy. But it was good to get through the break 5-6."
A right corner by Cook over the NK 2-3 zone gave Ada a 3-0 lead early. Swaney's layup on a pass from Brandon Hull and a putback banker by Ty Miller gave the Bulldogs a 7-2 edge.
Two Swaney foul shots made it 9-4, but Bierlein's spinning banker and a Sammy Anspach putback edged the visitors within a point after one period of play.
A backdoor layin by Jakob Rollins gave NK a 10-9 lead. Ada then suffered through a nearly 11-minute drought without a basket. However they stayed close with tough defense.
Eventually Hull stole the ball and drove for a left-handed layup and a free throw with 33.8 seconds to go in the half. The three-point play gave Ada a 12-11 lead.
Yet two Bierlein foul shots just 6.3 ticks before halftime gave NK a 13-12 edge at the break.
Hull penetrated the NK zone with a driving layin early in half two. Yet two backdoor layups by Caleb Lageman gave the Rangers a 17-14 lead.
Murphy sank a power layup, then tallied another layin off a fast break feed from Hull to give Ada the lead back 18-17 with 5:02 to go in the third.
A Bierlein foul shot tied it 18-all before Coulson canned an 11-foot right side banker. A layup by Coulson advanced the lead to 22-18 at the 3:06 mark.
Bierlein posted up in the lane and sank a short shot to cut it to 22-20. Hull converted two foul shots and Murphy split a pair to give the Bulldogs a 25-20 margin.
Coulson then poked the ball away as a Ranger went up for a layup, then sped out in transition for a layup and a seven-point margin.
Swaney followed by draining the big four-pointer to cap a 13-2 flurry and give Ada complete command. The 19-7 third quarter turned the momentum clearly in favor of the Bulldogs, and they never were seriously threatened down the final stretch.
Swaney led Ada with 11 points, and senior wing Coulson netted nine points. Hull and Cook each scored seven, while Miller and Murphy both netted five in the low-scoring game.
With 20 points, Bierlein was the lone Ranger to tally more than four points.
The Bulldogs connected on 14 of 39 shots from the field (36 percent). Ada made 11 of 24 inside the arc (46 percent) and canned three of 15 from beyond the three-point line (20 percent).
The Rangers sank 13 of 30 field goal tries (43 percent), including 12 of 23 two-pointers (52 percent) and one of seven on triples (14 percent).
Ada converted 13 of 20 from the charity stripe (65 percent) while NK canned eight of 13 free tosses (62 percent).
The Bulldogs out-rebounded the Rangers, 33-15. Murphy led Ada with six boards. Swaney, Hull and Miller each pulled down five boards.
NK was guilty of 17 turnovers compared to 14 turnovers by the Bulldogs.
Ada 44 (5-6)
Swaney 2 6-7 11, C. Murphy 2 1-2 5, Hull 2 3-5 7, Coulson 4 0-2 9, Rayl 0, Cook 3 0-0 7, Miller 1 3-4 5.
Totals: 14-39/13-20/44. 3-pointers (3-15): Swaney 1, Coulson 1, Cook 1.
NK 35 (2-7)
Henschen 1 0-0 2, Rollins 1 1-2 3, Covert 2 0-0 4, Bierlein 6 7-10 20, Anspach 1 0-0 2, Lageman 2 0-1 4.
Totals: 13-30/8-13/35. 3-pointers (1-7): Bierlein 1.
1 2 3 4 F
Ada 9 3 19 13 44
NK 8 5 7 15 35
No JV game.
Ada (1-1 NWC) resumes league play when it visits Delphos Jefferson (3-7, 1-0 NWC) Friday, January 10. "It would be great if we could get to .500 with a win," White noted.
The Bulldogs (1-3 road) then travel to face non-league backyard rival USV (6-5) January 11. The Rams recently beat Ada 56-49 in the Border Battle finals Dec. 28 in McGuffey as Quinn Sanders scored 30.
