By Cort Reynolds - photos by Stephanie Frazier
McGUFFEY - Visiting Ada dominated the offensive glass to soundly defeat local arch-rival Upper Scioto Valley 49-36 in non-conference girls basketball action Tuesday night.
Ada out-rebounded USV 57-39 as the purple and gold made up for errant shooting by grabbing an impressive 35 offensive boards.
The Bulldog girls improved to 6-12 overall with the decisive win. Meanwhile, the Lady Rams fell to 0-15 with the loss.
"The first quarter was amazing by all," said Lady Bulldog second-year head coach Morgan Bass. "After that it was kind of rough, but we got on the boards hard the first quarter. We attacked offensively and it really helped."
The Lady Bulldogs raced to an 11-3 lead and went on to hold a 15-to-20 point advantage for most of the contest.
Ram junior Grasen Evans scored an offensive rebound basket to cut the lead to 11-5.
Junior wing Alexis Waugh sank a lane shot and netted a putback inside for Ada. A Wills stickback and an inside basket from junior post Megan Light just before the buzzer gave the Bulldogs a healthy 19-6 cushion after one period of play.
Ada junior post Miranda Wills dominated the boards early and hit five of six free throws as she tallied nine first period points.
The Bulldogs snared a whopping 14 offensive rebounds in the opening quarter.
A Waugh follow shot goal started the second stanza. Courtney Sumner was fouled shooting a trey and sank all three free throws to extend the lead to 26-6.
USV then ran off seven unanswered points to get back in the game. Junior Jazmynn Ross started the run with two foul shots, and classmate Haylie Martin added a free toss.
Evans banked in a short shot, and Martin nailed a basket to cut the deficit to 26-13.
Sumner drained a long triple to end a Bulldog drought of 12 consecutive missed shots. Evans answered by scoring inside, but was unable to complete the three-point play. Wills split two foul shots and Ada took a 30-16 lead to intermission.
Wills scored 10 points and grabbed 16 rebounds to post a double-double in the first half alone. The Bulldogs snared 29 offensive boards and 38 caroms overall in the first two periods to make up for 9-48 shooting from the field.
"Miranda plays her butt off," said Bass.
Southpaw Waugh sank a driving layup to open the second half scoring. Wills then stole the ball and followed in her own miss for a 34-16 bulge.
Two Sumner foul shots advanced the lead to 20. Ram Allison Moore converted a traditional three-point play inside off a nice Evans pass.
Ram junior Mackenzie Grener sank a trifecta midway through the period to pull USV within 36-22. A Martin jumper sliced the lead to a dozen points.
Waugh found an opening and drove for a basket, yet Evans went down the lane for a bucket of her own. Ada sophomore Kirsten Poling splashed a triple to rebuild the lead to 41-26 with a minute left in the quarter.
Waugh opened the final stanza with another driving basket. Wills scored inside but two Martin baskets and another by Moore kept USV within a baker's dozen at 45-32.
Yet Waugh knocked down an 18-footer with five minutes left. Sumner stole the ball and banked in a runner to make it 49-32.
Martin sank a deuce, and Moore canned a putback to inch USV within 13 points with just over two minutes remaining. But neither team scored again, and Ada ran out the clock to record their second true road win of the year.
The Bulldogs won two neutral site games at USV in the Border Battle tournament held just after Christmas. After the victory Tuesday, Ada is 3-0 at the Rams' Alumni Fieldhouse this season.
"We struggled later in the game," said Bass. "We lost composure a bit and started to have a victim mentality with the way the refs were calling the game."
Waugh led Ada with a career-high 16 points on eight field goals. "Lexi played well," said Bass. She canned two baskets in each quarter.
The hustling Wills contributed 14 points and yanked down a career-high 23 rebounds, unofficially. "The rebounds were well-deserved," Bass noted.
Poling contributed 11 caroms and four points, and freshman point guard Sumner added 13 markers.
Evans topped the Ram girls with 11 points and seven boards, while Martin added 10 markers and 11 rebounds.
The Ada girls sank 17 of their 78 floor shots (22 percent), including 15 of 67 on two-pointers and two for 11 from three-point range. The Lady Bulldogs converted 13 of 18 from the charity stripe (72 percent).
The Lady Rams made 13 of 35 two-point tries and sank just one of 14 three-point attempts for a total of 14-49 field goal accuracy (29 percent). USV converted seven of 14 at the foul line (50 percent).
USV committed 25 turnovers while Ada was guilty of 16 miscues. Due to the turnover and offensive rebound margin, the Bulldogs got off 29 more shots than the Rams from the field.
USV 36 (0-15)
Martin 4 2-6 10, Ross 0 2-2 2, Hall 0, Evans 5 1-3 11, Grener 1 1-2 4, Moore 4 1-2 9, Lawrence 0.
Totals: 14-49/7-14/36. 3-pointers (1-14): Grener 1.
Ada 49 (6-12)
Sumner 3 6-8 13, Poling 1 1-2 4, Light 1 0-0 2, Acheson 0, Waugh 8 0-0 16, Wills 4 6-8 14, Phillips 0, Jordan 0.
Totals: 17-78/13-18/46. 3-pointers (2-11): Sumner 1, Poling 1.
1 2 3 4 F
USV 6 10 10 10 36
Ada 19 11 11 8 49
No JV game.
After snapping a five-game losing skid, Ada (0-5 NWC) hosts Paulding (15-3, 4-2 NWC) in a tough league game Thursday, January 30.
The Lady Panthers are tied for second in the NWC with Bluffton, behind Columbus Grove (5-0). Ada is 2-6 at home this season.
"Paulding is looking better (10-12 last year), and they have a good record," Bass warned.
