By Cort Reynolds
Photos by Stephanie Frazier
ADA - Feisty host Ada played top-ranked and undefeated Columbus Grove even or better for the first 25 minutes, but a big fourth quarter lifted the visitors to a 56-46 win in the Northwest Conference boys basketball regular season finale Friday night.
Ada led 39-36 heading to the final period after senior post Jake Rayl made a layup off a Cayden Murphy pass. But Grove showed championship poise as they reeled off a 15-2 spurt over the next six minutes to seize a 10-point lead.
Ada junior Zac Swaney buried a left wing triple to keep the hosts within striking distance, down 51-44 with 1:22 remaining. After a CG free throw, Ada junior point guard Brandon Hull stole the ball and canned a layup to inch within 52-46 with 44 ticks to go.
CG junior Ethan Halker sank a layin at the 33-second mark, and classmate Tayt Birnesser added an alley-oop to finish it off 11 seconds later.
Grove outscored Ada 20-7 in the decisive fourth period.
"We knew they would make a run and pick up the defensive intensity," said Bulldog fourth-year head coach Dre White of the fourth quarter. "We had some costly turnovers against their pressure.
"They took the air out of the ball at the end and made some plays," he continued. "The difference was that Grove, a good team, made plays down the stretch. Give them credit. I congratulate them, they deserved it."
Former 14-year Ada head coach Chris Sautter was relieved to get the win and complete an unblemished regular season.
"I thought our defensive pressure at the end was the difference," he said. "We couldn't make shots the first three quarters; it was a struggle.
"We hit a couple shots in the fourth and it opened up some driving lanes," said Sautter, who led CG to an outright NWC title.
Grove also won the PCL crown after sharing the NWC championship last year with eventual state champion Crestview.
Ada played well but dropped to 9-13 with the tough defeat, and finished 3-5 in the NWC to tie Spencerville for sixth place. Meanwhile, CG improved to 22-0 and 8-0 in the NWC with the victory.
The game was intense from the start, with a large and loud crowd on hand. Swaney drained a left wing triple to open the contest. CG senior Alex Schneider canned a reverse layup putback two minutes in.
Swaney scored off a fine Hull feed before Halker converted a traditional three-point play inside. The powerful Hull posted up and sank a layin, yet Halker tied it 7-7 on a layup at the three-minute mark.
CG briefly took a 9-7 lead when Halker scored off a nice Blake Reynolds assist. But Ada senior guard Phillip Coulson nailed a left corner trifecta.
Reynolds canned a left elbow shot before Murphy sank a layin off another Hull assist to end the first stanza ahead, 12-11.
Junior Micah Cook splashed a right corner shot to open the second stanza and give Ada a 14-12 lead. Birnesser then hit a half hook and a left wing trey to put CG on top, 17-14.
Another Murphy layin courtesy of a Hull dish was answered by a Halker basket midway through the period. Birnesser buried a foul line pull-up jumper in transition at the 3:17 mark.
Junior Gabe Clement bounced in a short shot to give Grove a 22-17 lead, prompting an Ada timeout with 2:48 to go in the half.
With the momentum starting to shift in CG's favor after a 6-0 mini-spurt, Ada responded with a 7-0 flurry of its own to reverse the momentum and end the half strong.
Hull drove hard to the hoop and scooped in a lefty layup under the 6-4 Reynolds. Cook tied it 22-22 by nailing a right wing triple at the 1:22 juncture.
Senior post Ty Miller then blocked a Reynolds shot in the lane. Hull recovered the loose ball and fired a long pass to Coulson for a breakaway layup and a 24-22 edge at the 44-second mark.
Neither team scored the rest of the half, so Ada took a two-point lead to intermission against the number-one ranked team in Div. IV.
"We had a nice mini-run to end the half there at 7-0," White pointed out.
Reynolds sank a short hook to open the third period and tie it 24-all. Hull responded by hitting a baseline reverse layin, and Halker knotted it up again with a layup.
Coulson spun along the baseline and hit a tough shot to put Ada back on top by a basket at the 6:07 mark. Hull then made a nice spin move of his own, and his shot bounced in to extend the lead to 30-26.
Reynolds found Halker with a nice diagonal bounce pass for a layup to cut the lead to two at the 4:59 mark. Reynolds then hit the open Trey Sautter with a long pass in the left corner for a triple with 3:15 to go, and his shot gave CG a 31-30 edge.
Ada came right back as Hull fed Coulson a perfect backdoor pass for a layup and a 32-31 lead. Reynolds tied it on a foul shot, but Swaney buried a 12-foot left baseline shot. Birnesser tied it again 34-34 on two free tosses at the 1:51 mark.
Coulson then got a favorable bounce on a three-pointer that hit the rim and dropped in off the glass 26 seconds later. Clement converted a transition layup with 33 seconds left before Rayl hit his layin that gave Ada a 39-36 edge with 14 seconds to go.
Reynolds opened the fourth quarter by hitting two free throws. Clement then drained a clutch triple from the left wing in front of the CG bench that put Grove ahead 41-39 to stay with 6:39 remaining.
"Gabe hit a big three and then we were able to relax a bit," Sautter noted. "We played with a lot of pressure on us, but I thought we handled it pretty well."
Halker split two charity stripers and then Reynolds grabbed an offensive board and gave Schneider a nice interior feed for a layup and a 44-39 lead with 4:37 left.
Coulson took an in-bounds pass from Hull and scored inside to end the 8-0 CG spurt with 4:21 to go. Reynolds split two at the line, and Schneider then canned a layup to extend the lead to 47-41 with 3:11 left.
Schneider added a transition layup off a good Birnesser pass at the 2:18 mark to build the lead to eight. A pair of Birnesser free throws capped the 15-2 run and pushed the lead to 10 at 51-41.
Ada could get no closer than six the rest of the way.
Halker led all scorers with 16 points. Birnesser netted 13 and Reynolds added eight. Reynolds was swarmed inside in the post, but his pinpoint perimeter passing played a key role in the comeback.
"We played pretty well defensively," said White. "We did a good job holding down their two-headed monster of Birnesser and Reynolds. I am proud of our effort defensively. And I am really proud of Ty and Cayden holding Reynolds to just two field goals."
Coulson topped Ada with 14 points in his final home game. Swaney and Hull each added 10 markers.
"We knew they were a good team defensively," said White. "I thought we did a nice job of making the extra pass."
Sautter noted that CG played without starting senior gurd Evan Hopkins, who has been out sick all week. But he agreed that having a close, high-pressure game would only help his team in tournament play. Dominating CG has had only one game this season decided by less than 10 points.
The purple and gold canned 20 of 47 shots overall from the field (43 percent). Ada sank six of 16 from beyond the arc (38 percent) and hit on 14 of 31 two-point attempts (45 percent).
The host Bulldogs went zero for three from the foul line (0 percent), while the visitors canned 11 of 15 shots from the charity stripe (73 percent).
"We didn't make any foul shots and they made 11, that was a big difference in the game," White pointed out.
CG connected on 21 of 42 field goal tries overall (50 percent). Grove made 18 of 32 two-point attempts (56 percent), and connected on three of 10 trifecta tries (30 percent).
Ada committed eight turnovers, while CG was charged with 10 miscues.
Ada was out-rebounded unofficially, 30-15. Hull paced the purple and gold with six caroms and seven assists.
"We have gotten everyone's best shot since the Bluffton game," said Sautter. "We went 19-6 last year and had six guys back, so we knew we would be good. It's a lot of pressure on kids to go undefeated, but we weathered the storm.
"To run the table and go 22-0 is difficult; I think it's the first time in school history," he added. "Now we might get to see these guys (Ada) again in a week," he added, potentially in the sectional finals.
The Ada reserves lost 64-33 to finish their season 10-9 (4-4 NWC). Tristan Conley led Ada with 16 points. Trey Sautter led the CG JVs with 27 points.
Ada 46 (9-13, 3-5 NWC)
Swaney 4 0-0 10, Hull 5 0-2 10, Coulson 6 0-0 14, Rayl 1 0-0 2, Cook 2 0-0 6, C. Murphy 2 0-1 4, Miller 0.
Totals: 20-47/0-3/46. 3-pointers (6-16): Coulson 2, Cook 2, Swaney 2.
CG 56 (22-0, 8-0 NWC)
Reynolds 2 4-6 8, Birnesser 4 4-4 13, Clement 3 0-0 7, Sautter 1 0-0 3, Halker 7 2-3 16, Schneider 4 1-2 9.
Totals: 21-42/11-15/56. 3-pointers (3-10): Birnesser 1, Clement 1, Sautter 1.
1 2 3 4 F
Ada 12 12 15 7 46
CG 11 11 14 20 56
JV: Grove 64, Ada 33.
Ada next plays in the Div. IV sectional semis at Bluffton University against Fort Jennings (3-19) on Wednesday, February 26 at 8 p.m. The Bulldogs beat the Musketeers 61-55 in Ada back on November 30, the opening weekend of the season.
"We can't overlook Ft. Jennings, but if we win we get a chance to play Grove again in a week," White said. "Overall, I am proud of the guys and how we finished the season. We made strides."
If Ada beats FJ, they will get that rematch with top seed Grove Friday, Feb. 28 at 8 p.m. at Bluffton U. in the sectional finals. The victor advances to the Elida district semis March 3.
