By Cort Reynolds
MARIA STEIN - Host Marion Local powered its way to a big early lead and convincingly defeated Ada 57-29 in Div. IV first round sectional girls basketball play Thursday evening.
Third-seeded ML led 8-0 and built an 18-4 advantage after one period of play. The Flyers stretched the margin to 34-10 by halftime, led by 33 points at the three-quarter mark, and were never threatened.
Ada kept hustling and won the fourth quarter, 9-4.
Three ML girls tallied double figures as nine of the 15 Flyers who saw action scored in their balanced attack.
The Lady Bulldogs finished their season with a 5-15 record. With the win, ML improved to 18-5 and advanced to host the sectional finals vs. league rival Parkway Saturday, February 20 at 7 p.m.
Sixth seed Parkway (9-12) received a first round bye after the Flyers declined a free pass into the second round. ML beat Parkway 45-35 last week in their regular season finale.
"They rattled us with their defensive pressure early a bit," said Ada third-year head coach Morgan Bass. "Once we calmed down we did get some good looks and stayed aggressive looking at the basket; we just didn't always connect on shots.
"Physically, we just could not keep matched up with them," she added.
Featuring a strong inside game and a good press, ML tried only three shots from beyond the arc and did not even make a three-point goal.
Flyer Molly Winner scored inside on the first play, and ML never trailed. Sammy Hoelscher canned a two-pointer and a foul line shot made it 6-0. Two Alana Pohlman foul shots stretched the lead to eight.
Courtney Sumner passed to Alexis Waugh for the first Ada basket. Pohlman netted a basket inside, followed by an 18-footer from Hoelscher.
Hoelscher then followed in a third Flyer offensive rebound on one possession for a 14-2 margin at the 3:10 mark.
Lindsey Koenig came off the ML bench to net two straight inside baskets and extend the lead to 16. Bulldog Miranda Wills knocked in a short bank shot with 38 seconds left in the first period to stop the 10-0 ML run.
Another Koenig bucket opened the second stanza to make it 20-4, followed by a Stella Huelsman field goal. Olivia Demange canned a 19-footer to provide a 24-4 cushion. Pohlman sank a banker midway through the period, then added a driving basket.
Courtney Sumner drilled a triple for her first basket, but ML led 31-7 after a Winner foul shot. Pohlman split two charity stripers. Ada freshman Olivia Burkhart swished a trifecta to cut the deficit to 22.
Flyer Morgan Guggenmiller sank a basket at the halftime horn to give ML a 34-10 bulge at intermission.
Pohlman scored inside on the first possession of the third period. Waugh followed in her own miss with a determined putback, and Hoelscher answered with a long deuce.
Hoelscher then followed in a Flyer miss. Ada post Megan Light powered inside for her first basket at the 5:30 mark. Hoelscher converted another stickback.
Sumner drove and misfired, but got her own rebound and put it back in. Winner answered with a basket, and then hit one of two foul shots at the 3:47 juncture for a 45-16 margin. Koenig swished a left baseline shot.
Pohlman sank a stickback, and Sumner drained her second trifecta with just under two minutes left in the third stanza. Koenig scored inside, and Sumner split two free tosses.
Huelsman nailed a 15-footer with 17 seconds left for a 53-20 ML lead after three periods.
Molly Rethman sank a lane shot to open the final stanza and trigger the tournament running clock with a 35-point margin. Waugh responded by banking in a shot, and Wills split two charity tosses.
Kylie Acheson splashed a trey for Ada, followed by a basket from Allison Dirksen. Burkhart buried a right wing triple in the waning seconds to provide the final margin.
Hoelscher led all players with 14 points. Pohlman netted 13 points, and Koenig added 10 markers.
Honorable mention All-NWC guard Sumner topped Ada nine with points, about half of her per game average. Waugh and Burkhart added six markers apiece.
Bulldog junior guard Kirsten Poling hurt her knee in the opening minute of play and did not return.
"Losing Kristen did hurt us," Bass noted.
Ada connected on 11 of their 33 shots overall (33 percent). The Lady Bulldogs canned five of 11 from three-point land (45 percent) and six of 22 on two-point tries (27 percent).
The Bulldog girls made two of their four free throws (50 percent).
Bigger ML sank 26 of 41 shots inside the arc (63 percent) and missed all three of their three-point tries to shoot 26 for 44 overall (59 percent). The Flyers converted just five of 11 at the charity stripe (45 percent).
ML out-rebounded the Bulldogs, 27-18.
Ada committed seven first period turnovers and made 12 errors overall in the first half against the pressing Flyer defense. The Bulldogs ended up with 20 miscues, while ML made just eight turnovers.
Bulldog seniors Wills, Light, Waugh, Acheson and Leona Dalton suited up one final time for Ada. The Bulldogs finished 2-8 on the road this season.
"I am proud of our seniors for all their hard work and having to lead a program since they were sophomores," Bass said. "I will really miss that group."
Ada 29 (5-15)
Sumner 3 1-2 9, Poling 0 0-0 0, Burkhart 2 0-0 6, Light 1 0-0 2, Waugh 3 0-0 6, Wills 1 1-2 3, Acheson 1 0-0 3, Jordan 0 0-0 0, Robinson 0 0-0 0.
Totals: 11-33/2-4/29. 3-pointers (5-11): Sumner 2, Burkhart 2, Acheson 1.
ML 57 (18-5)
Winner 2 2-4 6, Knapke 0 0-0 0, Huelsman 2 0-2 4, H. Rethman 0 0-0 0, Dirksen 1 0-0 2, M. Rethman 1 0-0 2, Rose 0 0-0 0, Tangeman 0 0-0 0, Moorman 0 0-0 0, Hoelscher 7 0-1 14, Demange 2 0-0 4, Koenig 5 0-0 10, Pohlman 5 3-4 13, Eckstein 0 0-0 0, Guggenmiller 1 0-0 2.
Totals: 26-44/5-11/57. 3-pointers (0-3): none.
1 2 3 4 F
Ada 4 6 10 9 29
ML 18 16 19 4 57
