By Cort Reynolds
ADA - Visiting Kenton ended a tight game on a 9-2 run to edge feisty Ada 58-52 in a hard-fought Hardin County boys' basketball battle Saturday night.

Kenton senior Jaron Sharp converted 15 of 17 free throws, including five of six in the final minute, en route to a game-high 28 points. The Wildcats outscored Ada 22 to six from the foul line to provide the difference.

The purple and gold fell to 2-13 with the tough-luck defeat, while the Wildcats improved to 10-4 with the non-conference victory.

Ada senior post Connor Frazier tied the game 52-52 on a 17-foot jumper from the right elbow with 1:11 left to play. Sharp split a pair at the charity stripe 12 seconds later to break the tie.

After a Bulldog miss, Sharp was fouled and canned two free tosses to make it 55-52 at the 37.7 second mark. Ada then went for a three to tie, but a pass to the right corner intended for Phillip Coulson was picked off.

"We had some costly turnovers down the stretch, but we played our butts off," said Ada head coach Dre White. "We flashed Connor to the elbow area and they collapsed on him on that play. I am super proud of my team. The free throw line was the difference."

After the key steal, Sharp was fouled and again drained both shots to build the lead to 57-52 with 20.4 ticks remaining. Kenton then applied a soft fullcourt press and helped force Ada to take 10 seconds off the clock before a pass was deflected out of bounds.

A right corner triple try by Bulldog sophomore Micah Cook was partially blocked and Kenton rebounded. Tye Sherman canned a free throw to provide the final point as Kenton ended the game on a 6-0 spurt, all from the foul line, in eight attempts.  

Frazier led Ada with 17 points and eight rebounds.

"We executed our game plan for the most part," said White. "Sharp is a very good player with a high motor. He works hard and he carried them tonight.

"Connor had another very good game," he added. "He had a good weekend and I am really proud of him."

Ada came out strong and took the fight to Kenton early. Sophomore playmaker Brandon Hull canned consecutive driving shots to provide a 4-0 lead. Coulson sank a follow-up shot to make it 6-0.

Sophomore point guard Jayden Cornell got Kenton on the board with a left wing triple at the 5:11 mark. Sharp canned five foul shots and Coulson netted a layin off a fine Hull feed. Frazier canned two straight layups to give Ada a 12-8 edge.

Coulson buried a 13-foot left baseline shot and a trifecta to extend their largest lead to 17-9 with 1:52 left in the opening stanza.

Cornell answered by draining a long trey, but Ethan Hall sank a layup off a Frazier assist to give Ada a 19-12 lead after one quarter.

"We threw the first punch, but we knew Kenton is a good team and would come back," said White.

Hull executed a pretty spin move off a behind the back dribble for a layin to open the second stanza. Sharp hit two foul shots, followed by a Cade Mullins layup.
Wildcat post Luke Fackler sank a driving layup off a good head fake, yet Frazier nailed a jumper in the lane. Kenton then reeled off seven unanswered points, capped by consecutive Cornell driving shots, to edge within 25-23.

Mullins splashed two foul shots with 6.3 seconds left to give the Bulldogs a 27-23 lead at intermission.

Cook hit a layup early in half two to offset a pair of Fackler foul shots. Trent Lawrence drained a three and Sharp put Kenton ahead on a post-up layup off a solid head fake, 30-29.

Frazier's traditional three-point play inside put Ada back in front 32-30 at the 5:26 juncture. A Sharp driving layup tied it 21 seconds later, yet Frazier canned a putback layin.

Cornell knotted the see-saw battle with a pretty left-handed driving layup. Sharp stole the ball and tallied a breakaway layin at the halfway point of the period. Hull tied it on a driving scoop shot that hung on the rim and spun in.

Sharp came right back by drilling a left wing trey at the 2:55 mark. But Bulldog guard Zac Swaney matched it by splashing an open right wing triple seconds later.

Cornell swiped the ball and drove in for a layup and a 41-39 lead at the 1:36 mark. But Coulson tied it off a nice in-bounds play to send the game to the fourth quarter tied again.

Frazier knocked down a lane shot and Hull hit another spinning drive to give Ada a 45-41 lead with 7:15 remaining. Sharp drove to tally a conventional three-point play with 5:32 left.

Cornell then came up with a big play when he stole a pass, drove in and converted another old-fashioned three-point play to give the Wildcats a 47-45 lead at the 5:03 mark.

Coulson tied it with 3:52 left on a pair of foul shots. After a charging call on Sharp, Hull split two free throws to give Ada the lead at 48-47 with 2:43 to go.

Sharp hit two free throws to put Kenton back on top, 49-48, just nine ticks later. Frazier then took a lob from Coulson along the right baseline and tallied a layin to give the hosts their last lead 50-49 with 2:10 left.

Cornell drove and completed yet another three-point play to put Kenton back in front, 52-50. Frazier then drilled a 17-footer to tie it for the last time.

However, Ada turnovers and five Sharp free throws in the final minute spelled the difference.

Cornell supported Sharp with 20 points. "Sharp and Cornell are even better than we thought," said White. "Cornell did a really good job handling the ball and controlling tempo."

Coulson scored 13 points while Hull tallied 11 points and several assists. "Brandon had a really good game," said White. "He is more locked in and doing a good job controlling the game."

Ada shot 22 for 44 overall from the field (50 percent), including two of 13 on treys (15 percent) and a red-hot 20-31 inside the arc (65 percent). The Bulldogs converted six of 10 from the charity stripe (60 percent).

Kenton hit on 16 of 37 shots from the field (43 percent). The Wildcats sank 12 of 28 two tries (43 percent), hit four of nine treys (44 percent) and converted 22 of 27 attempts at the free throw stripe (81 percent).

Kenton also won the reserve contest, 53-33. Ty Miller led the Bulldog reserves with nine points.    

Ada 52 (2-13)
Mullins 1 2-4 4, Frazier 8 1-1 17, Hall 1 0-0 2, Coulson 5 2-2 13, Hull 5 1-3 11, Swaney 1 0-0 3, Cook 1 0-0 2.
Totals: 22-44/6-10/52. 3-pointers (2-13): Swaney 1, Coulson 1.

Kenton 58 (10-4)
Cornell 8 2-2 20, Jeffries 0 1-2 1, Lawrence 1 0-0 3, Sharp 6 15-17 28, Pulfer 0 1-2 1, Sherman 0 1-2 1, Fackler 1 2-4 4.
Totals: 16-37/22-27/58. 3-pointers (4-9): Cornell 2, Sharp 1, Lawrence 1.    

    1    2    3    4    F
Ada    19    8    14    11    52    
Kent    12    11    18    17    58
JV: Kenton 53, Ada 33.

Ada (1-3 NWC, 2-7 home) will try to snap a five-game losing skid when it hosts struggling Spencerville (1-12, 0-4 NWC) in a league game Friday night.

"I am excited for Spencerville," said White. "We got them last year at their place. It will be a good one. We have only one game next weekend, so we can focus just on Spencerville."