By Cort Reynolds
BATH - The visiting Ada boys basketball team lost 69-37 to Bath in a Friday night non-league hoop contest.

The Bulldogs dropped to 0-3 with the loss, while Bath improved to 2-1 with the victory.

The Wildcats were ahead 23-16 behind nine points from Andrew Stahr in a high-scoring first period. Bulldog Ethan Murphy scored all seven of his points in the opening stanza to help Ada stay within striking distance.

Bath extended the margin to 12 in the second period before Ada rallied to within 29-22.

But after a timeout, Bath reeled off the final six points of the half to seize the momentum and a 35-22 halftime advantage. The hosts outscored the purple and gold by a combined total of 31-9 over the middle quarters.

The Wildcats out-pointed the Bulldogs 35-14 in the second half to win going away. 

"We made a few shots early but we were not getting stops and couldn't get a defensive rebound," said Ada head coach Jon Cook. "They changed up their defenses with multiple zones and man looks, and we don't have enough experience to recognize it and stay aggressive.

"Changing defenses presents challenges to us mentally with our lack of experience," he continued. "They hit us at different pressure points.

"We tried but can't quite simulate their size and length in practice," Cook continued. "Give Bath a ton of credit, they exploited our weaknesses. 

"But if we we had been able to grab some defensive rebounds, we could still have been in the game. Size and strength were heavily in their favor.

"The silver lining is that we are getting the experience we need for later in the season," he added. 

Bath outscored Ada 19-3 in the third period to put the game out of reach. 

"The third quarter has been a problem for us every game so far," Cook admitted. "We were in it with under two minutes left in the first half, but their 6-0 run (to end the half) sort of deflated us and it carried over.

Tristan Conley led Ada with nine points. Murphy hit a trey and two deuces in the opening period. Spencer Wall also added six markers on two triples.

"Ethan was hurting them in the middle of their zone in the first period," said Cook. "They went to a 1-3-1 zone and did a good job of keeping the ball out of his hands.

"We had some three-point shots early that were not bad looks, but they were out of rhythm," said Cook. "We just didn't get them to drop." 

Stahr and Jonah Wauben topped the Wildcats with 15 points apiece. Bradyn Fleharty added 10 markers.

The Bulldogs connected on 14 field goals, including four shots from three-point territory and 10 shots from two-point range. 

Ada canned five of seven attempts from the charity stripe (71 percent), with Conley hitting five of six. 

The Wildcats sank 28 field goals. They canned 26 two-pointers and drained two trifectas. 

Bath converted 11 of 13 from the charity stripe (85 percent). 

The Wildcats out-rebounded Ada convincingly on the offensive glass. "I am not sure what the differential was yet, but I would guess they out-rebounded us by 20, something like 35-15," said Cook. 

Ada won the junior varsity contest 48-45 to improve to 2-0. Carter Conley led the Bulldog reserves with 19 points.

Ada 37 (0-3)
C. Murphy 2 0-0 4, C. Conley 1 0-0 2, Cook 1 0-0 2, Wall 2 0-0 6, Ennis 2 0-0 4, T. Conley 2 5-6 9, E. Murphy 3 0-1 7, Poling 0, Dellifield 1 0-0 3.
Totals: 10-4/5-7/37. 3-pointers: Wall 2, Dellifield 1, E. Murphy 1.

Bath 69 (2-1)
Barr 2 0-0 4, Hall 4 2-3 11, Fleharty 4 2-2 10, Mikesell 2 0-0 4, Wauben 5 5-6 15, Parlapiano 2 0-0 4, Stahr 7 1-2 15, Armentrout 2 0-0 5. 
Totals: 26-2/11-13/69. 3-pointers: Armentrout 1, Hall 1.
 
    1    2    3    4    F
Ada    16    6    3    12    37
Bath    23    12    19    15    69
JV: Ada 48, Bath 45. 

The Bulldogs entertain always-tough Ottoville (2-0) Saturday in the Ada home opener Saturday night, December 5. The literally Big Green raced to a 19-2 lead at state power Columbus Grove Friday and held on to snap their 26-game win streak, 55-44. 

It was Grove's first loss since the regional semifinals in mid-March of 2019. Senior 6-5 Josh Thorbahn led the victors with 22 points, while 6-7 classmate Ryan Suever also played a key role in the win.

"Ottoville has a high level of experience and skill," said Cook. "They will probably play as intense a man-to-man defense as we will face all year. We will have to really take care of the ball, and be tough mentally and physically. 

"We will see more multiple defenses and zones," he added.

Next weekend Ada hosts local rival Bluffton (0-2) Friday in the NWC opener, and then visits state power Perry (3-0) Saturday.