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Ada girls bury Gophers, 52-19

By Cort Reynolds

Playing at home, the Ada High School girls basketball team put together a 22-0 run early in the first half and went on to beat Hardin County rival Ridgemont 52-19 in a match Monday night, January 17.

The Bulldog girls fell behind 4-0, then reeled off 22 unanswered points to take command. Ada led 35-13 at the half and was never threatened in playing its best game of the season.

The Lady Bulldogs improved to 5-11 with the non-conference victory, while the Lady Gophers dropped to 3-11 after the lopsided loss.

"We were patient and everyone contributed; it was nice that everyone scored," said pleased fourth-year Ada head coach Morgan Bass. "We knocked down shots when we needed to. It has got to be our best shooting night of the season.

"We talked about being patient against their zone," she noted. "We moved the ball and got good looks, and went on a big run."

Ada junior guard Courtney Sumner led all players with 20 points. 

Bulldog sophomore playmaker Olivia Burkhart added nine markers and played a fine floor game.

Two Brooke Nelson foul shots gave the Gopher girls an early 4-0 lead. But then Ada went on its spurt. Katie Sizemore started the flurry with a layup off a nice dish from Burkhart.

Sumner tied it with a driving banker. Burkhart sank a 10-foot, one-handed runner to give Ada the lead for good 6-4 with 3:27 left in the first period.

Sophomore southpaw Mariah King sank a putback, followed by a steal and fullcourt driving layup from Kirsten Poling.

"Kirsten played great defense," said Bass.

A minute later, Sumner buried a right wing triple. Burkhart followed by nailing a trey from the top of the key one second before the buzzer to give the hosts a 16-4 lead after one quarter.

Sophomore post Daicy Robinson continued the decisive spurt by sinking a stickback to open the second stanza. Sumner splashed two foul shots, and then she hit a banker to make it 22-4.

Nelson finally ended the long Ridgemont drought by hitting a basket. Burkhart answered by swishing a left baseline 11-footer. 

Gopher senior guard Callie Cromer converted a traditional three-point play to cut the Ada lead to 24-9. Sumner then ignited a 10-0 Bulldog spurt by hitting a step-back trifecta. 

Sumner then stole the ball and cruised in for another layup. Lexi Poling sank a right baseline shot, then drained a right side triple to provide a 34-9 lead.

Gopher soph post Jayda Dondrea sank a 12-footer, but Robinson finished a nice pick and roll feed from Kirsten Poling.

Cromer split four foul shots to cut the Ada lead to 22 at intermission.

Sumner connected on a right side pull-up bank shot to open the second half. Emma Smith converted a nice backdoor cut and layup for Ridgemont.

The speedy Burkhart finished a coast-to-coast driving layup. Kirsten Poling sank a putback layin, followed by a baseline-driving layup from King that gave Ada a 43-16 cushion heading to the final period.

Sumner canned two lane runners early in the fourth quarter. Cromer converted two free tosses. Ada senior Selena Jordan splashed two mid-range shots to put the Bulldogs ahead by 35.

Two Charlie Chronister free tosses ended the scoring for the Gophers.

The 19 points Ada allowed was their lowest defensive output of the season.

Cromer led Ridgemont with nine points.

The Lady Bulldogs canned 23 field goals. Ada made 20 two-pointers and three trifectas. The purple and gold converted three of their four attempts from the charity stripe (75 percent). 

The Gopher girls sank just five field goals, all two-pointers. Ridgemont converted nine of 15 free throws (60 percent). 

 

Ada 52 (5-11)

King 2 0-0 4, Sumner 8 2-2 20, K. Poling 2 1-2 5, L. Poling 2 0-0 4, Burkhart 4 0-0 9, Jordan 2 0-0 4, Sizemore 1 0-0 2, Robinson 2 0-0 4.

Totals: 20-3/3-4/52. 3-pointers: Sumner 2, Burkhart 1.

 

Ridgemont 19 (3-11)

Chronister 0 2-2 2, Smith 1 0-0 2, Nelson 1 2-4 4, Cromer 2 5-9 9, Dondrea 1 0-0 2.

Totals: 5-0/9-15/19. 3-pointers: none.

 

1 2 3 4 F

Ada 16 19 8 9 52

Rmt 4 9 3 3 19

 

Ada is idle until they entertain winless traditional arch-rival USV (0-14) next Monday, January 24.  

The Ada girls stomped the neighboring Lady Rams 51-18 in the Border Battle semifinals Dec. 28 at Allen East.

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