By Cort Reynolds

NEW KNOXVILLE – The visiting Ada High School boys basketball team edged non-conference rival New Knoxville in the final seconds of a seesaw 48-46 battle Tuesday, December 17.

Bulldog sophomore Carson Conley sank a tie-breaking layup with 4.3 seconds left to give the visitors a two-point lead. Ada had a foul to give and fouled NK, forcing them to in-bound the ball on the sideline with three ticks to go.

The Rangers got off a contested 25-footer at the buzzer, but it didn’t even touch the rim to preserve the win. 

Ada trailed 16-8 after the first period, and was behind 22-14 before they ended the second period on a 7-0 run. The key flurry cut the deficit to one point at halftime and gave the purple and gold some needed momentum. 

The Bulldogs seized a one-point lead heading to the final stanza with tough defense as they won the middle quarters, 21-12. Ada held the Rangers to just six points in each of the second and third periods.

The Bulldogs then out-pointed NK in a high-scoring fourth quarter 19-18 to pull off the close verdict.

Ada improved to 4-2 overall with the big road win. NK fell to 2-2 overall after the defeat.

“We made a play at both ends of the floor in the last few seconds to get the win,” said Ada head coach Chris Sautter. “It was another hard-fought game.

“The biggest thing is that we went 11 for 11 from the foul line,” he observed. 

Junior Zack Zimmerman led Ada with a game-high 19 points as he drained all five Bulldog three-pointers.

Bulldog sophomore guard Conley tallied 17 points as he nailed all seven of his free throw attempts, as well as the game-winning shot.

”We got off to a slow start, and they played really well the first quarter and a half,” Sautter said. “With the 7-0 run, we went into halftime with a little bit of momentum.”

“It was back and forth in the second half,” he recalled. “Our largest lead was three or four points, their largest lead was three.” 

Ada connected on 11 two-pointers and splashed five triples. The Bulldogs converted all 11 of their free throw tries (100 percent). Ada outscored the Rangers 11-3 at the charity stripe.

NK canned 11 two-pointers and drained seven trifectas. But the Rangers made just three foul shots. 

Jay Schroeder led NK with 18 points. Preston Rutschilling added 11 markers on three treys.

“The kids are learning, they are getting better and starting to play with a little more confidence,” Sautter noted.

Ada 48 (4-2)
Oldfield 0 0-0 0, Dysert 1-2-2 4, Zimmerman 7 0-0 19, Green 1-0-2, Conley 5 7-7 17, Hickman 1 2-2 4, Gossman 1 0-0 2, Lawrence 0 0-0 0, Erickson 0 0-0 0. Totals: 11-5/11-11/48. 3-pointers: Zimmerman 5.

NK 46 (2-2)
Rutschilling 4-0-11, Schroeder 7-2-18, Fledderjohann 1-0-3, Hage 4-1-9, Jones 2-0-5. Totals: 11-7/3/46. 3-pointers: Rutschilling 3, Schroeder 2, Fledderjohann 1, Jones 1.

          1   2   3   4     F
Ada   8  13  8  19   48    
NK   16   6   6  18  46

Ada (2-0 BVC) visits Elmwood (1-2, 1-1 BVC), coached by Ada alum Ty Traxler, in a league game Friday, Dec. 20. Six of the first seven Bulldog games are on the road, where they are 4-1 so far.

The Bulldogs then host winless Cory-Rawson (0-5) Saturday, Dec. 21 in a non-league bout. The JV game has been moved up to a 3 p.m. tip-off.

“Hopefully, we can continue to improve and keep finding ways to win games and just keep getting better,” Sautter summed up.