By Cort Reynolds

BLOOMDALE – The visiting Ada High School boys basketball team stymied Blanchard Valley Conference rival Elmwood 45-33 on Friday, December 20 to remain undefeated in their new league.

Ada led 11-9 after the first period, and remained ahead 18-17 at intermission following a low-scoring first half. 

The Bulldogs outscored the Royals 27-16 in the second half. Ada won the third period 14-8, and took the fourth quarter 13-8.

The Bulldogs improved to 5-2 overall with the road win to stay unbeaten at 3-0 in the BVC. Elmwood, coached by Ada alumnus Ty Traxler, fell to 1-3 and 1-2 in BVC play after the defeat.

“It was just another gritty, hard-fought road win,” said veteran Ada head coach Chris Sautter. “We saw a junk defense (triangle and two), and it took a little while to settle in. But the kids adjusted and made some plays down the stretch to pull away. 

”We held them to single digits every quarter,” Sautter noted. “Win a lot of games if you can do that consistently. We guarded and rebounded pretty well.”

Bulldog sophomore guard Carson Conley topped Ada with 15 points. Junior wing Kayleb Hickman netted 11 markers, highlighted by two triples.

Junior Zack Zimmerman contributed nine points. Senior Levi Green added six points.

Sophomore guard Owen Traxler led the Royals with 14 points. Landry Seedorf, a 6-4 junior, added 13 markers.

Ada canned 16 two-point goals and drained two triples. The Bulldogs converted seven of their 13 free throws (54 percent).
Elmwood connected on 10 two-pointers, and also drilled two trifectas. The Royals sank seven foul shots, identical to the Bulldogs. 

Ada made six more deuces to spell the difference on the scoreboard.

  JV: Ada 50, Elmwood 17.

Ada 45 (5-2, 3-0 BVC)
Oldfield 0-0-0, Dysert 1-0-2, Zimmerman 4-1-9, Green 3-0-6, Conley 5-5-15, Hickman 4-1-11, Gossman 1-0-2, Lawrence 0-0-0, Erickson 0-0-0. Totals: 16-2/7-13/45. 3-pointers: Hickman 2.

Elmwood 33 (1-3, 1-2 BVC)
Barringer 1-2-5, Gross 0-1-1, Seedorf 6-0-13, An. Traxler 0-0-0, Owen Traxler 5-4-14. Totals: 10-2/7/33. 3-pointers: Barringer 1, Seedorf 1.

Ada improved to 5-1 on the road this season with the win.

The Bulldogs (0-1 home) host winless Cory-Rawson (0-6) Saturday, Dec. 21 in a non-league bout. The JV game has been moved up to a 3 p.m. tip-off. The Hornets lost 54-37 Friday to Hardin Northern.

“We are getting better, but we are nowhere close to where we want to be come tournament time,” Sautter noted.

The Bulldogs are allowing just 46.6 points per game, while scoring 48.7 ppg.