By Cort Reynolds

PANDORA__The visiting Ada High School girls basketball team rallied late but lost 57-47 to Blanchard Valley Conference rival Pandora-Gilboa on Thursday, February 5.

Three Rocket seniors combined to score all of their points. Savannah Knueven led all players with 23 points, while Kelsie Carlson netted 19 and Ava Huffman added 15. 

The Bulldog girls trailed 12-7 after the first period as Huffman scored seven points.  

The Rockets won the second stanza 17-11 to extend their lead to 29-18 at halftime. Knueven pumped in 10 points in the second on four field goals, including two trifectas. Carlson added seven markers with one trey.

A big 19-11 P-G third quarter gave the hosts a commanding 48-29 margin heading into the final period. Carlson poured in eight points in the third, while Huffman netted six and Knueven contributed five.

The Bulldogs then started the fourth quarter on a 12-0 run, and later cut the deficit to six. Ada trailed just 51-45 with 2:20 remaining to play, but P-G ended the game on a 6-2 spurt to win by 10.

The Bulldogs fell to 11-10 overall and 3-7 in BVC play after the road loss. Ada had its three-game win streak snapped.

Pandora-Gilboa improved to 11-9 overall and 6-3 in the BVC with the home win. The Rocket girls are tied with Arcadia for third in the 11-team league, while Ada is seventh at 3-7. 

Liberty-Benton sits atop the BVC at 9-0, while Riverdale is second (7-2) with one league game left to play. The Eagles clinched the BVC title by beating the visiting Falcons in a showdown for the crown Thursday night, 44-31.

“I was proud of how we fought back, and our overall effort,” said Ada head coach Zach Ricker. “We were down 19 going into the fourth and got it down to six.”

The Bulldogs won the fourth stanza 18-9 as Anna Conley scored six points and Ada hit two triples, but it was not enough to overcome the 19-point deficit.  

Freshman Te’a Griffith scored four points in each of the four periods to lead Ada with 16 points. 

Bulldog senior Conley tallied 15 points. Junior guard Kenley Poling drilled two treys in the second half to tally six markers.

Knueven buried five big triples to pace the victors, while Carlson nailed two shots from deep.

The Bulldog girls connected on 18 two-point goals, splashed three triples and converted two of six foul shots (33 percent). 

P-G canned 15 two-pointers and knocked down eight treys for a 24-9 edge beyond the arc. The Rockets sank just three of nine free throws (33 percent).

UP NEXT
The Bulldog girls conclude their regular season at backyard arch-rival Upper Scioto Valley (9-11) on Saturday, February 14 at 11 a.m. Ada beat the Rams 40-30 at home in the season opener November 21. 

USV stomped visiting Bucyrus 63-27 Thursday at Alumni Fieldhouse.

Layla Hunsicker led USV with 10 points in the opener at Ada. Griffith (14) and Poling (12) topped the Bulldog scorers in the first meeting between the arch-rivals.

Ada 47 (11-10, 3-7 BVC)

Poling 2 0-0 6, St. Laurent 0 0-0 0, Gibson 1 0-0 2, Smith 1 0-0 2, Carter 1 1-2 4, Conley 7 1-2 15, Hevlin 1 0-2 2, Griffith 8 0-0 16. 

Totals: 18-3/2-6/47. 3-pointers: Carter 1.

P-G 57 (11-9, 6-3 BVC)

Huffman 7 0-0 15, Knueven 9 0-2 23, Carlson 7 3-5 19, Burkholder 0 0-0 0, Miller 0 0-0 0.

Totals: 15-8/3-9/57. 3-pointers: Knueven 5, Carlson 2, Huffman 1.