The Ohio Northern women's basketball program kicked off the 2019 calendar year in winning fashion Saturday afternoon, toppling Ohio Athletic Conference foe Muskingum 74-52 inside the ONU Sports Center in Ada.
With the victory, the Polar Bears improve to 8-5 overall and move to 2-4 against the conference circuit. Meanwhile, the Muskies fall to 1-12 overall, which includes an 0-6 mark in league play.
Ada girls story follows boys' story below - By Cort Reynolds
NEW KNOXVILLE - Host New Knoxville held off scrappy Ada to register a hard-fought 47-44 non-conference boys basketball win Saturday night.
The Bulldog boys drop to 2-9 with the defeat, while the Rangers improved to 2-7 by snapping a four-game losing skid.
Ada led 15-12 after the first period, yet the Rangers forged ahead 29-24 by halftime. The Bulldogs won a close second half (20-18), but NK was able to hang on for the win as a last-second, desperation three-point try by Ada missed.
By Cort Reynolds
LIMA - Host Lima Central Catholic jumped out to a big first period lead and defeated Ada 63-20 in non-conference girls basketball action Thursday evening.
The Lady Bulldogs drop to 1-10 with the defeat, while the Thunderbirds improved to 7-6 after the win.
LCC led 15-4 after one quarter and 31-8 at halftime before taking the second half, 32-12.
Thunderbird post Rosie Williams led all scorers with 27 points on the strength of 12 made field goals. She was the only player on either team in double figures.
By Cort Reynolds
LIMA - The Ada swim teams competed at the annual, 21-school Lima Holiday Invitational meet Thursday, December 27 at the YMCA natatorium.
Ada junior Klava Katayama captured first in the 100 and 200-yard freestyle races to score all 40 Lady Bulldog points.
The purple and gold girls finished 15th out of 21 teams, while the Bulldog boys came in 17th out of 20 squads.
Shawnee won both the boys (372.5 points) and combined team titles (639). Ottawa-Glandorf won the girls team crown with 304 points.
Ada sophomore Paige Cole finished 17th in the 100 breaststroke (1:23.02) to just miss scoring by one place.
ADA - Tournament host Ada played its best game of the year to defeat Waynesfield-Goshen 61-44 in the consolation round of the second annual boys Border Battle tournament Saturday afternoon.
The purple and gold improved to 2-8 with the solid third-place victory, while the Tigers dropped to 1-8 with the defeat.
"I thought we played well other than the second quarter," said Ada third-year head coach Dre White. "The third quarter was good, especially with us struggling offensively - we got 20 points.
ADA - Waynesfield-Goshen jumped out to a big early lead and went on to defeat event host Ada 44-25 in the third-place game of the Border Battle girls basketball tournament Saturday afternoon.
The Lady Bulldogs fell to 1-9 with the consolation round defeat. Meanwhile, the Lady Tigers improved to 4-6 with the win.
"We just couldn't hit shots," said first-year Ada head coach Morgan Bass. "I thought our 2-3 zone definitely gave them issues. We rebounded well and stayed active.
"I am proud of how hard we played," she continued. "But we missed a lot of free throws, especially in the first half."
