By Cort Reynolds
ADA - Visiting McComb outscored Ada 23-0 in the third quarter to break away from a close game and beat the Lady Bulldogs 58-18 in non-league girls basketball action Saturday afternoon.

The purple and gold girls fell to 1-13 with the defeat, while the Lady Panthers improved to 8-3 following the victory.

After Ada rallied within 20-16 late in the first half, McComb reeled off 38 consecutive points to win decisively.

"McComb came out in the second half hyped up, and we were dead," said first-year Bulldog head coach Morgan Bass. "Our first half was encouraging and we stayed active on defense.

"We had a good first half; we just didn't connect it to the second half," she added.
The Panthers jumped out to a 13-4 lead after one quarter and never trailed. Alexis Waugh tallied both Ada field goals on layups when the Bulldogs beat the Panther press.

McComb extended the lead to 15-4 on a driving Malorie Schroeder layup to open the second stanza. But then Timber Blankenship came off the Bulldog bench to provide a spark.

The freshman guard sank a layup and then drained a right side trifecta to cut it to 15-9 at the 4:45 mark. Two foul shots by Miranda Wills pulled the Bulldogs within 15-11.

A conventional three-point play on a bank shot by Panther post Alyssa Herr built the lead to 18-11. Waugh then canned another short bank shot off a fine bounce pass from Kirsten Poling with 2:20 left.

After two Panther foul shots, Blankenship swished a left corner triple with 1:11 left to slice the deficit to 20-16.

But Panther Hannah Schroeder splashed a left corner trey of her own, and teammate Olivia Miehls added a transition layup shortly before the break to take a 25-16 lead to intermission.

McComb then came out fired up with increased defensive intensity, starting half two with a blitz that put the game out of reach.

Malorie Schroeder stole the ball and sank a breakaway layup to begin the flurry. She then assisted sister Hannah Schroeder on another fast break layin to make it 29-16 in the first 45 seconds of half two.

Herr tallied two baskets inside to cap an 8-0 McComb spurt over the first 1:26 of the third period. Herr canned a short banker off an in-bounds play to advance the margin to 19.

Mal Schroeder sank a short right baseline shot and a layup to make it 39-16. She then drove the left baseline and swished a nice layin at the 3:40 mark.

Miehls netted a transition layup to advance the lead to 43-16. Mal Schroeder sank two free tosses. Maggie Buck later drained a triple as the Panther run reached 28 unanswered points dating back to the final minute of the second stanza heading to the fourth.

Herr canned a layin to start the final quarter. Miehls converted four straight foul shots for a 54-16 cushion.

A running bank shot by Poling ended the 16-minute Ada scoring drought with 1:11 remaining, making the final score 58-18.

Malorie Schroeder led McComb with 17 points while Herr contributed 15 markers. Miehls added 10 points.

Ada freshman Blankenship topped the Bulldogs with eight points, all in her second quarter flurry. Sophomore Waugh added six markers. "Timber did well today," said Bass.

Ada canned five two-point field goals and nailed two trifectas. The Bulldogs converted two of four at the foul line.

McComb sank 21 field goals, including three triples, and converted 13 of 16 free throws (82 percent).

The Lady Panther reserves also won a two-quarter JV game, 12-2.

Ada 18 (1-13)
Wills 0 2-2 2, Poling 1 0-0 2, George 0, Light 0, Acheson 0, Waugh 3 0-0 6, Phillips 0, Blankenship 3 0-2 8, Cortez 0, Jordan 0.
Totals: 7/2-4/18. 3-pointers: Blankenship 2.

McComb 58 (8-3)
M. Schroeder 6 4-4 17, H. Schroeder 3 0-0 7, Miehls 3 4-4 10, Herr 6 3-3 15, Buck 1 0-0 3, Pitz 1 0-0 2, Shoop 0 0-1 0, Grubb 0 2-2 2, Grubb 1 0-2 2.
Totals: 21/13-16/58. 3-pointers: M. Schroeder 1, H. Schroeder 1, Buck 1.

    1    2    3    4    F
Ada    4    12    0    2    18
McC    13    12    23    10    58
JV: McComb 12, Ada 2.

Ada (0-3 NWC) tries to snap a nine-game losing skid when it hosts league foe Crestview (6-5, 2-1 NWC) Thursday, January 17. "Crestview is always good," said Bass.