By Cort Reynolds
ARLINGTON - Arlington senior guard Zavier Thornton drained nine three-point baskets to lead the homestanding Red Devils to a 66-50 victory over spunky Ada in a non-league boys basketball contest Tuesday night.

Thornton tossed in a game-high 31 points to keep the upset-minded Bulldogs at bay. Arlington knocked down 11 triples and pumped in 42 second-half points to pull away from what was a close contest at intermission.

Bad starts to each half dug Ada holes that were too deep to climb out of.

Arlington led 11-2 early, yet the Bulldogs rallied behind 12 Cayden Murphy points to trail just 24-21 at intermission. However, the Red Devils took control with a 23-point third period outburst.

Arlington scored the first 10 points of the second half to seize command, and never led by less than 11 the rest of the way.

Ada fell to 1-11 with the loss. Arlington, which has played a difficult schedule, improved to 6-6 with the victory. 

"Thornton can really, really shoot it and he got off to a good start," explained Ada head coach Jon Cook. "It's tough since he and (Bryce) Gast are really good long-range shooters, which opens up driving lanes for Brandon Hull off the bounce.

"We slept-walk a bit at the start of both halves," he continued. "We got outscored 10 to nothing out of the chute in the third quarter. But after that it was pretty even and we played pretty well. We just couldn't get enough stops." 

Senior Tristan Conley led the Bulldogs with a season-high 16 points on the strength of four triples. Junior Cayden Murphy contributed 15 markers, while Micah Cook added nine points. 

Arlington switched to a 1-3-1 zone much of the second half and limited Murphy to three points after intermission.

"They bodied up Murph in the second half," said Cook. "I felt like we got pretty good looks vs. their 1-3-1, but we didn't knock them down."

Hull scored 18 points and dished out several sssists against his former team. 

"Our kids were extremely motivated to show well against a former teammate," Cook offered. "Brandon played extremely well."

The Bulldogs canned 17 field goals. They sank 11 baskets inside the arc, and canned six shots from three-point territory.     

Ada converted 10 of 16 attempts from the charity stripe (63 percent).

"We didn't shoot a high percentage from the field but all of our guys really battled, I can't fault our effort," said Cook. "We got to the foul line more than them, and we were competitive on the glass. There were a lot of positives despite a 16-point loss. 

"I thought the game was more competitive than the final score indicates," he continued. "We had lulls to start each half that hurt us. 

"The players were disappointed in the outcome but we are encouraged by the strides we are making," he added. "We have a lot of guys in their first varsity season who are playing roles they are unaccustomed to."

The Devils sank 25 total baskets, eight more than Ada. They also connected on 11 shots from three-point territory, and hit 14 two-point field goals. 

Arlington converted five of its six free throw attempts (83 percent) from the charity stripe. 

Ada lost the junior varsity contest 67-34 to drop their record to 5-6. Casen Jones led the Bulldogs with 12 points. 

Ada 50 (1-11)
C. Murphy 6 3-4 15, Cook 3 2-2 9, Wall 0 2-2 2, Ennis 2 0-0 4, T. Conley 5 2-4 16, Poling 0 1-2 1, E. Murphy 1 0-2 3.
Totals: 11-6/10-16/50. 3-pointers: Conley 4, Cook 1, E. Murphy 1.

Arlington 66 (6-6)
Launder 0, Hull 7 4-4 18, Thornton 9 0-0 31, Price 1 0-0 2, Frysinger 2 0-0 5, Lafferty 0, Gast 3 0-0 7, Bateson 1 1-2 3, Kessler 0.
Totals: 14-11/5-6/66. 3-pointers: Thornton 9, Gast 1, Frysinger 1.
 
    1    2    3    4    F
Ada    7    14    12    17    50
Arl    16    8    23    19    66
JV: Arlington 67, Ada 34.

Ada (0-6 road, 0-2 NWC) visits perennial power Crestview (10-4, 3-1 NWC) Friday night, January 22 in a league bout. The Knights had their six-game win streak snapped at Ft. Loramie last Saturday night, 65-59.

Crestview then lost 61-59 in overtime to talented Ottoville Tuesday night on a Big Green three-point shot with just 1.6 seconds remaining. Ottoville (12-2) beat Ada 56-23 early this season in the Bulldog home opener. 

"Crestview presents an interesting challenge," said Cook. "They will probably play all man-to-man, and are very physical. They are very talented and well-coached. I am sure that after losing two close games, they will come into Friday's game very focused."

Ada (1-5 home) is also slated to host beleaguered county rival Kenton (0-9) Saturday night, Jan. 23. The last few Wildcat games have been postponed amid continuing internal problems, so the game may or may not be played.

If the Kenton game is cancelled, the Bulldogs might play Waynesfield-Goshen (2-9) instead on Saturday evening. W-G's scheduled game Saturday vs. Cory-Rawson has already been postponed due to Hornet covid virus issues. 

Ada's previously postponed game with the Tigers had been rescheduled for February 1.

"We are maturing and growing," Cook summed up. "I like where we are mentally right now as a team."