Ada hosts Leipsic (0-0) in BVC opener on November 25

By Cort Reynolds

ADA __The Ada High School girls basketball team defeated visiting traditional rival Upper Scioto Valley 40-30 in the season opener on Friday evening, November 21.

“We played well from the beginning,” said Bulldog girls head coach Zach Ricker. “We had a great week of practice that carried over into tonight. Across the board, we played well.

“I was really happy with our defensive intensity from start to finish,” he added.

Ada starts off 1-0 with the non-league victory. USV begins 0-1 after the loss.

The Bulldog girls jumped to a 12-5 lead after the first period as junior guard Kenley Poling tallied seven points.

The Rams rallied behind a 13-12 second stanza to inch within 24-18 at halftime. Poling and USV’s Chloe Cunningham traded three-point goals in the second quarter.

The Bulldogs narrowly won the third period 8-7 to carry a 32-25 lead into the final period. Freshman Shay Smith connected on two field goals in the stanza for Ada.

Bulldog freshman post Tea Griffith scored seven points in the fourth quarter with three field goals and a foul shot to keep the Rams at bay.

Griffith topped all players with 14 points in her varsity debut. Poling tallied a dozen markers with two trifectas. Freshman guard Lucy Carter scored six in her varsity debut, including a triple in the opening stanza.

Three freshmen accounted for 24 of the 40 Ada points.

Junior guard Layla Hunsicker led USV with 10 points. Sophomore guard Cunningham netted nine markers on three treys. She hit one triple in each of the first three periods.

The two local arch-rivals will meet again in the regular season finale on Feb. 14 at USV.

Ada 40 (1-0)

Poling 5 0-1 12, Gibson 1 0-0 2, Smith 2 0-0 4, Carter 1 3-6 6, Conley 1 0-0 2, Griffith 6 2-4 14. Totals: 13-3/5-11/40. 3-pointers: Poling 2, Carter 1.

USV 30 (1-0)

Hunsicker 3 4-6 10, Titus 2 0-2 4, Cunningham 3 0-0 9, Burns 1 0-0 2, Castle 1 1-3 3, Curtis 1 0-0 2. Totals: 8-3/5-8/30. 3-pointers: Cunningham 3.

1 2 3 4 F

Ada 12 12 8 8 40

USV 5 13 7 5 30

No JV game.

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