BY CORT REYNOLDS
ADA - The Ada girls basketball team rode a hot-shooting second quarter to a 56-43 non-conference win over visiting county rival Hardin Northern Monday evening.
The purple and gold improved to 4-3 with their third win in a row, while the Lady Polar Bears dropped to 2-7 with the defeat.
"We shot it well in the second quarter, which was the difference in the game," said third-year Bulldog head coach Bill Taflinger.
Ada outscored Northern 19-5 in the decisive second stanza. Sophomore guard Raina England came off the bench and hit all three of her outside shot attempts, including a trey that put the Bulldogs ahead for good on the first basket of the key period.
"What turned the tide was the second quarter," agreed HN coach Brady Mast. "We made some bad decisions with the ball, didn't shoot it well, and Ada did. The second just killed us with turnovers, but we hung in there and fought back.
"You have to give Ada credit for making shots," he added.
The Bulldogs built their lead to 14 at 46-32 in the fourth quarter, but then spunky HN rallied within five points in the final two minutes after an 11-2 flurry.
Two Holly Wilson baskets and three foul shots by Ashton Dye sparked the Polar Bear comeback. Senior guard Kamryn Hopson nailed a right side 16-footer with 90 seconds left that cut the deficit to 48-43.
But then Bulldog senior Alyssa Vore splashed six consecutive clutch free throws in the final 64 seconds to keep the Bears at bay.
Junior Maddie Gossard came up with a big rebound off a Wilson miss, and classmate Teara Coulson added two more late charity stripers to provide the final margin of 13.
"The game was a little closer than the final score indicates," noted Taflinger, whose team sank all eight of its foul shots in the last period. "Vore hit some big ones, six in a row in the fourth."
The 5-11 Wilson tallied the first five points of the game to shoot HN to an early 5-0 lead. Ada called timeout to regroup and held the leading Bear scorer point-less the rest of the half.
"We weren't ready to play at the start," said Taflinger. "It took an early timeout to get us into it."
Gossard canned a trifecta and an 18-footer, and Rilan Conley sank a layup for the first Ada lead at 11-10 with 2:40 to go in the opening stanza.
Hopson swished an 18-footer and a foul shot to put HN ahead 13-11 after the first period.
England's trey from out top at the 6:41 mark put Ada in front for good, 14-13. Gossard splashed a left wing triple in transition. But Bear sophomore guard Ashton Dye converted a three-point layin off a nice backdoor cut and feed from Wilson.
England drained an 11-footer and then canned an 18-footer from the circle for a 21-16 edge at the 3:49 juncture to ignite a big Bulldog closing run. Dye sank a banker off a Wilson assist 27 seconds later.
Haley Wyss extended the lead to six by hitting a trey from the top of the key. Gossard followed by nailing another three. A layup and a foul shot by Vore gave Ada a 30-18 intermisison edge as they ended the half on a 13-2 spurt.
"England hurt us," admitted Mast. "I told the girls at halftime we had three starters score while Ada had five. We needed more offensive balance."
A three-point play inside by junior southpaw Sydney Newland gave Ada a 33-20 bulge early in the second half. Wilson responded by hitting a right wing trey, yet Vore answered with a basket.
Senior Wilson split a pair at the line, and then Wyss canned a perimeter shot from the right side. A short banker by Wilson cut it to 11, but Coulson splashed a left wing triple for a 40-26 cushion.
HN edged within 41-28 after three periods on a layup Quinn Stewart-Evans. Wilson scored the first three points of the final quarter, yet Coulson canned another tide-stemming three-pointer from the left wing.
Newland later added a bank shot to give Ada a 46-32 margin before HN emabrked on its ultimately futile but valiant comeback bid.
"We committed some silly fouls late, but we hung on," noted Taflinger.
Gossard led Ada with 13 points. Vore contributed nine, Wyss and Coulson netted eight apiece, and Newland added seven in a balanced Bulldog effort. Wilson topped all scorers with 16 points, while Ashton Dye added 14.
"Our goal was to hold Wilson under 20 so we did a pretty good job on her, especially after the start," said Taflinger. "We moved Vore onto her and even played a little box and one against her."
Ada canned 18 field goals, including seven triples. They connected on 13 of 18 at the charity stripe.
HN 15 drained baskets and made three treys. The Lady Bears converted 10 of 19 at the foul line.
Northern won a two-quarter reserve game, 14-7.
Ada 56 (4-3)
M. Gossard 5 0-0 13, Coulson 2 2-2 8, Wyss 2 3-6 8, Vore 1 7-8 9, Archer 1 0-0 2, Newland 3 1-2 7, England 3 0-0 7, Conley 1 0-0 2.
Totals: 18/13-18/56. 3-pointers: M. Gossard 3, Coulson 2, Wyss 1, England 1.
HN 43 (2-7)
A. Dye 4 5-9 14, Wilson 6 2-4 16, Waller 0 0-2 0, Hopson 2 3-4 7, Stewart-Evans 1 0-0 2, K Dye 1 0-0 2, Ayers 1 0-0 2.
Totals: 15/10-19/43. 3-pointers: Wilson 2, Dye 1.
1 2 3 4 F
Ada 11 19 11 15 56
HN 13 5 10 15 43
JV: HN 14, Ada 7.
Ada (0-2 NWC) hosts struggling three-time defending league champion Crestview (3-4, 0-2 NWC) in a league matchup Thursday evening. The Bulldogs are 2-1 at home this season.
