By Cort Reynolds
ADA - Visiting Crestview shot a sizling 65 percent from the field to pave the way to a convincing 80-38 win over Ada in Northwest Conference boys basketball play Friday night.
The purple and gold fell to 2-11 and 1-2 in the league with their ninth straight defeat. Meanwhile, the red-hot Knights improve to 9-3 and 4-0 in the NWC after their fifth consecutive victory.
Crestview started the game on a 9-0 run and never trailed. The Knights began half two on a 14-0 spurt and put the outcome far rout of reach with a 26-7 third quarter.
Flustered by the pressure defense of the athletic Knights, the Bulldogs turned the ball over on each of their first four possessions and six of the first eight in the game.
Overall, Ada committed 25 costly turnovers to just six miscues by the Knights.
"I thought a lot of the turnovers were unforced," said Ada second-year head coach Dre White. "Crestview is extremely athletic and long. They got after us and we didn't handle it.
"I was very disappointed in how we handled the challenge and their pressure," he continued. "Crestview is not (just) a good team, they are a good program. They run the floor well and play simple basketball.
"We have to figure out how to handle pressure defense better," he noted.
Crestview's full and halfcourt pressure defense kept Ada from getting into any offensive flow or rhythm, and limited the touches of their post players.
"For us it starts at the defensive end," said veteran Knight mentor Jeremy Best. "We pressure to get teams to play at an uncomfortable tempo, which resulted in some easy baskets."
"We are sharing the ball real well and making the extra pass, giving up the good shot for a great shot," Best added.
Seven Knights scored in a well-balanced first period display of passing and shooting. Junior wing Phillip Coulson rattled in a right wing trey to get Ada on the board at the 4:37 mark, down 9-3.
Crestview ran off five more points before the Bulldogs responded with a 7-5 run to get back in contention. First, Connor Frazier made a nice cut, took a good pass from fellow post Seven Williams and scored inside.
After a three-pointer by Knight Brett Schumm, Ada senior guard Ethan Swaney drained a three-pointer from top of the key to inch the hosts within nine.
Yet junior wing Wade Sheets sank a layup off a power baseline move to end the opening stanza with Crestview ahead, 21-10.
The Bulldogs pulled within nine again on a basket by 6-7 senior Williams at the outset of the second stanza. But then the Knights reeled off 12 unanswered points, and they never led by less than 17 the rest of the way.
Derek Stout began the run with a left-handed layup off a fine lookaway pass from point guard Drew Kline. After four Knight foul shots, Stout again tallied in transition off a nice feed from Sheets.
Sheets then canned a short banker and Trevor Gibson sank an 18-footer to cap the flurry and give the visitors a 33-12 cushion five minutes before intermission.
A reverse layup by Frazier stopped the run at 33-14. Frazier later added an alley-oop layin, and Swaney canned a floater to get the hosts within 35-18.
But a flying tip-in off the left side by Stout ended the half with Crestview firmly in command, 39-18.
The Knights continued their efficient offensive play into the second half. Sheets began the third period with a layup, followed by three straight interior baskets from Stout.
Three more layups by fast-breaking Crestview extended their lead to 53-18. Ada junior Xavier Hollinger came off the bench to end the 14-0 spurt by sinking a right side triple.
Frazier sank a layin annd Hollinger also followed in his own miss to make it 55-23.
The Knights then ran off the last 10 points of the quarter to lead by 40. Gibson started the flurry by nailing a right corner trey. He then stole the ball twice and converted breakaway layups each time.
Senior guard Charles Stefanek punctuated the nearly perfect offensive period by splashing a trifecta just before the buzzer to build the lead to 65-25. Crestview shot 12 for 15 from the field in the quarter.
Knight reserve Jace Vining drained a left wing trey to open the fourth period. Swaney started a 7-0 Ada spurt by drilling a triple. Coulson converted two foul shots and Swaney drained a left corner trey to pull within 68-33.
Yet Stefanek and Gibson each drained triples as Crestview stayed hot. Grant Schlagbaum added a layup and a left wing trey to build the biggest Crestview lead of 45.
Ada guard Zac Swaney nailed a pull-up 15-footer, and then the quick freshman splashed a trey to close the scoring.
Stout led nine Knights in the scoring column with 16 points, while Sheets added 15 markers and Gibson contributed 14 off the pines. Etzler and Vining each contributed eight points.
"Sheets was very active," Best noted. "We had great balance, which is a direct reflection of sharing the ball, playing with our heads up. Our bench (33 points) came in and shot well."
The Knights out-rebounded Ada, 28-17. Williams led Ada with four caroms. Ethan Swaney was the lone Bulldog in double figures with 11 points. Connor Frazier added eight points.
Zac Swaney, Coulson and Hollinger each contributed five points. Williams scored four and blocked a shot in his second Ada game.
"I was very disappointed in our effort," White summed up. "Crestview really pushed the ball up the floor well, and we did not do the little things well, like get back in transition defense."
Ada connected on nine of 18 two-point field goal tries (50 percent) and drained six of 15 three-point attempts (40 percent). Overall, they connected on a solid 15 of 33 floor shots (46 percent), but got off 16 less attempts than the Knights.
The Bulldogs converted two of their five foul shots (40 percent).
Crestview canned 32 of 49 shots from the field (65 percent), including 23 for 32 on two-pointers (72 percent). Beyond the arc they stayed hot, hitting on nine of 17 (53 percent). The Knights sank seven of nine at the charity stripe (78 percent).
The Knight junior varsity also won, 52-37. Freshman Brandon Hull topped the Ada reserves (7-4) with a dozen points.
Ada 38 (2-11, 1-2 NWC)
E. Swaney 4 0-0 11, Mullins 0, Frazier 4 0-3 8, Coulson 1 2-2 5, Williams 2 0-0 4, Z. Swaney 2 0-0 5, Hollinger 2 0-0 5, Amburgey 0, Zimmerly 0, Hall 0, Hull 0, Conrad 0, Jordan 0, Conley 0.
Totals: 15-33/2-5/38. 3-pointers (6-15): E. Swaney 3, Coulson 1, Hollinger 1, Z. Swaney 1.
Crestview 80 (9-3, 4-0 NWC)
Stefanek 2 0-0 6, Sheets 5 5-6 15, Etzler 3 2-2 8, Kline 2 0-0 5, Stout 8 0-0 16, Schumm 1 0-0 3, Schlagbaum 2 0-0 5, Vining 3 0-0 8, Gibson 6 0-0 14.
Totals: 32-49/7-9/80. 3-pointers (9-17): Vining 2, Gibson 2, Stefanek 2, Schumm 1, Kline 1, Schlagbaum 1.
1 2 3 4 F
Ada 10 8 7 13 38
Cview 21 18 26 15 80
JV: Crestview 52, Ada 37.
Ada (2-4 home) entertains winless county foe Hardin Northern (0-12) Saturday evening, Jan. 20. "We have got to be able to respond," warned White.
Against USV, their only common opponent, HN lost 73-21 while Ada fell just 43-40 to the Rams
