By Cort Reynolds
ADA - Host Ada battled tooth and nail with local rival Bluffton on Senior Night, but in the end the Pirates held off the upset-minded Bulldogs 54-45 to record a Northwest Conference win in the regular season finale Friday night.
The purple and gold finished the regular season 5-17 overall and 2-6 in the NWC with the hard-fought defeat, while Bluffton ended up 15-7 and 5-3 in league play after the win.
Crestview (21-1) whipped Columbus Grove 61-44 Friday night to share the league title with CG, as each finished 7-1.
"We did not rebound well and they shot 37 free throws," said Ada third-year head coach Dre White. "We played extremely hard, I am proud of how we battled. We held a skilled team to just 30 percent shooting."
Ada trailed just 43-39 with 4:27 remaining after sophomore guard Micah Cook splashed a three-pointer. But Luke Denecker responded by making a driving bank shot while fouled, and the 6-1 junior added the free toss to restore the lead to seven.
"Denecker hit some big shots down the stretch," White noted.
Ada senior Cade Mullins nailed a left corner trey to inch the hosts to 47-42 with 3:06 remaining. Denecker again came up big by hitting a driving layup.
Frazier and Denecker each split two foul shots to make it 50-43 at the 1:23
Bluffton went into a delay game with over five minutes left and it almost cost them as they missed 10 of 14 free throws down the stretch.
Pirate guard Jared Piercefield missed three of four foul shots, and Frazier muscled in for a short bank shot to cut the deficit to 51-45 at the 47.7 second mark.
Denecker converted one of two foul shots and Mason Soper missed two more.
But Ada was unable to capitalize due in part to some costly late turnovers.
After a timeout with 19 seconds to go, Piercefield stole the ball and Soper tipped in his missed layup to seal the outcome with seven seconds left.
"The kids are down, but you have to have a short memory to be successful," said White. "We only had 11 turnovers," but he agreed that the errors at the end were costly.
The Pirates made 10 of 20 foul shots in the final period, leading to an 18-11 edge in the decisive quarter.
Bluffton started out with a 4-0 lead, and stretched it to 7-3 on three Denecker foul shots. Bulldog junior Phillip Coulson canned a layup off a pass from sophomore playmaker Brandon Hull.
Piercefield and Coulson each hit three of four foul shots, and Pirate Levi Hohenbrink drilled a trifecta to make it 13-8 after one period of play.
Denecker drained a step-back trey to open the second stanza, but after that Ada began to control the game. Zac Swaney hit a foul shot, then banked in a short shot off a nice banckhanded dish from Hull.
Coulson drilled a 10-foot fadeaway, followed by a right corner triple from Piercefield. Swaney's transition layup cut the lead to 19-15 2:16 before intermission.
Hull then drove the lane for a nice finger roll to edge within a basket. Denecker canned a driving bank shot, yet Cook splashed a left corner triple to make it 21-20.
A foul shot by scrappy Pirate guard Baylor Garmatter gave the visitors a tenuous 22-20 halftime edge as Ada ended the period on a 12-6 run.
Coulson drove across the lane for a short bank shot to tie it up starting half two. Denecker nailed a right wing trey, but Swaney tied it on a right corner triple of his own.
Garmatter hit two foul shots, yet Frazier knotted it again on a southpaw layin. The feisty 5-10 Garmatter yanked down another offensive rebound and converted a three-point play inside at the 4:37 mark.
Piercefield stole the ball and drove in for a deuce 14 seconds later to provide a five-point lead. Frazier made a nice spin move and bank shot halfway through the third period to cut the margin to 32-29.
Garmatter came up with a big steal and assist to Piercefield for a fast break layup at the 3:22 juncture. Frazier sank two foul shots and Swaney splashed a left wing trey to knot it again 34-all with 2:20 left.
"Zac hit some big shots and Micah hit two big three's," said White.
Two Soper foul shots gave Bluffton a 36-34 advantage heading to the fourth quarter.
Piercefield made a conventional three-point play off a driving shot to open the final period. Then Denecker and Soper each made two free throws to extend the lead to 43-34. Ada battled back, only to come up short.
Frazier sank a short bank shot to cut the deficit to 43-36 with 5:48 remaining to play, and then Bluffton went into its delay game. Despite making just four of 14 free throws down the homestretch, Bluffton held on for the win.
Frazier led Ada with 13 points, six rebounds and three blocked shots. Swaney added 11 points while Coulson netted nine.
"Bluffton did a good job containing Phil, you could see it coming after how he has carried us lately," he added.
Denecker led all scorers with 20 points, while Piercefield contributed 16 markers. Soper tallied nine and Garmatter added six to go with four key offensive boards.
Ada splashed the nets on 11 of 23 of two-point field goal tries (48 percent), and they cannned five of 20 three-point attempts (25 percent). Overall, the hosts connected on 16 of 43 floor shots (37 percent).
The purple and gold converted eight of 12 from the foul line (67 percent).
Bluffton knocked down 13 of 42 shots from the field (31 percent), including four of 13 behind the arc (31 percent). The Pirates canned just nine of 29 two-point tries (31 percent), and converted 24 of 37 shots from the charity stripe (65 percent).
Bluffton committed eight turnovers while the Bulldogs made 11 miscues. Ada was out-rebounded by the Bucs, 30-28.
The loss snapped a modest two-game Bulldog win streak. It was the final home game for Ada seniors Frazier, Mullins and Ethan Hall.
The Bulldogs also lost the junior varsity game 49-40 to finish 5-12. Ty Miller led the Ada reserves with 18 points.
Ada 45 (5-17, 2-6 NWC)
Swaney 4 1-2 11, Frazier 5 3-4 13, Coulson 3 3-4 9, Mullins 1 0-0 3, Hall 0, Hull 1 1-2 3, Cook 2 0-0 6.
Totals: 16-43/8-12/45. 3-pointers (5-20): Swaney 2, Cook 2, Mullins 1.
Bluffton 54 (15-7, 5-3 NWC)
Piercefield 4 7-14 16, Soper 2 5-8 9, Garmatter 1 4-6 6, Denecker 5 8-10 20, Hohenbrink 1 0-0 3.
Totals: 13-42/24-37/54. 3-pointers (4-13): Denecker 2, Piercefield 1, Hohenbrink 1.
1 2 3 4 F
Ada 8 12 14 11 45
Bluf 13 9 14 18 54
JV: Bluffton 49, Ada 40.
The Bulldogs finished up 4-8 at home this season, while Bluffton went 6-4 on the road.
Ada next plays in the Div. IV sectional semifinals Tuesday, Feb. 26 in Coldwater at 6:15 p.m. against struggling New Knoxville (3-19). NK edged Ada 47-44 January 5 at home.
But since then the Rangers have lost 12 of 13, including their last seven games entering the post-season.
"I think the kids will bounce back," said White. "We have an excellent opportunity to go over there and A) get redemption, and B) get a chance to play in a sectional title game next Friday," (if they beat NK).
