By Cort Reynolds
McGUFFEY - Ada defeated Waynesfield-Goshen 43-36 at McGuffey in the semifinals of the third annual girls basketball Border Battle tournament Thursday evening.
The Bulldog girls improved to 3-6 overall and advanced to the finals Saturday afternoon with the win. Meanwhile, the Lady Tigers fell to 1-8 after the defeat.
Ada led 4-2 after a low-scoring first period, and the Lady Bulldogs owned a slight 16-15 edge at halftime. The purple and gold opened up the advantage to 30-24 after three quarters, and won the final stanza 13-12 to post a seven-point victory.
"We had a great overall team effort," said second-year Ada head coach Morgan Bass. "We had some people step up, and we just simply played harder. Megan Light stepped up and Miranda Wills kept us in the game with her offensive boards.
"Our defensive intensity with the press in the third quarter helped us get a boost," Bass added.
Junior post Miranda Wills led Ada with 13 points. Sophomore guard Timber Blankenship tallied nine points with two trifectas.
Ada freshman guard Courtney Sumner also contributed nine points. Light and soph Kirsten Poling each netted five points.
Tiger guard Jordan Elliott led all scorers with 17 points. Four other teammates netted four points apiece. But no other W-G player scored as many as five points.
The Bulldogs outscored W-G 16 to five at the foul line. Ada attempted a seaspn-high in free throws. Wills converted nine of 14 at the charity stripe herself.
Ada canned nine two-point baskets and three triples, and converted 16 of 35 foul shots (46 percent).
The Tiger girls made 14 field goals, 11 of the two-point variety and three from beyond the arc. W-G converted just five of 20 free throws (25 percent).
Ada 43 (3-6)
Sumner 3 2-5 9, Poling 2 1-6 5, Light 2 1-2 5, Blankenship 3 1-4 9, Acheson 0, Waugh 0 2-4 2, Wills 2 9-14 13.
Totals: 12/16-35/43. 3-pointers: Blankenship 2, Sumner 1.
W-G 36 (1-8)
Bigelow 1 0-0 3, DeLeon 2 0-0 4, Spencer 0 0-2 0, Schultz 2 0-3 4, Elliott 6 4-9 17, Barrington 2 0-1 4, Flinn 1 1-4 4.
Totals: 14/5-20/36. 3-pointers: Elliott 1, Flinn 1, Bigelow 1.
1 2 3 4 F
Ada 4 12 14 13 43
W-G 2 13 9 12 36
No JV game.
Allen East and tourney host USV (0-6) faced off in the second semifinal Thursday evening, with the Mustangs winning.
Ada and AE (2-5) will meet in the Border Battle title game Saturday, Dec. 28 at 3 p.m.
The Lady Bulldogs get a rematch with the Mustangs in the Border tournament finals. AE nipped Ada 45-44 Dec. 19 at Harrod.
The Lady Mustangs have captured the first two girls Border Battle titles, including a championship round win over Ada in the inaugural tourney at Waynesfield in 2017.
The girls third-place game between USV and W-G will take place Dec. 28 at 10 a.m. in McGuffey.
