By Cort Reynolds
DELPHOS - Visiting Ada rallied from a 22-point deficit late only to lose 59-57 at Delphos Jefferson in a Northwest Conference boys basketball battle Friday night.
Bulldog senior post Jake Rayl sank a field goal in the final second of play to pull Ada within 58-57. After the Bulldogs fouled with 0.4 left, DJ made the first free throw and missed the second to hang on for the win.
Ada fell to 5-7 overall and 1-2 in the NWC with the tough loss. DJ improved to 4-7 and 2-0 in the NWC with the victory.
"It ended up being the game we thought it would be, a fight that came down to the final possession," said Bulldog fourth-year head coach Dre White. "The disappointing part was we dug ourselves a 22-point hole in a matter of a few minutes.
"That said, I am extremely proud of not giving up on the game and taking it to the final buzzer," he continued. "We have much to learn from going forward."
Ada junior point guard Brandon Hull poured in a career-high 30 points to pace the Bulldog rally.
"Brandon Hull decided to put us on his back late in the game, and was a big spark that got us back into the game," said White.
The game was tied 11-11 after one quarter. Jefferson led 25-20 at halftime and extended the margin to 44-30 heading into the final period.
Ada fell further behind before outscoring DJ 27-15 in the fourth quarter, but came up just short.
Doug Long and Trent Teman led Jefferson with 11 points apiece. Hunter Mericle tallied 10 points, while Ashton Moore scored nine and Ian Wannemacher added eight.
Senior wing Phil Coulson and junior guard Micah Cook each netted seven points for Ada, while senior post Ty Miller added six.
The Bulldogs connected on 21 of 53 shots from the field (40 percent). Ada made 18 of 38 shots inside the arc (47 percent) and canned three of 15 from beyond the three-point line (20 percent).
The Wildcats sank 21 of 46 field goal tries (45 percent), including 18 of 35 on two-pointers (51 percent) and three of 11 on triples (27 percent).
Ada converted 12 of 21 from the charity stripe (57 percent) while DJ canned 14 of 20 free tosses (70 percent).
The Bulldogs out-rebounded the Wildcats, 27-19. Hull also topped Ada with 11 caroms in his career night.
DJ was guilty of 16 turnovers, compared to a dozen miscues by the Bulldogs.
Ada 57 (5-7, 1-2 BWC)
Swaney 1-0-2, C. Murphy 1-0-2, Hull 10-9-30, Coulson 2-2-7, Rayl 1-1-3, Cook 3-0-7, Miller 3-0-6.
Totals: 21-53/12-21/57. 3-pointers (3-15): Hull 1, Coulson 1, Cook 1.
DJ 59 (4-7, 2-0 NWC)
Bailey 2-2-7, Teman 3-3-11, Wannemacher 2-4-8, Wiltsie 0-1-1, Herron 1-0-2, Moore 4-1-9, Mericle 4-2-10, Long 5-1-11.
Totals: 21-46/14-20/59. 3-pointers (3-11): Teman 2, Bailey 1.
1 2 3 4 F
Ada 11 9 10 27 57
DJ 11 14 19 15 59
JV: Ada 44, DJ 36.
Ada (1-5 road) travels to face non-league backyard rival USV (7-6) Saturday, January 11. The Rams recently beat Ada 56-49 in the Border Battle finals Dec. 28 in McGuffey as Quinn Sanders scored 30. USV lost at Perry 64-54 Friday, Jan. 10.
"It's a good opportunity (to bounce back) after a heartbreaker Friday night," said White. "The obvious key is to slow down Sanders, which is easier said than done. We will give him some looks to hopefully make things difficult.
"Hopefully we have the same effort that we finished the Delphos game with, and I like where we will be," he added.
