By Cort Reynolds
ADA - Visiting Ridgemont raced to an 11-0 lead and went on to post a 60-36 win over Hardin County rival Ada in non-league girls basketball action on a rare Monday night game.
The Bulldog girls dropped to 5-11 after the defeat, while the Lady Gophers improved to 5-9 with the surprisingly lopsided victory.
"It was super disappointing; we came out super flat," admitted Ada second-year head coach Morgan Bass. "We talked about effort and attitude, two things we can control, at halftime.
"The second half was better but there is no excuse for the start," she continued. "It's frustrating."
A left corner triple by Gopher senior guard Nadia Martino capped the crippling 11-0 start with 4:30 left in the opening stanza. A baseline shot by junior post Miranda Wills got Ada on the scoreboard.
But Ridgemont guard Callie Cromer bounced in a baseline shot, followed by a putback from hustling center Hannah Shoffner.
Ada junior Kylie Acheson splashed a right corner trifecta, but the Bulldogs never got closer than 10 points the rest of the way.
Gopher sophomore Brooke Nelson nailed a pull-up shot to give the visitors a 17-5 lead after one period of play as Amanda Howland scored six early points.
Cromer banked in a trey to continue the onslaught as the second stanza opened. Sophomore forward Howland split two foul shots before Bulldog freshman point guard Courtney Sumner sank a fast break layup.
A Cromer layup helped the Gophers grab a 17-point advantage. Howland banked in a conventional three-point play, and then she added a putback layin for a 29-7 bulge.
Wills hit a foul shot and Selena Jordan sank a stickback with 16 seconds left in the half to bring Ada within 29-10 at intermission.
"We shot terrible in the first half, and missed three or four layups," Bass noted.
Ada sophomore Kirsten Poling canned a transition layup to open the third quarter as the Bulldogs came out with improved intensity.
Howard and Sumner traded right side triples before Shoffner banked in a half hook. Ridgemont senior Jennifer Jordan drained a trey and Howland canned two free tosses to build the lead to 39-15.
Acheson buried a right wing three-pointer to stop the 10-3 run. Ada's Jordan knocked down a left side 15-footer, yet Shoffner scored inside.
Bulldog junior Alexis Waugh split two charity stripers, and Wills sank a southpaw layin to pull the Bulldogs within 18. Another Shoffner layup made it 43-23 heading to the final quarter.
Poling hit two foul shots to start the fourth period. Cromer nailed a trey from the top of the key, followed by a Wills foul shot.
Howland hit a follow-up layin, and Shoffner scored inside again to make it 50-26. Howland sank a short banker and Ada junior post Megan Light converted two foul shots.
Howland made another conventional three-point play, and Poling canned a one-footed runner off glass from the left side.
Acheson drilled a right wing triple as she was fouled, but could not complete the rare four-point play. Three Gopher foul shots and a Sumner field goal ended the scoring.
Ada was only outscored 31-26 after intermission, but the 19-point halftime deficit was too much to overcome.
"We dug too deep of a hole at the start and never recovered," Bass agreed. "Ridgemont has some athletic girls and they went to the boards harder than us. Speed is not our friend. Howland had a big game, but I thought we did a good job on Jordan."
Howland led all players with 24 points. Shoffner and Cromer each contributed 10 markers.
Acheson paced Ada with nine points on three triples. Sumner and Wills each added seven.
The Ada girls sank a dozen baskets, including eight two-pointers and four goals from three-point range. The Lady Bulldogs canned just eight of 23 from the charity stripe (35 percent).
The Gopher girls made 18 two-pointers and drained five three-point baskets. Ridgemont converted nine of 13 at the foul line (69 percent).
There was no reserve game.
Ridgemont 60 (5-9)
J. Whitaker 0 1-1 1, Nelson 3 0-0 6, Martino 1 0-0 3, Howland 9 5-6 24, Cromer 4 0-0 10, Shoffner 5 0-2 10, Jordan 1 1-2 4, Ward 0 2-2 2.
Totals: 23/9-13/60. 3-pointers: Cromer 2, Martino 1, Howland 1, Jordan 1.
Ada 36 (5-11)
Sumner 3 0-4 7, Poling 2 2-4 6, Light 0 2-2 2, Acheson 3 0-1 9, Waugh 0 1-2 1, Wills 2 3-9 7, Jordan 2 0-1 4.
Totals: 12/8-23/36. 3-pointer: Acheson 3, Sumner 1.
1 2 3 4 F
Rmnt 17 12 14 17 60
Ada 5 5 13 13 36
JV: No game.
Ada (0-4 NWC) will try to halt a four-game slide when they visit league foe Crestview (6-9, 2-3 NWC) Thursday, January 23.
