By Cort Reynolds
ADA - Visiting Arlington reeled off 15 unanswered points to start the fourth quarter, and the Red Devils went on to post a 62-44 victory over pesky Ada in non-league boys basketball action Tuesday night.
The Bulldogs closed the third period on a 7-2 run to inch within 40-33. But then Red Devil senior point guard Jaret Vermillion nailed consecutive three-pointers to start a personal 16-point quarter and ignite the decisive flurry.
The Devils buried 11 three-pointers to pull away down the stretch and post their fourth straight win.
Ada fell to 6-9 with the defeat, while Arlington improved to 12-4 with the victory.
"We had a really good effort for three quarters," said Bulldog head coach Dre White. "We had it down to seven in the fourth, where we wanted to be. Some foul trouble cost us.
"Vermillion is really good, and he made us pay," he continued. "You can't leave a team's best player wide open in transition twice, and you can't miss bunnies against the good teams."
After Vermillion pumped in two wing treys over the first 30 seconds of the fourth stanza, junior teammate Bryce Gast canned four straight foul shots to open the lead up to 50-33 with 6:41 remaining.
Vermillion then swished a step-back left corner triple at the 5:17 mark. Senior post Tyson Speyer canned a layup to cap the 15-0 spurt and build the lead to 22 with 4:49 left.
Ada senior wing Phillip Coulson stopped the run by hitting a putback banker at the 4:30 mark. Vermillion then sank a flip shot in the lane, followed by a Coulson layin off a Brandon Hull in-bounds pass.
Vermillion stayed perfect in the final period by hitting two foul shots and a right corner trifecta, sandwiched around a Hull layup.
Ada junior Trent Ennis splashed a left corner trey with 1:50 to go. Hull stole the ball and made a breakaway layup 14 seconds later to close the final gap to 18.
Zac Swaney's tight defense helped limit Vermillion to 11 points over the first three periods. But after he picked up his fourth foul Ada had to make a defensive switch, and the senior guard heated up by tallying 18 of the final 24 Arlington points.
Gast began the game by draining a three-pointer, but junior guard Swaney splashed a right corner trifecta to tie it. Hull hit a driving layup and Zavier Thornton drained a left wing triple for the Devils.
Coulson's fast break finish gave Ada its last lead at 7-6. A long triple by Gast was answered by a Hull side-step drive.
Junior Micah Cook sank a triple from the left corner with 10 seconds left in the opening stanza to inch the Bulldogs within 13-12.
Vermillion's driving layup and a third Gast trey started the second period. A Thornton triple and lane shot from Caden Lafferty capped a 10-0 Devil run to being the period.
Swaney stopped the flurry by hitting a left wing trey. Yet Vermillion responded by hitting a floater for a 25-15 lead 2:49 before halftime.
Coulson canned a follow shot and junior playmaker Hull sank a driving shot off glass. Vermillion drained a pull-up shot in the lane two seconds before the buzzer to give Arlington a 27-19 intermission edge.
Hull's stickback and a Ty Miller offensive rebound basket edged Ada within 27-23 to start the second half. Thornton and Coulson traded triples before Gast splashed a high-arching three at the 4:20 mark.
A driving lefty layup by Vermillion extended the Devil lead to 36-26. Gast canned a driving layup off glass to finish an 11-3 flurry at the 2:22 juncture.
Cook drained a left corner trifecta and Bulldog Cayden Murphy sank a short jump hook to get Ada within 38-31 at the one-minute mark.
Vermillion converted two foul shots, but Jake Rayl sank a fast break layup off a Hull assist to keep Ada within striking distance heading to the fourth quarter at 40-33.
But with Swaney and Hull saddled by four fouls each, Vermillion shot 5-5 from the field in the final period, including four triples. He also added two foul shots to turn back any potential Bulldog comeback bid.
Arlington outscored Ada 22-11 in the fourth quarter.
"We did some good things and only had seven turnovers," observed White. "We played hard but didn't attack the basket enough. We only shot three free throws.
"We have a small margin of error, and good teams like Arlington capitalize on mistakes," he added.
Vermillion led all scorers with 27 points. Gast contributed 18 markers, while Thornton added 11.
Hull topped Ada with 12 points, while Coulson netted 11.
The Bulldogs connected on 19 of 43 shots overall from the field (44 percent). Ada made six of 23 from beyond the arc (26 percent) and hit a sizzling 13 of 20 on two-pointers (65 percent).
Arlington canned 20 of 37 from the floor overall (54 percent). The hot-shooting Devils sank nine of 15 two-point tries (60 percent) and drilled 11 of their 22 triple tries (50 percent).
Ada missed all three of its shots from the foul line, while Arlington sank 11 of 16 charity stripers (69 percent).
Ada out-rebounded the Devils, 21-20. Hull and Rayl led the Bulldogs with four caroms apiece. The Devils committed just six turnovers while Ada was guilty of only seven miscues.
Arlington also won the reserve contest, 46-32. Tristan Conley led the Bulldogs with 13 points.
Ada 44 (6-9)
Swaney 2 0-0 6, Hull 6 0-3 12, Coulson 5 0-0 11, Rayl 1 0-0 2, Miller 1 0-0 2, Cook 2 0-0 6, C. Murphy 1 0-0 2, Ennis 1 0-0 3.
Totals: 19/0-3/44. 3-pointers (6-23): Cook 2, Swaney 2, Coulson 1, Ennis 1.
Arlington 62 (12-4)
Vermillion 9 5-8 27, Thornton 4 0-0 11, Gast 5 4-4 18, Lafferty 1 0-0 2, Webb 0 2-2 2, Speyer 1 0-2 2.
Totals: 20/11-16/62. 3-pointers (11-22): Vermillion 4, Gast 4, Thornton 3.
1 2 3 4 F
Ada 12 7 14 11 44
Arl 13 14 13 22 62
JV: Arlington 46, Ada 32.
Ada (4-3 home, 1-2 NWC) returns to action when they host slumping Crestview (5-9, 1-3 NWC) Friday, January 24 in a league battle.
"Crestview is struggling but they are the defending state champs with an Ohio State recruit," White noted. "Hopefully our guard play can bother them.
"We will have to contain the other players besides Etzler. We have to keep those other players from getting going and gaining confidence. I like where we are at," he added.
Arlington won 74-63 at Crestview on January 11. The Knights captured their last game at Pandora-Gilboa by a 46-26 count Jan. 18.
