Story and photos by Cort Reynolds
ADA - Experienced former Ada head coach Jon Cook returns to the helm 25 years after he was first hired as a Bulldog coach in 2020-21 facing the difficult and perhaps unprecedented task of making the Bulldogs competitive despite several program defections and delays to practice due to the coronavirus pandemic.
He replaces Dre White, who resigned roughly three weeks before practice was supposed to start in October after four seasons of rebuilding the Bulldog program back to respectability.
Last year a vastly-improved Ada squad finished 10-14 overall and 3-5 in Northwest Conference play, good for a sixth-place tie with Spencerville in the tough nine-team league.
But the Bulldogs lost their strong starting senior backcourt to transfer, their top scorer and two other post players to graduation. Another promising sophomore transferred to Shawnee in the off-season.
Thus, only two lettermen return from a team that was competitive in almost every game and lost to top-ranked Columbus Grove in Div. IV in the sectional finals after almost upsetting them a week before.
"We have a remarkably inexperienced team," Cook admitted. "I saw this program go from three wins to years in a row to six and then 10 last season, but we lost at least 80 percent of our offensive production from last season. Dre (White) did a very good job.
"We are blessed to have a big senior class to give us some continuity," Cook pointed out. "They are mostly four-year guys, and I coached these seniors in eighth grade. It is rare to have a senior class that big in this day and age.
"We also have a wide-open situation for sophomores like Spencer Wall and Carter Conley to step up. I am really excited about Cayden Murphy and how he can potentially develop into a scorer."
Senior sharpshooting wing Micah Cook is the top returning scorer. He is the team's best perimeter sniper and played valuable minutes last year off the bench.
"Micah has evolved from a catch and shoot player," said his father/coach. "In the past he played off of other guards. They created shots for others. Now he is putting the ball on the floor more."
"We have to find offensive productivity, not just in scoring points but in knowing where we will get shots," he offered. "We have to create an identity.
"Offensive success will require us to be able to catch, shoot, pass and cut hard. We will have to manufacture offense by all five players on the floor doing those things well. I am not sure how high our ceiling is."
Athletic 6-3 junior wing/post Murphy "has to be more than an energy guy this season," said the coach. "He is a good post defender and we need him to score more."
Last year's returning lettermen
Cook and Murphy are the only two lettermen returning from last season. Last year Murphy was frequently assigned to shut down top opposing wings and posts, and did a fine job of defending.
Senior Tristan Conley saw some varsity time last year and was a JV standout as a junior. "He has matured," said Cook. "At 6-2 or 6-3 he has good length and is a capable spot-up shooter who can make shots."
Speedy 5-8 senior guard Jacob Poling is expected to start at the point after a good JV season last winter. He is very quick and sees openings well. A good competitor, he has a fine attacking mentality as well after he enjoyed a record-setting senior soccer campaign.
"Jake will be our primary ballhandler and Spencer Wall will also help out," said Cook, as they may eventually employ a point guard by committte approach.
Wall is a good shooter. "We hope he can develop into our second point guard," offered Cook.
Another JV standout who will see key playing time this season is senior guard Trent Ennis.
"Ian Dellifield returns after two years off to swim," the coach added of the senior. "He is a capable shotmaker and defender."
Burly sophomore Grant Preston joins the varsity roster, along with solid senior athlete Danny Thompson and sophomore Ethan Murphy.
NWC race
Regarding the conference race, defending champion Columbus Grove (26-0, 8-0 NWC) was the number one-ranked team in Div. IV last season. They were the favorite to win it all before the pandemic ended the season at the regional level.
CG will be the heavy favorite to three-peat in the NWC behind senior aces Blake Reynolds and Tayt Birnesser.
"The league is brutal, there are no easy outs," said Cook of the NWC. "Grove is the favorite by a considerable margin. Allen East could be very tough. Lincolnview has been very solid for the last 10 years or so. Crestview has an Ohio State recruit. And Todd (Boblitt) always does a fine job at Bluffton."
Lincolnview (6-2 NWC last year) is dangerous as is Crestview (13-12, 4-4), led by 6-7 OSU-bound Kalen Etzler. He is coached by Doug Etzler, a former Crestview and OSU point guard from the 1990s. "Doug does a phenomenally good job coaching," said Cook.
Bluffton and Lincolnview tied for second in the league race, but the Pirates lost three key starters to graduation, as well as some key role players expected to play this season.
Delphos Jefferson tied with the Knights at 4-4 in the league, a game ahead of Ada and Spencerville. The Bulldogs beat AE, upset Lincolnview in perhaps their best game of the season, and defeated Paulding in NWC action.
The Panthers finished eighth (2-6), followed by last-place AE (0-8) in league play. This is Paulding's last season as a member of the NWC.
The Bulldogs have not finished over .500 in league play since 2012, when they were 5-4.
Overall with so little returning experience, the outlook is not going to be based on wins and losses.
"We have four key values this season," Cook offered. "We want to compete to reach our potential, our ceiling. We need to embrace our roles, be connected and communicate well. We want to be tough mentally and physically, and get to the next play.
"We also want to be self-less and thankful. If this pandemic has taught us anything it is that there are no guarantees. We need to accept coaching and corrections to get better.
"Our motto is 'just us'," he added. "We need to block out all the negativity and noise, and focus on what we can do."
The season tipped off with a 59-58 non-league road loss at county foe Ridgemont November 27. The next night at Ft. Jennings they lost, 59-40. The home opener comes in game four vs. Ottoville December 5.
The NWC season begins at home Dec. 11 vs. local rival Bluffton.
Border Battle
Ada will compete in the fourth annual Border Battle tournament Dec. 29-30 at Allen East. The four-team event also features Waynesfield and traditional arch-rival USV.
USV won the Border tourney title at home following a tight win over Ada last winter.
Ken Jochims returns as junior varsity coach, while Sean Anderson continues as freshman mentor.
Aaron Acheson, a former player for Cook at Ada and his assistant at AE, will serve as the varsity assistant.
"Aaron is an ultra-positive, upbeat guy and a good balance to me," said the intense Cook.
"We have three main area of concerns going into the season," Cook admitted. "One is where we get consistent scoring. Two is taking care of the basketball. Three is defensive rebounding. We do not have a lot of size or girth.
"So we have to rebound defensively and find at least two scorers," he summed up.
Cook is known for employing a deliberate ball-control, rugged man defensive style of basketball but his personnel may dictate some deviation from his normal modus operandi.
Thus this year's team will have to play different defensively than his typical DNA. "In the past 98 percent of the defense I coached was halfcourt man," he said. "This year we will probably change things up a lot.
"We will probably start out man but also play some zone. We may use some three-quarter court and halfcourt presses among other variations to pressure or slow teams down.
"We will have to be varied on defense and use multiple defenses to also protect some of our guys from foul trouble."
A generation has passed since Cook was last hired as a Bulldog coach. He noted one major change in coaching since he started back in the mid-1990s.
"With kids today how you say things is more important than it used to be," he said.
"Coaching is in my blood. My son was a part of what I felt was a tremendously developing program the past four years.
"Micah made the decision to stick it out here during some difficult times. I never had a reason to coach high school basketball again until this came up."
Team photo
The Ada varsity boys' basketball team, from left, front: Ian Dellifield, Danny Thompson, Micah Cook, manager Cody Johnston, Trent Ennis, Jacob Poling, Tristan Conley.
Back: head coach Jon Cook, Grant Preston, Cayden Murphy, Ethan Murphy, Carter Conley, Spencer Wall, JV coach Ken Jochims, varsity assistant Aaron Acheson.
