By Cort Reynolds
ADA - The Ada girls basketball team played hard but came up short to visiting Van Buren 58-47 in a non-conference contest Tuesday night.
Thought to be out for the season after an October car accident, Lady Bulldog senior post Miranda Wills miraculously recovered to make her season debut Tuesday.
"Just her presence on the floor, her energy and enthusiasm, means a lot," said Ada third-year head coach Morgan Bass. "Her hustle and vocal leadership adds a level of energy to the team."
Playing with a soft knee brace, a face shield for past broken noses and kinesio tape on her right shoulder, Wills contributed five points and solid interior defense against two taller VB posts.
The Lady Black Knights built a 12-point second period lead and made it stand up, even though spunky Ada battled and never was out of striking distance.
The purple and gold fell to 1-5 overall after the defeat. VB improved to 4-2 with the win.
"I feel like we did some really good things," said Bass. "Turnovers really hurt us. We handled their press pretty well."
Ada took an early 6-2 lead after sophomore playmaker Courtney Sumner splashed a right corner triple. But VB ran off the next six points to take a lead they never relinquished.
Wills came off the bench and split two foul shots before Maddie Pawlak buried a right side 13-footer to give the visitors a 10-7 lead after one quarter.
Anna Durliat sank a driving layup to open the second stanza. Sophia Reineke canned a short banker, which was answered by a layup from Ada senior post Megan Light to stop a 12-1 Knight spurt.
Durliat then hit a foul shot, stole the ball and converted a layup seconds later. Reese Recker made a driving scoop shot midway through the period to extend the lead to 19-9.
Senior southpaw Alexis Waugh scored inside off an assist from freshman guard Morgan Burkhart, but Reineke responded with a basket inside that rebuilt the lead to 23-11.
Wills again split two charity stripers and Burkhart swished a left wing trifecta to get the Bulldogs within eight. Recker converted four straight foul shots, sandwiched around a bank left wing triple by Ada junior Kirsten Poling.
Senior Kylie Acheson splashed two free tosses and Poling sank one more to inch the hosts within 27-21 with 21 seconds left in the half.
Reineke canned a one-footer runner off glass to give VB a 29-21 advantage at intermission.
The Knights stretched the lead to 14 starting half two as Durliat hit a transition layup and Breenna Tabler swished two foul shots.
Sumner, saddled by first half foul trouble, then came alive. She sank a right corner trey and hit a pull-up 14-footer from the left side that cut the deficit to 33-26 at the 4:55 mark.
Durliat canned a fast break runner off the backboard as VB pushed the lead to 39-26.
Wills converted one free toss yet Durliat knocked down another driving bank shot. Two Sumner free throws were followed by a transition layup from Tabler. Wills made a determined drive down the left baseline and scored while colliding with Sarah Busey.
Her basket brought the Bulldogs within 43-31 after three periods of play.
Tabler began the final quarter by sinking a drive. Burkhart drained a right wing triple, but Tabler responded by swishing a left-side 15-footer.
Light scored inside off a nice dish with 5:40 remaining to get Ada within 11. "We had a couple of possessions that were really pretty on offense," Bass noted.
After a Knight basket, Sumner drove into traffic and converted a three-point play off glass to edge within 49-39 at the 5:19 mark.
Tabler canned a pair at the charity stripe. Light sank a short banker off a nice Acheson baseline feed, but Busey scored inside off a post-up.
Ada then made one last charge. Poling sank two free throws and Sumner drilled a left corner trifecta to cut the lead to 53-46 with 1:43 left to play.
But Tabler calmly drilled two foul shots with 80 seconds left, and Busey split two shots 11 ticks later.
Paige Bowman sank a driving southpaw shot for the last VB basket. Sumner split two foul shots with 10 seconds left to provide the final margin.
Sumner led Ada with 17 points and four steals. Light pitched in with eight points and two blocked shots. Burkhart scored seven on the strength of two treys, while Poling added six points and a block.
Durliat led three Knights in double figures with 15 points. Tabler scored a dozen, and Recker added 10 markers.
The Lady Bulldogs sank 14 field goals, hitting eight two-pointers and six shots from three-point territory. The Bulldogs converted 13 of 20 foul shots (65 percent).
The Knight girls canned 21 field goals, all of which were two-pointers. VB converted 16 of 20 free throw attempts (80 percent).
VB also won the reserve contest, 41-24. Mariah King led the Bulldog JVs with nine points.
Ada 47 (1-5)
Sumner 5 4-5 17, Poling 1 3-4 6, Burkhart 2 1-2 7, Light 4 0-1 8, Waugh 1 0-1 2, Wills 1 3-6 5, Acheson 0 2-2 2.
Totals: 8-6/13-20/47. 3-pointers: Sumner 3, Burkhart 2, Poling 1.
VB 58 (4-2)
Tabler 3 6-6 12, Reineke 3 0-1 6, Durliat 7 1-2 15, Pawlak 1 2-4 4, Recker 2 6-6 10, Busey 2 1-1 5, Bowman 3 0-1 6.
Totals: 21/16-20/58. 3-pointers: none.
1 2 3 4 F
Ada 7 14 10 16 47
VB 10 19 14 15 58
JV: VB 41, Ada 24.
Ada (0-3 home, 0-2 NWC) hosts backyard league rival Allen East (1-4, 0-1 NWC) Thursday, December 17. AE lost to Delphos Jefferson 62-37 in their NWC opener.
The lone Lady Mustang win came over Waynesfield-Goshen 64-48 on December 1. They also lost to Bluffton (62-36) in the third-place game of the Holiday Tip-Off tournament. The Pirate girls defeated Ada by a similar score of 64-28.
"Allen East has some athletes who can get out and defend," said Bass. "I am thankful Miranda is back."
