By Cort Reynolds
ADA - The host Ada boys basketball team lost a 38-36 overtime heartbreaker to local foe Cory-Rawson in non-league play Saturday night.
The Bulldogs led most of the game after holding the ice-cold Hornets without a field goal for the first 11:13 of the contest.
But C-R hung within striking distance, then put together a 13-0 second-half run to rally from a six-point deficit into a 27-20 lead.
Ada battled back to tie it 31-31 on back-to-back treys from seniors Trent Ennis and Tristan Conley with 2:22 left in regulation.
Hornet senior post Grant Bacon was fouled and missed the first free throw with 5.1 seconds left. He knocked down the second free toss to give the Hornets a 32-31 edge.
Ada threw the ball in near halfcourt and called timeout with 3.9 ticks to go. Senior Micah Cook took a cross-court in-bounds pass, drove hard to the hoop and was fouled in the act of shooting with 1.9 seconds to go.
The senior guard made the first free toss to tie it. Hornet coach Al Thomas called timeout to ice him, and the second shot was straight but just long. Time ran out before anyone could corral the rebound to force overtime.
Ada committed three costly turnovers in overtime. Yet Ennis put the Bulldogs ahead first on a driving layup with 3:14 to go. C-R senior Keevan Lee banked in a lane jumper to tie it 34-34 at the 2:49 mark.
After scoreless possessions from both teams, Cory patiently worked the ball until they got the burly 6-2 Bacon open via a ball reversal on the low right block.
His open layin off a nice post entry feed from senior point guard Matt White put the visitors ahead 36-34 with 23 seconds to play.
Ada then threw the ball away, but C-R missed the front end of a one-and-one with 17 seconds left to play. However, another Bulldog turnover gave Hornet Lance Kisseberth a second chance at the foul line.
This time the senior sank both foul shots with 10.2 seconds left to make it a four-point margin.
Ennis made an uncontested layup just before the buzzer to cut the final margin to two.
Bacon led all scorers with 21 points.
"We did a really good job on Bacon in spots but he did it when it mattered most," said Ada head coach Jon Cook. "He is a very good player. Cory played with a lot of discipline like Al's (coach Thomas) teams have for 25 years."
The Bulldogs led the entire game until early in the fourth period.
"This one hurts more than Bluffton," admitted Cook. It was the third close game Ada has lost in the final seconds this season.
The purple and gold dropped to 0-7 with the non-league defeat, while the Hornets improved to 3-3 after their third win in a row.
Ada led 5-0 after a spinning banker by junior Cayden Murphy and a triple from Tristan Conley.
Cory sank three of four free throw in the first stanza but did not make a field goal as they trailed 5-3 after the deliberate opening period.
Conley sank a pull-up banker and Cook splashed two foul shots to make it 9-4 with 6:08 left before halftime. Bacon finally scored inside to net the first Hornet field goal with 4:47 left prior to intermission.
Murphy then canned a putback and a foul shot for a 12-6 cushion. Bacon banked in a short shot with 90 seconds left in the quarter, and it remained 12-8 at the end of a very low-scoring first half.
Bacon scored inside to open the third quarter. Ada senior Jacob Poling buried a right side trey to give the hosts a 15-10 lead. Bacon then sank a layup and converted two foul shots to inch the Hornets within 15-14 at the 5:37 juncture.
Bulldog guard Spencer Wall splashed a left wing triple. Murphy cut back door and scored a layup off a nice Conley feed for a 20-14 lead with 3:47 to go.
But then Ada went on a drought of 6:14 while Cory finally warmed up from the field to spark their 13-0 run.
Senior Leo Miracle drilled a trifecta to start the spurt. Bacon scored inside to cut the lead to 20-19 heading to the final quarter.
Senior reserve Kisseberth then put C-R ahead for the first time when he buried consecutive triples a minute apart early in the fourth quarter.
"We knew he could shoot and just didn't locate him," said Cook. "He came into the game 9-16 on three's."
Lee swished a 14-footer to cap the run with 5:44 remaining in the fourth period.
Cook ended the drought by nailing a left corner trey with 4:46 left. Ennis scored on an offensive rebound putback 70 seconds later.
Bacon sank a lane bank shot, then swished a short baseline jump hook to rebuild the lead to six with 2:22 to go.
Ada tied it 31-all on the consecutive triples from Ennis out top and Conley in the right corner. The teams then traded foul shots to force the tense overtime.
"They were more disciplined and mentally tougher," Cook observed. "We have very little (varsity) game experience and it showed."
Ennis led Ada with nine points. Conley scored eight, Murphy netted seven and Cook added six.
Kisseberth added eight big points in the final 13 minutes to aid the Hornet rally.
The Bulldogs connected on 13 field goals. They sank six shots from three-point territory, and made seven shots from inside the arc.
Ada converted four of nine attempts from the charity stripe (44 percent).
"Free throws killed us again," Cook lamented. "They made as many as we attempted."
After their very slow start, the Hornets canned 10 two-point baskets and hit three from three-point land. They converted nine of 15 free throws (60 percent) from the charity stripe.
Ada won a wild double overtime junior varsity contest 47-43 to improve to 3-3. C-R hit a late three at the end of regulation to tie it.
But then in OT with a chance to put the game out of reach, a lane violation negated a foul shot that would have put the Hornets ahead 42-38 in the final seconds.
Ada's Carter Conley drained a long trey to tie it with four seconds left and force the second OT. Bulldog Grant Preston scored two inside baskets in the second extra session to power the Bulldogs to victory.
Carter Conley scored 14 points and Preston netted 13 to lead the Ada reserves.
Ada 36 (0-7)
C. Murphy 3 1-4 7, Cook 1 3-5 6, Wall 1 0-0 3, Ennis 4 0-0 9, T. Conley 3 0-0 8, Poling 1 0-0 3, E. Murphy 0.
Totals: 7-6/4-9/36. 3-pointers: T. Conley 2, Cook 1, Ennis 1, Wall 1, Poling 1.
C-R 38 (3-3)
White 0, Skulina 0 1-2 1, Bixler 0 1-2 1, Lee 2 0-0 4, Miracle 1 0-0 3, Kisseberth 2 2-3 8, Bacon 8 5-8 21.
Totals: 10-3/9-15/38. 3-pointers: Kisseberth 2, Miracle 1.
1 2 3 4 OT F
Ada 5 7 8 12 4 36
C-R 3 5 11 13 6 38
JV: Ada 47, C-R 43 2 OT.
The Ada at Allen East annual rivalry league game was postponed Friday, Dec. 18. It may be re-scheduled Dec. 28 or Dec. 30.
The fourth annual Border Battle tournament at AE Dec. 29-30 has been cancelled. Instead, Ada will play at Waynesfield (0-4) on Dec. 29.
