By Cort Reynolds
ADA - The Ada girls basketball team earned its first Northwest Conference win 45-34 with a solid performance against visiting rival Allen East Thursday night.
Talented Lady Bulldog sophomore playmaker Courtney Sumner led an 11-2 third quarter flurry that broke open a close contest for a 31-18 Ada lead.
Spunky AE hung within striking distance but was unable to close within less than eight points the rest of the way.
Sumner led all scorers with 17 points. Senior post Miranda Wills contributed 16 points in just her second game back from an October car accident.
"I feel really good, it was a great team win," said Ada third-year head coach Morgan Bass. "Everyone contributed in some way. I didn't want to sit around and wait to play again for two weeks after a loss."
It was also the team's first NWC win in her third year at the helm. "It was very nice to get a league win," she admitted.
The purple and gold improved to 2-5 overall and 1-2 in the NWC after the win. AE dropped to 2-5 and 0-2 in the NWC with the defeat.
Ada jumped to a 5-0 advantage on a Sumner right wing triple, and a layup from Wills. A driving banker by Sumner made it 7-2, but AE then reeled off seven unanswered points to take the lead.
Emma Tobe knocked down an 11-footer, followed by a trey by freshman playmaker Savana Brooks. Another Brooks basket put the visitors ahead 9-7.
Wills split two foul shots to pull within 9-8 after the first period.
Wills then stole the ball and passed ahead to Sumner for a fast break layup to open the second stanza. Another Sumner layin gave Ada a 12-9 edge.
Wills posted up and scored inside to extend the lead to 14-9. Mustang sophomore Elle Richardson stopped the 7-0 Ada flurry with a driving layin.
Tobe made a stickback shot at the 2:55 mark, but Wills sank a layup off a feed from senior post Megan Light 34 ticks later.
AE freshman Soraya Jackson knocked in an off-balance putback banker to cut the visiting deficit to 16-15 with 1:16 left in the half.
Ada then held the ball for the last shot and executed well. Senior guard Kylie Acheson spotted up and buried a right wing trifecta with a second left in the half to increase the lead to four. The triple gave the hosts momentum going into intermission.
"That was a big shot she made," said Bass.
Sumner and Kennedy Truex traded foul shots to start the second half, and the active Wills converted two charity stripers. Sumner drained a right wing triple for the first basket of the quarter by either team at the 2:33 juncture.
Sumner then picked off a pass at midcourt, made a nice cross-over dribble and finished a driving layup for a 27-16 cushion with 2:16 to go.
Brinkman drilled a right wing 18-footer to halt the 7-0 Bulldog spurt at the two-minute mark. On a roll, Sumner pulled up and splashed a right baseline jumper 16 seconds later.
Tobe canned a putback layin with 17 ticks to go in the period. Light sank a layup off a nice drive and dish from classmate Alexis Waugh five seconds before the buzzer for a 33-20 lead heading to the final period.
Mustang junior post Alex Rodriguez connected on an offensive rebound basket 38 seconds into the fourth quarter.
Ada junior Kirsten Poling then drove hard and banked in a one-footed runner off glass from the left side. Wills canned two foul shots to build the lead to 15 with 6:30 to go.
Truex sank a stickback shot inside, but Acheson answered with a layup off a nice diagonal dish from Sumner with 5:22 remaining.
Brooks drained a left side 14-footer and Rodriguez split two foul shots. Brooks then stole the ball, was fouled and sank both shots to make it 39-29 with 4:39 left.
Poling canned another driving bank shot to lead by a dozen. Brinkman drilled a left corner shot from 19 feet with 2:50 left. Rodriguez then stole the ball and hit Brinkman for a breakaway layup to bring AE within 41-33 at the 2:20 mark.
But that was as close as the scrappy Mustangs would get. Wills stopped the 9-2 run by hitting two free throws with 81 seconds left.
Brooks and Poling each split two free tosses. AE missed the front end of a one and one, and Wills added a foul shot with 35.6 seconds left to provide the final margin.
"Courtney played well and made better decisions with the ball and passing," said Bass. "It definitely helps having Miranda on the floor. Kylie Acheson also stepped up and played smart."
Sumner added four steals. Light blocked two shots before fouling out.
Poling added all five of her points in the final period and blocked one shot.
Brooks led AE with 10 points. Brinkman added six markers.
"Brooks is a nice player, she is going to be good," said Bass of the freshman AE point guard.
The Lady Bulldogs sank 16 field goals, hitting 13 two-pointers and three from beyond the arc. The Bulldogs converted 10 of 17 foul shots (59 percent).
The Mustang girls canned 13 field goals, including 12 two-pointers and one trey. AE converted just seven of 15 free throw attempts (47 percent).
AE won the reserve contest, 26-17. Jade Sampson and Mariah King led the Bulldog JVs with seven and six points, respectively.
Alex Rodriguez topped the Mustang reserves with 15 markers.
Ada 45 (2-5, 1-2 NWC)
Sumner 7 1-3 17, Poling 2 1-2 5, Light 1 0-0 2, Waugh 0, Wills 4 8-12 16, Acheson 2 0-0 5, King 0.
Totals: 13-3/10-17/45. 3-pointers: Sumner 2, Acheson 1.
AE 34 (2-5, 0-2 NWC)
Brinkman 3 0-1 6, Truex 1 1-2 3, Brooks 3 3-4 10, Tobe 3 0-0 6, Richardson 1 0-0 2, Jackson 1 2-6 4, Rodriguez 1 1-2 3.
Totals: 12-1/7-15/34. 3-pointers: Brooks 1.
1 2 3 4 F
Ada 8 11 14 12 45
AE 9 6 5 14 34
JV: AE 26, Ada 17.
Ada (1-2 road) is now idle until Saturday afternoon, January 2, 2021 when they visit county rival Kenton in a non-league bout. The fourth annual Border Battle tournament at Allen East, of which Ada was the defending champion, was cancelled.
AE hosts Ridgemont Wednesday, Dec. 23. With the Dec. 29-30 Border Battle slated at Harrod called off, the Mustangs will entertain Wapakoneta instead on Dec. 29.
