By Cort Reynolds
DELPHOS - Delphos Jefferson ran out to an 18-0 lead over the visiting Ada girls basketball team and cruised to a 59-18 Northwest Conference win Thursday evening.
Ali and Liv Lindeman combined for 35 points to lead DJ to the triumph. Jefferson dominated the offensive glass, canning several stickback baskets.
Plagued by turnovers, the Lady Bulldogs were scoreless until the 11th minute.
"Delphos is a great team," said Ada third-year head coach Morgan Bass. "They played the best defense we've seen all year.
"We felt their pressure and struggled to find shot opportunities at times," she added.
The purple and gold fell to 2-7 overall and 1-3 in the NWC with the defeat.
Meanwhile DJ improved to 11-2 and 3-0 in the league with the lopsided victory. Coupled with Paulding's 51-48 upset loss to Bluffton Thursday night, Jefferson sits alone atop the NWC standings.
Ali Lindeman canned a three-point goal to help DJ to a 5-0 lead, and they never trailed. She later split two foul shots for a 6-0 edge. Lauren French sank a layup to make it 8-0 with 1:44 left in the first quarter.
Ada turned the ball over nine times in the first period as they were shut out, 11-0.
Wildcat freshman Liv Lindeman splashed a trifecta to open period two. Ali Lindeman then stole the ball and scored to make it 16-0. Liv Lindeman canned a pair of foul shots.
Courtney Sumner got Ada on the scoreboard by draining a triple. Ali Lindeman answered by nailing a trey. Kaylee Buzard then knocked down a third trey stickback to extend the lead to 23-3.
After an Ada timeout, Wildcat Kaylee Buzard spun in a putback midway through the second stanza. Liv Lindeman scored again, followed by a basket from Bulldog senior post Megan Light.
Sumner drilled her second triple to give Ada five unanswered points heading to intermission behind 27-8.
Liv Lindeman stole the ball and scored to start the second half.
Ada freshman guard Olivia Burkhart nailed a triple from out top to cut it to 29-11.
Ali Lindeman scored inside, followed by a French putback basket. French then hit a lane shot. Sumner sank two foul shots but after DJ split two free tosses, McGue sank a rebound basket.
A Liv Lindeman driving basket advanced the margin to 40-13. Mallory Bridges splashed two charity stripers. Light hit a driving shot, and junior Kirsten Poling sank a putback for Ada with two minutes to go in the third quarter.
Liv Lindeman drained a triple, followed by a soft short shot by Ali Lindeman that gave Jefferson a commanding 47-17 cushion heading to the final period.
McGue and Ali Lindeman canned three-point goals early in the fourth stanza to build a 53-17 lead. Bridges converted yet another putback goal.
Sumner split two foul shots and Buzard sank a shot to provide the final margin.
"We played hard until the final buzzer, which is all I ever ask for," Bass said.
Sumner led Ada with nine points, and Light added four. Ada was held to just one combined point in the first and fourth periods.
Ali Lindeman led DJ with 19 points, while Liv contributed 16 markers. McGue added 10.
The Lady Bulldogs sank just six field goals, hitting three two-pointers and three shots from three-point land. The Bulldogs converted three of seven foul shots (43 percent).
The Wildcat girls canned 23 of 63 field goal tries (37 percent). Jefferson got off more than twice as many shots as Ada due to the disparity in turnovers and offensive rebounds.
DJ canned 17 two-pointers and six treys. DJ converted seven of 10 free throw attempts (70 percent).
Ada committed 26 turnovers to nine miscues by Jefferson.
Jefferson also won the reserve contest handily, 39-15.
Ada 18 (2-7, 1-3 NWC)
Sumner 2 3-5 9, Poling 1 0-0 2, Burkhart 1 0-0 3, Light 2 0-2 4, Waugh 0, Wills 0, Acheson 0, King 0.
Totals: 3-3/3-7/18. 3-pointers: Sumner 2, Burkhart 1.
DJ 59 (11-2, 3-0 NWC)
Wiltsie 0, Buzard 2 0-0 4, A. Lindeman 7 2-4 19, L. Lindeman 6 2-2 16, McGue 4 1-2 10, Bridges 1 2-2 4, Teman 0, Rostorfer 0, Brinkman 0, French 3 0-0 6.
Totals: 17-6/7-10/59. 3-pointers: A. Lindeman 3, L. Lindeman 2, McGue 1.
1 2 3 4 F
Ada 0 8 9 1 18
DJ 11 16 20 12 59
JV: DJ 39, Ada 15.
Ada hosts McComb (3-1) in a non-league contest Saturday afternoon, January 9.
"McComb will be similar to Delphos," warned Bass. "We are going to need to handle their pressure and rebound the ball."
DJ visits Shawnee Tuesday, Jan. 12.
