By Cort Reynolds
CONVOY - With host Crestview coming off two close defeats - the second on a last-second triple - undermanned Ada was no match for the vengeful Knights as they lost 72-31 in a Northwest Conference boys basketball game Friday night.
Ohio State signee Kalen Etzler poured in 13 first-period points to shoot Crestview into a 29-9 lead.
Knight teammate J.J. Ward also knocked down a pair of trifectas in the opening stanza.
Crestview stretched the advantage to 43-19 at intermission despite three trifectas from Ada senior Micah Cook. The Knights put the game further out of reach with a 20-9 third quarter as Etzler netted seven more markers.
The 6-7 Etzler tallied a game-high 22 points and grabbed six rebounds to pace the victors. Nathan Lichtle contributed a dozen markers and five caroms.
Bulldog senior guard Micah Cook led the purple and gold with 15 points. He scored nine of the 10 Ada points in the second quarter as the Bulldogs fought to a 14-10 score in their best stanza of the game.
Ada competed without athletic junior Cayden Murphy, their top interior player, who was sidelined by a sprained left ankle suffered in practice this week.
Ward, Carson Kreischer, Brody Brecht and Gavin Etzler tallied eight points apiece for their balanced offensive attack.
"Crestview was extremely well-prepared and focused," said Ada head coach Jon Cook. "They are also extremely well-balanced with a lot of ways to hurt you. They really shot it well, they were on fire."
Crestview improved to 11-4 and 4-1 in league play with the victory. Ada fell to 1-12 overall and 0-3 in the NWC with the defeat.
"Kalen was able to get some easy baskets off turnovers and he shot it well, he was active on the back line against our zone," Cook offered. "He scored just about every way you can. They have other guys who can score, too."
"I thought Micah played very well and had a big second quarter," Cook continued. "I thought he played a really good floor game for the second game in a row, against a lot of defensive pressure.
"When you are asked to be the primary ballhandler and score, that is a lot to handle."
Ada senior guard Jacob Poling added five points with one triple.
"Tristan Conley competed at a very high level against extremely talented competition," said Cook. "There was no back-down in him, he competed extremely hard.
"Danny Thompson started his first game in Murphy's place and competed," the coach added. "Not to leave anyone out, but I was also pleased with the effort level from Spencer Wall and Ethan Murphy."
Sophomore guard Wall canned one of the Ada three-point goals.
The Bulldogs knocked down a dozen field goals. They canned six baskets inside the arc, and dained six shots from three-point territory.
Ada converted one of four attempts from the charity stripe (25 percent).
The Knights sank 29 total baskets. They connected on nine shots from three-point territory, and hit on 20 two-point field goals.
Crestview converted five of six free throw attempts (83 percent) from the charity stripe.
Ada is now 0-7 on the road.
Crestview also won the junior varsity contest 29-25 to drop their record to 5-7. Carter Conley topped the Bulldog reserves with 13 points.
Ada 31 (1-12, 0-3 NWC)
Thompson 0, Ennis 1 0-0 2, Cook 6 0-0 15, Wall 1 0-0 3, T. Conley 1 1-2 3, Poling 2 0-0 5, E. Murphy 0, C. Conley 1 0-0 3, Preston 0 0-2 0.
Totals: 6-6/1-4/31. 3-pointers: Cook 3, Poling 1, Wall 1, C. Conley 1.
Crestview 72 (11-4, 4-1 NWC)
Jackson 1 0-0 2, G. Etzler 3 0-0 8, C. Etzler 1 0-0 2, Lichtensteiger 1 0-0 2, K. Etzler 10 0-0 22, Lichtle 4 1-2 12, Ward 3 0-0 8, Kreischer 3 2-2 8, Brecht 3 2-2 8.
Totals: 20-9/5-6/72. 3-pointers: Lichtle 3, G. Etzler 2, K. Etzler 2, Ward 2.
1 2 3 4 F
Ada 9 10 9 3 31
Cvw 29 14 20 9 72
JV: Crestview 29, Ada 25.
Ada was slated to host Hardin County rival Kenton (0-9) Saturday night, January 23, but the game was cancelled and will not be made up. The last three Wildcat games have been postponed due to continuing internal program issues.
Instead Ada (1-5 home) will host North Baltimore (2-13) Tuesday, January 26, in the nightcap of a varsity-only girls/boys doubleheader. The Bulldogs will seek to end a four-game losing streak vs. the Tigers.
NB defeated Arcadia 44-33 Friday night to snap an eight-game losing skid. The lone previous Tiger win came at Waynesfield-Goshen back on December 18 in overtime, 77-66.
NB hosts Pandora-Gilboa (6-6) Saturday night.
"I have seen a little bit of North Baltimore this year and I feel we are two very similar basketball teams in style of play and roster makeup," said Cook of NB. "It should be an interesting game."
Ada hopes to have Cayden Murphy back in the lineup vs. NB Tuesday.
The Lady Bulldog cagers host local rival USV (1-13) in the Jan. 26 doubleheader opener at 6 p.m.
The Bulldog boys will also play a makeup non-league game at Waynesfield (2-10) Monday, Feb. 9. USV beat W-G 60-34 Friday night.
