By Cort Reynolds
RIDGEWAY - The Ada girls basketball team got hot late but lost a cold-shooting 42-40 non-league contest at county rival Ridgemont Monday evening.
Both teams shot well under 40 percent from the field in the hard-fought battle.
The Lady Bulldog record fell to 3-10 with the tough loss, while the Lady Golden Gophers evened their mark at 7-7 after the win.
"We shot terrible," said Ada third-year head coach Morgan Bass.
The Lady Bulldogs trailed 40-28 with 2:43 remaining to play, yet put on a late rally that came up just short.
Freshman guard Olivia Burkhart splashed a triple to ignite a 12-2 Ada closing run.
After Gopher junior guard Callie Cromer sank a driving layup to make it 42-31, Bulldog sophomore playmaker Courtney Sumner drilled a trifecta to cut the deficit to eight.
Then with just 23 seconds left, Sumner drained her second trey in a row to pull the Bulldog girls within 42-37.
Ridgemont missed the front end of a one-and-one and Ada rebounded. But the Bulldogs turned the ball over to cost them a chance to cut further into the deficit.
The Gophers misfired on a driving shot in the final seconds, and Sumner was fouled while launching a long trey at the buzzer. She sank all three free throws to slice the final margin to two.
"We came back, but it was too late," said Bass.
Sumner led all players with 20 points. Nine of her 20 markers came in the final 45 seconds, and she tallied 11 in the fourth period.
Ridgemont led 8-5 after one period of play after two inside baskets from senior center Hannah Shofner. Ada scored on early field goals by Sumner and junior Kirsten Poling.
Burkhart sank a basket to open the second stanza. Sumner was fouled from behind shooting a triple and converted all three foul shots to tie it 10-all.
Burkhart hit a basket to tie it 12-12 and Ada senior Miranda Wills sank another free throw to tie it again, 13-13.
Cromer then put the hosts ahead 17-13 at halftime with consecutive baskets. Eighteen offensive boards by the hustling Bulldogs kept Ada close by intermission.
Wills canned four straight foul shots, and Sumner tallied a driving layin to inch within 20-19 early in the third period.
Burkhart then sank a basket to give the purple and gold a brief 21-20 lead. Cromer put Ridgemont back in front with a layup that sparked an 8-0 splurge.
Ada senior Alexis Waugh sank a deuce to halt the run and bring the visitors within 28-23 after three periods of play.
Sumner canned two foul shots to start the final stanza as Shofner and Howland both fouled out. Poling split two free throws before Cromer took over by scoring the last 10 Ridgemont points.
Two Wills free tosses kept the Gopher cushion at 40-28.
After Burkhart's triple started the 12-2 Ada finishing flurry, Cromer canned a short shot for a 42-31 lead. The Gopher guard's spurt was just enough to stave off the last-ditch 9-0 Sumner rally.
Cromer led the Gophers with 18 points, while Brooke Nelson netted a dozen points. "We didn't defend well at times against Cromer and Nelson," said Bass.
Wills scored all eight of her points at the charity stripe, and Burkhart added seven to support Sumner.
The Lady Bulldogs connected on just 10 of 40 field goal tries (25 percent). Ada sank seven of 29 two-pointers (24 percent), and drained three of 11 shots from beyond the arc (27 percent).
The Bulldogs converted 17 of 26 foul shots (65 percent). They outscored Ridgemont 17-10 at the charity stripe.
The Gopher girls canned 16 two-point goals and made no three-pointers in three tries. The hosts converted 10 of 19 free throw attempts (53 percent).
Ada grabbed 27 offensive caroms but missed a lot of putback tries. "We struggled to finish (around the basket)," said Bass.
The Lady Bulldogs committed 15 turnovers opposed to eight errors by the Gophers.
Ada fell to 2-6 on the road after the loss.
Ada 40 (3-10)
Sumner 5 8-8 20, Poling 1 1-4 3, Burkhart 3 0-0 7, Light 0 0-2 0, Waugh 1 0-0 2, Wills 0 8-12 8, Acheson 0, King 0.
Totals: 10-40/17-26/40. 3-pointers (3-11): Sumner 2, Burkhart 1.
Ridgemont 42 (7-7)
Chronister 0, Smith 0, Nelson 6 0-0 12, Howland 1 4-6 6, Cromer 6 6-11 18, Shoffner 3 0-0 6, Dondrea 0, Ward 0, Saylor 0 0-2 0.
Totals: 16-44/10-19/42. 3-pointers (0-3): none.
1 2 3 4 F
Ada 5 8 10 17 40
Rmnt 8 9 11 14 42
No JV game.
After three road games, Ada (1-3 NWC) returns home to host Northwest Conference co-leader Crestview (10-1, 4-1 NWC) Thursday night, January 18 in a league bout.
The Bulldog girls are 1-4 at home.
"Crestview will be tough per usual," said Bass.
