Cold shooting plagued the Ada girls basketball team in a 45-32 loss to local non-league foe Cory-Rawson in the home opener Tuesday night. The Lady Hornets never trailed after Ada canned the first basket.
The hosts stayed within three points by halftime, but C-R seized control with a 14-7 third period and never was seriously threatened in the fourth quarter. The Lady Bulldogs fell to 0-2 with the defeat, while C-R improved to 2-1 with the win.
Ada committed 17 turnovers and struggled to shoot well from the field and foul line in the defeat.
"We got out-hustled, we got killed on the boards," said Ada fourth-year head coach Morgan Bass. "They wanted the ball more.
"Our transition defense was rough," she continued. "It wasn't pretty offensively.”
The Lady Bulldogs led 2-0 after a baseline jumper by junior guard Courtney Sumner swished through. But it would turn out to be their only lead of the night.
Hornet senior Karissa Welte scored the next four points, and teammate Paige McVetta canned a pull-up 16-footer in transition.
Ada sophomore southpaw Mariah King sank a layup, followed by a 17-footer from C-R post Makayla Gilfillan. A Hornet fast break layin by Octavia Hassan off a steal extended the Cory lead to 10-4.
Sumner hit a foul shot and King drilled an 11-footer off a Lexi Poling assist to edge Ada within 10-7 after one period of play.
Poling swished a right side 14-footer, and sophomore post Daicy Robinson canned a short bank shot to pull the Bulldogs within 12-11 with 4:30 left before halftime.
About two minutes later, Sumner stole the ball and converted a fast break drive to keep the hosts within 14-13. Welte canned a layup, answered by two Sumner charity stripers.
Chelcie McVetta made a driving banker to keep the visitors narrowly ahead 18-15 at intermission.
Eleven first half turnovers stymied Ada, which led to multiple easy Hornet transition baskets. "We didn't handle their pressure well or keep our composure," noted Bass.
C-R took control of the game with a 6-0 spurt to open the second half. Gilfillan sank a driving scoop and a left-handed layup, followed by two Brynn Reese foul shots.
King stopped the flurry with a hard-driving layup down the left baseline.
Gilfillan responded with a putback goal to build the lead to 26-17 at the 3:50 mark. Sumner answered with a driving scoop off the glass.
Welte then made consecutive baskets to give Cory its biggest lead at 31-19 with 1:33 left in the period. Ada sophomore guard Olivia Burkhart sank a nice one-footed runner.
Sumner was fouled just before the buzzer on a triple try and made one free toss to make it 32-22 heading to the final quarter.
Sumner converted a basket off a steal, while King netted a free throw and a driving layup to keep Ada within striking distance at 38-27 with 4:24 remaining.
Sumner then stole the ball again and sped upcourt for a three-point drive to cut the deficit to eight with 90 seconds to go.
Nine seconds later, Gilfillan stopped the 5-0 run with a layup. Sumner then blew by the defense for a layup to inch within 40-32 with 1:11 left.
But Gilfillan scored inside off a costly turnover. She then added a three-point play on a breakaway drive via a long pass over the Ada full court press to provide the final margin.
Sumner and Gillfillan tied for game scoring honors with 17 points apiece.
King added nine points on hard drives. "She played pretty well offensively," Bass agreed. "Katie Sizemore stood out for us defensively."
Welte added 10 points as the only other player in double figures.
In a rarity, neither team made a single three-point field goal.
The Lady Bulldogs sank 13 field goals and canned six of 15 foul shots (40 percent).
The Hornet girls canned 19 field goals. The visitors converted seven of their 13 free throw attempts (54 percent). C-R was guilty of 10 turnovers.
Ada 32 (0-2)
Sumner 6 5-10 17, Burkhart 1 0-0 2, King 4 1-3 9, Robinson 1 0-0 2, Jordan 0, L. Poling 1 0-0 2, Sizemore 0 0-2 0.
Totals: 13-0/6-15/32. 3-pointers: none.
C-R 45 (2-1)
Hassan 1 0-1 2, Kempf 0, Welte 4 2-3 10, Reece 1 3-4 5, P. McVetta 3 0-0 6, M. McVetta 1 0-0 2, C. McVetta 1 1-2 3, Gilfillan 8 1-4 17.
Totals: 19-0/7-13/45. 3-pointers: none.
1 2 3 4 F
Ada 7 8 7 10 32
C-R 10 8 14 13 45
Ada (0-1 road) plays next at county rival Hardin Northern (0-1) Tuesday, November 30. HN lost 64-19 at Riverdale (1-2) in its opener Monday night.
