The Ada High School girls basketball team ran off 23 consecutive points over the middle quarters and cruised to a 51-18 win over traditional rival Upper Scioto Valley in the semifinals of the fourth Border Battle tournament Tuesday night at Allen East.

The Lady Bulldogs ended the first half on a 12-0 run to turn a tight three-point lead against the spunky Ram girls into a 25-10 halftime bulge.

Ada was never threatened in the second half, extending the lead to 36-10 with an 11-0 flurry starting the third period.

The Lady Bulldogs improved to 3-8 with the decisive victory. The scrappy Lady Rams fell to 0-11 with the defeat.

"I thought it was a good team win," said fourth-year Ada head coach Morgan Bass. "We had a lot of steals that helped us turn defense into offense.

"In the second half we did a good job distributing the ball," she added.

Bulldog junior guard Courtney Sumner scored the game's first basket on a pull-banker a minute into the fray. Her transition layup off an Olivia Burkhart assist made it 4-2. 

Burkhart then drained a 17-footer before USV ran off six unanswered points to grab an 8-6 edge. Ram junior Kennedy Hall splashed a trey and hit two free throws to give USV its only lead of the night.

Sumner tied it on a drive into the lane, and a Mariah King foul shot gave Ada a 9-8 lead after one period, which they never relinquished.

Sumner opened the second stanza with a steal and driving layup, followed by her two foul shots. 

A post-up basket from Ram sophomore Patience Cole cut the Ada lead to 13-10. But then the Bulldogs went on their 12-0 run to seize control.

Sophomore post Daicy Robinson started the spurt by hitting a layup off an in-bounds pass from Sumner. The quick Burkhart swiped the ball and cruised in for a breakaway layin at the three-minute mark.

Sumner made her fifth steal of the half, then drove in for a layup and a 19-10 bulge. 

Burkhart nailed her patented one-footed runner from 10 feet out on a foray into the lane with a minute left in the half. Senior Selena Jordan then drained consecutive right wing mid-range shots to build the margin to 15 at intermission.

Heady playmaker Burkhart splashed a right wing trifecta at the 5:30 mark to open the second half scoring. Spunky Bulldog sophomore Katie Sizemore split two free throws.

Sumner canned four straight charity stripers to advance the lead to 33-10. Robinson then hit a foul shot and a short banker.

Cole sank a nice turnaround post-up shot from nine feet with a minute left in the third to end the long USV drought.

A follow shot by Sydney Christiensen was answered by Burkhart. She sank a one-footed left baseline runner just before the third quarter horn to put Ada comfortably ahead, 39-14.

Sumner splashed a long triple to start the fourth period. Cole responded by hitting a fine turnaround jumper.

Ada sophomore Mariah King split two foul shots, and scrappy Burkhart banked in a follow-up shot as she was falling down. Senior Kirsten Poling netted another stickback layin.

King came up with a steal and drove for a bank shot with 1:11 left. Ram freshman Shay Lawrence split two foul shots to finish the scoring.

"It's always good for a lot of players to get a basket," Bass noted.

Sumner led all scorers with 19 points, while Burkhart contributed 15 markers. Each guard made five steals.

Cole led USV with eight points.

The Lady Bulldogs canned 18 field goals, sinking 16 two-pointers and two treys. Ada connected on 13 of 19 attempts from the charity stripe (68 percent). 

The Ram girls connected on six field goals, five two-pointers with one triple. They converted five of 10 free throws (50 percent). 

Ada 51 (3-8)

King 0 2-4 4, Sumner 6 6-6 19, K. Poling 1 0-0 2, L. Poling 0, Burkhart 6 2-2 15, Jordan 2 0-0 4, Sizemore 0 1-2 1, Robinson 2 2-5 6.

Totals: 16-2/13-19/51. 3-pointers: Sumner 1, Burkhart 1.

USV 18 (0-11)

Lawrence 0 1-2 1, Hall 1 2-2 5, Christiensen 1 1-2 3, Cole 4 0-2 8, Lowery 0 1-2 1.

Totals: 5-1/5-10/18. 3-pointers: Hall 1.

1 2 3 4 F

Ada 9 16 14 12 51

USV 8 2 4 4 18

The Lady Bulldogs face backyard rival and tournament host Allen East (6-4) in the finals Thursday, Dec. 30 at 6 p.m. AE beat Waynesfield 53-34 in the second semifinal. 

Ada won the last Border Battle title at USV in 2019.