By Cort Reynolds
The Ada High School boys basketball team lost to backyard rival Allen East 56-40 in the title game of the fifth annual boys Border Battle tournament at Waynesfield Friday night, December 30.
The Bulldogs never truly got on track, as they trailed most of the game. AE displayed solid guard play and shooting to win the tourney title.
Ada fell to 5-4 after the defeat snapped their two-game win streak. Meanwhile, AE improved to 4-3 with the win. The Mustang girls and boys swept the BB crowns.
The Bulldogs trailed by just six at the half, but got outscored 29-19 after intermission.
"The third quarter we were flat offensively; we turned the ball over too much," said second-year Ada head coach Vince Halliday. "Allen East is pretty good, and their guards gave us trouble."
Mustang junior playmaker Carson Clum netted three mid-range shots to help shoot AE into an early 16-11 lead.
Quick Mustang sophomore Braelyn Schultz also knocked down two lane floaters early on to keep AE ahead.
Ada senior Ethan Murphy drained two treys, and Jayden Bankston hit a trifecta from the top of the key, to keep Ada close in the opening stanza.
AE's Trey Hensley converted a layup off a nice steal, and Keaton Miller canned a nice drive.
Bulldog senior Carter Conley drilled a 30-foot triple at the buzzer to pull Ada within 16-14 at the close of the opening stanza.
Miller scored first in the second period, followed by a basket from Ada senior Spencer Wall. Murphy swished a right side triple to tie it 19-19 with 3:10 left in the half.
But it was the last time the game would be tied as AE ended the half on an 8-2 spurt.
Miller followed in a short miss to give the Mustangs the lead back with 2:20 to play in the quarter. Miller scored again on a half hook in the lane for a 23-19 lead.
Jacob Hershberger muscled his way through the lane for a layup at the 61-second mark. AE then executed a nice baseline back cut to Hershberger for a layup and a 27-19 lead.
Ada senior Grant Preston gave a good head fake and made a layup just before the halftime horn to pull Ada within six points at intermission.
"We settled for a lot of three's (14) in the first half, but we didn't make shots in the second half," said Halliday. "We struggled in the paint. They made us uncomfortable, and we couldn't play at our pace."
Schultz sank a short follow shot to open the second half and restore the eight-point bulge. Lehman drilled a jumper from the right elbow to make it 31-21.
Wall split two free throws at the 4:15 juncture for the first Ada point of the half. Miller sank a bucket to put the Mustangs ahead, 33-22.
Murphy splashed a contested right wing trey, but Miller answered seconds later with a triple to increase the AE lead to 36-25. Ada senior Jaden Leal made a fast break layin off a nice Bankston feed.
Bankston hit one of two free tosses to inch within 36-28. Schultz scored with nine seconds left in the period to put AE on top by 10.
The Ada offense went cold in the middle periods as they scored just 14 combined points over those decisive 16 minutes.
Lehman swished a left corner trey 45 seconds into the final period to stretch the lead to 13. Murphy countered by completing an old-fashioned three-point play inside.
Clum tallied his own conventional three-point play to make it 44-31. Murphy split two foul shots, and Schultz did likewise.
Bankston stole the ball and cruised in for a layup with just under four minutes remaining. Miller hit two free throws to put AE up 13.
Clum sank a nice driving half-hook layin, and he then added another layup off the bounce. Hershberger was called for a technical foul at the 2:51 mark, and Conley converted both free shots.
Bankston laid in a finger roll follow shot.
Clum then broke the press and fed Schultz nicely with a diagonal bounce pass for a layup. Clum added two more foul shots with 44.3 ticks left.
Ada senior post Gage Hoffer canned a putback in the final seconds for his first basket coming off of a foot injury suffered in the football season opener.
Murphy tallied 16 points before fouling out to pace Ada. Bankston added 10 markers, but no one else netted more than five.
"Allen East was very balanced and solid with three guys in double figures, and a fourth guy with nine," said Halliday. "They are more athletic."
Clum tallied 15 points and played a fine floor game to earn tournament MVP honors. Miller added 13 points for AE. Schultz netted 11 markers, and Keaton Lehman added nine.
Ada canned eight two-point goals and hit six treys, four by Murphy. AE sank 21 deuces and hit two triples.
The Bulldogs converted just six of 12 shots from the free throw line (50 percent). AE hit on eight of 13 charity stripers (62 percent).
Ada's Conley made the all-tournament team after scoring 31 points in the two-game set.
AE's Miller was also voted to the all-tournament squad. Waynesfield's Jayden Elliott and Drew Stephens of USV also made the five-man team.
USV edged Waynesfield 61-60 in overtime earlier Friday in the consolation game as Stephens poured in 31 points.
Ada 40 (5-4)
Bankston 4 1-5 10, Wall 1 1-2 3, Sutherly 0 0-0 0, Conley 1 2-2 5, Leal 1 0-0 2, Murphy 5 2-3 16, Jones 0, Preston 1 0-0 2, Hoffer 1 0-0 2.
Totals: 8-6/6-12/40. 3-pointers: Murphy 4, Conley 1, Bankston 1.
AE 56 (4-3)
Schultz 5 2-4 12, Hershberger 2 0-0 4, Young 0, Clum 6 3-5 15, Lehman 4 0-0 9, Shea 0, Miller 5 2-2 13, Hensley 1 0-0 2, Hopkins 0 1-2 1.
Totals: 21-2/8-13/. 3-pointers: Miller 1, Lehman 1.
1 2 3 4 F
Ada 14 7 7 12 40
AE 16 11 11 18 56
The Bulldogs (0-2 NWC) visit Allen East (0-1 NWC) in Northwest Conference play Friday, January 6.
"We will turn around and do it again next Friday against Allen East," Halliday noted.
The Bulldogs then host another traditional backyard foe in USV (6-3) Saturday night to complete the rivalry weekend.
