By Cort Reynolds
Plagued by illness, the host Ada High School boys basketball team fell victim to a three-point onslaught as defending league champion Bluffton rolled to a 92-45 victory in Northwest Conference action Friday night, December 16.
Red-hot Bluffton fired in nine first half three-point goals, and ended up hitting a dozen treys. Senior guard Carson Soper drained four triples and added a conventional three-point play in the first half as he tallied 21 points in the first 16 minutes.
Bluffton's first 18 points came on four trifectas and two old-fashioned three-point plays. The visitors raced to a 12-point lead midway through the opening stanza, and were never threatened.
The teams are streaking in different directions. Ada fell to 3-3 overall and 0-2 in the NWC after suffering their third straight defeat.
Bluffton improved to 3-3 and 2-0 in the NWC with their third win in a row.
"We had a tough week with illness running through the program," said second-year Ada head coach Vince Halliday. "We wanted to run them off the three-point line, we know they take 26 three's a game, but we did not do it.
"Their first few three's went in and it was night-night. They clearly outplayed us in every phase of the game," he added.
With his team passing crisply and shooting well, veteran Pirate head coach Todd Boblitt was pleased with their play.
"We have a lot of young guys who are getting settled in, but our guys are very capable," he said. "Carson was on fire and has been our engine now for three years. He has stepped into a scoring role this season."
Pirate Wade Ginther sank a triple on the first possession to set the tone for the game. Soper canned two triples and a three-point drive en route to 11 first period points. Bulldog senior Jayden Bankston kept the hosts alive early with two driving baskets.
An 8-0 Pirate flurry stretched their lead to 20-6. Ada senior Jaden Leal sank a driving layin, and classmate Casen Jones buried a triple to cut the deficit to 24-11.
Soper hit a long three, followed by a hopping drive by Bankston. But Ginther drove through the defense for a layin and a 29-13 lead just before the end of the first period.
Pirate Landen Worcester made a baseline-driving power layup to open the second stanza. Ada senior guard Jacob Sutherly came off the bench to knock down two foul line jumpers and a free throw to slice the Pirate lead to 40-16.
Ada senior Spencer Wall completed a conventional three-point play, but Soper responded by nailing a long triple.
Terron Boblitt drained a long left wing triple, and Soper sank a driving layup. Leal splashed an open 15-footer from the left side.
But the red-hot Soper nailed another trifecta and two foul shots to build the cushion to 55-26 at intermission.
"Our confidence was really high after shooting well at the start," said Boblitt. "We made some shots and the confidence grew."
Bankston canned two foul shots to open the second half, but Donaldson buried a left corner triple, followed by two free throws from Ada senior Ethan Murphy.
Kaden Lora connected on a basket to double up the score, 60-30. Leal answered by drilling a triple, yet Donaldson sank a nice transition layup from Ginther.
Worcester completed a driving three-point play to make it 66-33. Soper sank a pull-up 14-footer.
Sutherly swished a left corner triple with 22 ticks left in the third period. Pirate post John Paul Yoder sank two foul shots to make it 70-38 after three periods.
Lora sank a spinning banker to open the final quarter. Lora then made a fast break layin off a nice Donaldson lead pass. Southpaw Yoder made a layup to build the lead to 40.
Murphy scored inside to stop the 10-0 Pirate run. Worcester converted a nice backdoor cut off the glass. Sutherly hit a foul shot and a basket.
Kerry Wright sank a basket, followed by another Boblitt trey from the top of the circle. Worcester collected a tip-in, followed by a Murphy putback. Wright got another layin and the Pirates ran out the last minute to win by 47.
Sutherly tallied a career-high 11 points off the bench to pace Ada. Bankston also added 11 markers. "Jacob had a nice game, that was good to see," said the Ada coach.
Soper led all scorers with 25 points. Worcester and Donaldson each tallied 13 markers, while Lora added 11. Boblitt and Ginther scored nine apiece.
"We did not keep them in front of us on defense, and we did not stop their drives either," added Halliday.
The purple and gold sank 17 shots from the field, with 14 two-point goals and three treys. Ada converted eight of 15 shots from the charity stripe (53 percent).
Bluffton canned a whopping 32 field goals. Twenty of their baskets came inside the arc, while they also connected on 12 three-point goals. The Pirates shot well over 60 percent for the game.
Bluffton also converted 16 of 19 attempts at the foul line (84 percent).
Ada lost the junior varsity contest 69-31 to drop the reserve record to 1-5. Zack Zimmerman topped Ada with 10 points. Luke Jebsen paced the Pirates with 14 points. Teammates Branson Hilty and Wright each netted 13.
Ada 45 (3-3, 0-2 NWC)
Bankston 4 3-4 11, Wall 2 1-1 5, Sutherly 4 2-5 11, Conley 0 0-0 0, Leal 3 0-2 7, Murphy 2 4-4 8, Jones 1 0-0 3, Gossard 0 0-0 0.
Totals: 14-3/8-15/45. 3-pointers: Leal 1, Sutherly 1, Jones 1.
Bluffton 92 (3-3, 2-0 NWC)
Donaldson 5 0-1 13, L. Ginther 0 0-0 0, Soper 7 5-5 25, W. Ginther 4 0-0 9, Worcester 5 3-3 13, Boblitt 3 0-0 9, Lora 4 2-4 11, Yoder 2 2-2 6, Hilty 0 2-2 2, Wright 2 0-0 4.
Totals: 20-12/16-19/92. 3-pointers: Soper 4, Donaldson 3, Boblitt 3, Ginther 1, Lora 1.
1 2 3 4 F
Ada 13 14 11 7 45
Bluf 29 26 15 22 92
JV: Bluffton 69, Ada 31
The Bulldogs (1-1 home) host non-league rival Cory-Rawson (4-3) Saturday, December 17. The Hornets beat Arcadia 60-21 Friday.
"The beauty of it is we get to come back Saturday night and play again," said Halliday.
Bluffton is idle until Dec. 29-30 when they host the annual Lewis Family McDonald's Holiday tournament. The Pirates face Cory-Rawson in the second semifinal.
