By Cort Reynolds
BLUFFTON - The visiting Ada High School girls basketball team hung close to rival Bluffton for over three quarters in a Northwest Conference battle before succumbing 55-43 Thursday night, December 15.
The Lady Bulldogs trailed just 36-35 heading into the fourth period. But the Pirate girls hit eight free throws and outscored Ada 19-8 in the fourth quarter to win by 12.
The Bulldog girls fell to 4-5 overall and 0-3 in the NWC with the tough defeat. The Pirate girls improved to 5-2 and 1-1 in the NWC with the hard-fought win that snapped a two-game losing skid.
"We competed and played well the whole game," said first-year Ada head coach Zach Ricker. "The girls executed and played hard.
"Bluffton was able to get the lead to six or seven with three minutes to go," he continued. "We had to start fouling to put them at the line, which is where they grew their lead."
Bluffton head coach Eric Garmatter was gracious and humble in victory. "Without watching the video yet, I feel coach Ricker had his girls ready to play and I didn't," he offered.
"I think we were outplayed and out-coached," he added. "I don't know if we were looking past them, but we were fortunate to come out with a win."
Ada junior Olivia Burkhart and senior guard Courtney Sumner combined to tally 36 of the 45 Ada points. Sumner netted a game-high 19 points, while Burkhart tallied 17.
The Bulldogs led 10-9 after the first period. But Bluffton took a 25-22 lead at the half as senior guard Sami Scoles poured in 10 second period points to offset six markers apiece by Sumner and Burkhart.
Ada pulled within a point heading to the final stanza as Burkhart nailed a trey and scored seven points in the third period.
Sumner tallied eight fourth quarter points, but the Pirates canned eight of 13 foul shots down the stretch to augment their lead.
Grandey canned three baskets and two foul shots in the fourth period to lead the late charge.
Scoles scored 17 points, while Grandey netted 16. Riley Eachus canned 10 points behind three treys. Julia Mehaffie and Kendal Giesige added six points apiece.
Junior Autumn Andreasen contributed five points for Ada.
Ada is now 2-2 on the road, while Bluffton is 5-0 at home.
"Our lack of size down low definitely made it difficult to get stops against the (6-2) Grandey girl, but the girls did everything they could to try to limit her inside," said Ricker.
"They gave great effort all night," he added.
The Lady Bulldogs sank 13 field goals, canning 12 two-pointers and just one shot from three-point range. The Bulldogs converted 16 of 24 foul shots (67 percent).
Bluffton canned 18 field goals, hitting 14 two-pointers and four treys. The Pirates converted 15 of 29 free throw attempts (52 percent).
Ada 43 (4-5, 0-3 NWC)
King 0 0-0 0, Sumner 5 9-12 19, Burkhart 5 6-8 17, Andreasen 2 1-2 5, Poling 0 0-0 0, Sizemore 0 0-0 0, Conley 1 0-2 2.
Totals: 12-1/16-24/43. 3-pointer: Burkhart 1.
Bluffton 55 (5-2, 1-1 NWC)
Mehaffie 2 2-4 6, Fleece 0 0-1 0, Schweingruber 0, Eachus 3 1-2 10, Giesige 1 4-8 6, Scoles 6 4-9 17, Grandey 6 4-5 16.
Totals: 14-4/15-29/55. 3-pointers: Eachus 3, Scoles 1.
1 2 3 4 F
Ada 10 12 13 8 43
Bluf 9 16 11 19 55
Ada plays next in the fifth annual Border Battle tournament at Waynesfield Wednesday, December 28. The Lady Bulldogs, who took second last year, take on defending champion Allen East (6-2) in the first semifinal.
