By Cort Reynolds
A record three-point onslaught propelled the host Ada High School girls basketball team over visiting Vanlue 69-31 in a non-conference mismatch Tuesday night, December 13.
Sophomore guard Lexi Poling drained seven three-point field goals to break a school single-game record previously held by three other Bulldog girls.
The Bulldogs improved to 4-4 behind their most impressive performance of the season. The Wildcats fell to 1-5 with the defeat.
"We needed a night like that," noted first-year Ada head coach Zach Ricker. "It is a big confidence-builder for everybody, and for Lexi. That was the most intense we have played from the start of a game all season.
"We have been trying to focus on getting touches in the paint before kicking it out to shoot three's," he added. "Lexi was ready to shoot, she was not as rushed."
Poling drained two trifectas to open the game, and the Bulldogs never trailed. Ada junior Olivia Burkhart hit a basket to make it 8-0 two minutes into the fray.
Burkhart drained a right corner trey, followed by a steal and a breakaway layup from senior guard Courtney Sumner for a 13-4 lead.
Wildcat Sydney King hit her third straight mid-range shot, followed by a putback to keep Vanlue within 13-8.
Ada then reeled off a 14-0 spurt to take command. Poling canned two foul shots and a driving bank shot. She then splashed a right wing triple a second before the quarter buzzer to end her career-best quarter with 13 points.
Her third trey shot Ada into a 22-8 lead.
A transition layup by Sumner, and another Poling quick-release trifecta from the right wing capped the run that gave the hosts a 27-8 bulge.
A Burkhart layup and a short Sumner banker made it 31-10. A Burkhart lane pull-up shot and three foul shots stretched the margin to 36-12.
Sumner sank a driving lefty layin, and southpaw Mariah King drilled a 13-footer. Burkhart canned a driving layup 10 seconds before the buzzer to finish a closing 11-0 run that put Ada comfortably ahead, 42-12.
"We felt Olivia had a quickness mismatch in the second quarter, and she took advantage of it to score and distribute the ball," Ricker noted.
Sumner canned a driving banker to open the second half. After two Wildcat foul shots, Burkhart rolled in a runner. King banked in a short putback. Katie Sizemore rattled in a 12-footer.
Burkhart drove and completed a conventional three-point play to make it 51-18. Wildcat King buried a 17-footer for her fifth outside basket.
Poling swished a right corner triple at the 2:43 mark to give Ada a 31-point cushion after three periods of play.
Olivia Secord sank a driving baseline shot to start the final stanza. Ada freshman Alex Gibson canned her first basket. Poling buried a triple from out top for her sixth trey.
Secord stole the ball and sped upcourt for a left-handed layup. Ada junior King finished a quick, slicing drive through the defense to provide a 61-29 lead.
Poling then received a pass, escape-dribbled to the right of the key and drilled her record seventh triple at the 3:15 mark. She was taken out moments later to a rousing ovation.
Ada freshman post Anna Conley bounced in a short stickback. Gibson drained a right wing triple to finish the scoring.
Poling led all scorers with a career-high 25 points. Burkhart tallied 16 points, while Sumner added 12 markers with two steals.
Eight Bulldogs hit the scoring column as Ada tallied a season-high 69 points.
"Mariah King played well, she gave us some good minutes off the bench," said Ricker.
King and Secord topped Vanlue with 10 points apiece.
"I felt like the last few games we hadn't rebounded well," said Ricker. "Tonight we did a great job of all five players getting a body on a player, boxing out and rebounding."
The Bulldogs sank 26 field goals, canning 17 two-pointers and a season-best nine shots from three-point range. The hosts also converted eight of nine foul shots (89 percent).
Ada is now 2-3 at home.
The visiting team canned 12 field goals, all two-pointers as they hit no treys. The Wildcats converted seven of 12 free throw attempts (58 percent).
Vanlue narrowly won the two-quarter junior varsity game, 9-7. Ashley Hevlin scored four points to lead the Ada reserves.
Ada 69 (4-4)
King 2 0-0 4, Gibson 2 0-0 5, Sumner 5 2-2 12, Hevlin 0, Burkhart 7 1-1 16, Andreasen 0 2-2 2, Poling 9 0-0 25, Sizemore 1 1-2 3, Conley 1 0-0 2, Johnston 0.
Totals: 17-9/8-9/69. 3-pointers: Poling 7, Burkhart 1, Gibson 1.
Vanlue 31 (1-5)
King 5 0-0 10, Ad. Phillips 1 0-0 2, Secord 5 0-0 10, Au. Philips 1 0-0 2, Simon 0, Saltzman 0 3-4 3, Brooks 0 4-8 4,
Totals: 12-0/7-12/31. 3-pointers: none.
1 2 3 4 F
Ada 22 20 12 15 69
Vlue 8 4 11 8 31
Ada (0-2 NWC) visits backyard league rival Bluffton (4-2, 0-1 NWC) Thursday. The Pirates have lost two road games in a row after starting the season 4-0.
"We said at halftime we wanted to keep playing well and carry over the momentum into the second half, and then on into Bluffton Thursday," said Ricker.
"The biggest thing is we can't start off the game slow. Intensity at the start is key. We can't come out slow on the road against a good league opponent," he warned.
Ada is 2-1 on the road, while Bluffton is 4-0 at home.
