By Cort Reynolds
Playing at home, the Ada High School boys basketball team employed a pressing defense to dismantle North Baltimore 59-30 in a non-conference game Saturday night.
The Bulldogs led 15-8 after one period and stretched it to 25-11 at halftime. A 19-8 Ada third quarter put the game well out of reach.
Ada improved to 7-9 after the win, while NB fell to 1-15 following the defeat.
"Absolutely, our press bothered them," agreed second-year Ada head coach Vince Halliday. "We scored off the press more than we did vs. their zone in halfcourt. Our press led to a lot of easy baskets.
"We played solid defense in the first half, held them to 11 points," he added.
Tiger junior Wyatt Baltz opened the game by hitting a triple. Ada senior Spencer Wall answered by draining a left corner trey.
Baltz swished a three from the top of the key at the 4:20 mark. Bulldog Carter Conley tied it with a left wing trey at the 3:15 juncture as the teams played dueling triples.
A Conley steal and layup put Ada in front for good. Conley then banked in a transition shot for a 10-6 lead. Conley drained a right side trey, and scored again off a steal for a 15-6 margin.
Owen Clark canned a half hook for NB to stop the 10-0 Conley personal flurry. But Ada held a 15-8 advantage after the first quarter as the Bulldog press took a toll on the Tigers.
Conley splashed another three from the right wing with 5:33 left in the half to extend the lead to 10. Tiger Brody Walter sank a basket to make it 18-10.
Ada senior Jayden Bankston bounced in a post-up three-point play to stretch the lead to 11. Ethan Murphy drilled two foul shots at the 1:47 mark.
Bankston canned a short lane banker for a 25-10 cushion. Walter split two free tosses to stop a 9-0 Ada spurt.
The pressing Ada defense held NB to just three points in the second period as they build a 14-point intermission margin.
Ada senior Grant Preston muscled in a power layup to open the second half. Wall sank two free tosses before Owen Clark sank a putback.
Wall then hit consecutive lane floaters, followed by a Preston fast break layup. Conley bounced in a shot for a 37-15 Ada lead midway through the third stanza.
Baltz hit two charity stripers, yet Bulldog senior Casen Jones drilled a right side trey. Tiger southpaw Rowan Spangenberg sank a nice baseline runner to make it 40-19.
Bankston followed in his own miss, then rebounded a missed fast break layup for another bunny hoop to put Ada ahead 44-19 heading to the final stanza.
Wall scored two layups off steals, sandwiched around four Conley points. Wall then splashed a left wing three off a Conley skip pass.
Sophomore reserve Brody Erickson swished a right baseline 11-footer to stretch the lead to 57-20. After an 8-0 NB spurt, Erickson nailed another right side pull-up from 15 feet to make it 59-28.
Conley led Ada with 19 points, 15 of which came in the first half. Wall scored 16, and Bankston contributed nine.
"Carter carried the load offensively in the first quarter with 12 of our 15 points," said Halliday.
Baltz topped NB with 14 markers.
Ada canned 17 two-point goals and six treys. The Bulldogs converted seven of 11 from the charity stripe (64 percent).
NB sank nine deuces and two triples. The Tigers converted six of 11 attempts at the foul line (55 percent).
Ada 59 (7-9)
Bankston 4 1-1 9, Wall 6 2-2 16, Sutherly 0 0-0 0, Conley 7 2-2 19, Leal 0 0-0 0, Murphy 0 2-4 2, Preston 3 0-0 6, Jones 1 0-0 3, Erickson 2 0-0 4, Hickman 0 0-0 0, Hoffer 0 0-0 0, Zimmerman 0 0-2 0.
Totals: 17-6/7-11/59. 3-pointers: Conley 3, Wall 2, Jones 1.
NB 30 (1-15)
O. Clark 4 1-4 9, Baltz 4 4-5 14, V. Paredes 0 0-0 0, Walter 2 1-4 5, Tackett-Spangenberg 1 0-0 2, C. Clark 0, Rader 0, Reyes 0. Totals: 9-2/6-11/30. 3-pointers: Baltz 2.
1 2 3 4 F
Ada 15 10 19 15 59
NB 8 3 8 11 30
The Bulldogs (0-5 NWC) host league rival Leipsic (5-10, 1-5 NWC) Friday, February 3. The Bulldogs then visit non-league foe Arlington (7-11) Saturday, Feb. 4. Both are triple-headers.
