By Cort Reynolds
The Ada High School boys basketball team hosted traditional arch-rival Upper Scioto Valley in their annual grudge match Saturday night, January 7, with the Rams pulling out a hard-fought victory late, 54-51.
Ram junior Alex Sanders scored seven straight points in the fourth quarter with USV clinging to a 43-42 lead to spark an 11-6 run that decided the outcome.
The 6-2 Sanders scored a game-high 22 points and also grabbed a team-best nine rebounds.
Ada fell to 5-6 after the tough non-league loss. Meanwhile, USV improved to 7-3 with the close-shave win.
"In the end, Sanders carried them to the finish line and we shrunk," said second-year Ada head coach Vince Halliday. "We missed three free throws in the fourth quarter, one of which was the front end of a one and one.
"Alex came alive in the fourth quarter," said Ram mentor and former Bulldog coach Dre White. "The guys stuck with it. Credit to Ada, they played well in a big game. It was a fun game, it always is."
USV held a narrow 16-15 edge after a seesaw first period. Ram senior Jason Helton and Bulldog senior Grant Preston traded triples to open the contest.
Spencer Wall and Bulldog senior Carter Conley each hit baskets to put Ada ahead 7-5. USV regained the lead when Helton stole the ball and made a layup after Maddox Underwood sank a pull-up shot.
Ada senior Ethan Murphy completed a conventional three-point play and then tied it on a left wing triple, 13-13.
Underwood authored his own three-point drive to break the knot. Conley sank a pull-up shot to inch the hosts within one after one period.
Murphy's layup to open the second stanza gave Ada the lead. Two Sanders baskets were answered by a Murphy left corner trey. Murphy then tied it 22-all on a driving banker with 4:49 left in the half.
Jaden Leal gave Ada a 24-22 edge on a fast break layin. A power layup by Wall extended the lead to four. Mason Thompson scored in transition for Upper, but Jayden Bankston canned a layup for a 28-24 Ada edge.
USV tied it 28-28 on an Underwood baseline shot. But Bankston bounced in a lane shot with 28 seconds left in the half to give the Bulldogs a 30-28 lead at intermission.
Sanders came out strong with two baskets to put USV ahead 32-30 two minutes into the second half. Conley followed in his own miss to tie it, and Murphy put Ada in front with four straight foul shots.
Thompson hit a layup, but Wall responded with a driving layin. Sanders scored inside. Drew Stephens sank a lane pull-up shot and free throw to put Upper back on top 39-38 with 52 ticks left in the third period.
Thompson buried an 11-footer off the right baseline to end the period on a 7-0 run.
Sanders made a driving left-hander to open the final period and cap a crucial 9-0 spurt. Bankston hit a seven-footer to end the Ram run.
Ada split four foul shots to inch within 43-42 at the 5:14 mark.
Sanders then buried a dagger right side triple with 4:51 remaining. Sanders scored in transition to make it 48-42 just 11 seconds later.
Conley scored on an alley-oop in bounds pass with 4:14 left. But Sanders drove the lane and scored again to make it 50-44 with 3:42 to go.
Conley canned a leaner and Wall rolled in a lefty stickback to inch Ada within 50-48 with 2:11 left. Underwood drove baseline and found Stephens for a short banker that put USV back on top by four at the 1:44 juncture.
Ada then turned the ball over, and missed a critical one and one try at the line. An iffy offensive foul call against the Bulldogs made it three straight empty possessions at the most costly time.
Stephens then hit two foul shots to build the Ram lead to six. Murphy nailed a left wing triple just before the buzzer to cut the final maargin to three.
"Certainly we had opportunities," said Halliday. "Foul trouble with Wall and Conley hurt us."
Murphy led Ada with 21 points. Conley tallied 11 markers and Wall added eight.
"We had an awesome week of practice, and Ethan Murphy played really well," said White. "Murphy played well," echoed Halliday.
Stephens scored 10 points and Underwood added nine for the Rams. Sanders also led USV with five assists and three steals.
The Bulldogs canned 16 of 34 two-point goal tries (47 percent), while USV sank 21 of 39 deuces (54 percent).
Ada canned 43 percent of its field shots (20 for 46) and hit on 33 percent beyond the arc (4 for 12). USV hit the net on 46 percent of its fielders (23 for 50), including 18 percent from three-point land (2 for 11).
The Bulldogs converted seven of 12 shots from the free throw line (58 percent). USV hit on just six of 14 charity stripers (43 percent) to help spell the difference.
Ada committed 15 turnovers to nine errors by the Rams.
The Buldogs easily won the reserve game, 50-13. Brody Erickson and Slade Gossman each tallied 11 markers.
Long-time Ada track and football coach Greg Grimslid was inducted into the Ada Hall of Honor and recognized at halftime of the game Saturday.
Ada 51 (5-6)
Bankston 3 0-2 6, Wall 4 0-1 8, Sutherly 0, Conley 5 1-2 11, Leal 1 0-0 2, Murphy 6 6-7 21, Preston 1 0-0 3.
Totals: 20-46/7-12/51. 3-pointers (4-12): Murphy 3, Preston 1.
USV 54 (7-3)
Stephens 3 4-6 10, Sanders 10 1-4 22, J. Helton 2 0-1 5, Underwood 4 1-2 9, Castle 2 0-1 4, Thompson 2 0-0 4.
Totals: 23-50/6-14/54. 3-pointers (2-11): Sanders 1, Helton 1.
1 2 3 4 F
Ada 15 15 8 13 51
USV 16 12 13 13 54
JV: Ada 50, USV 13.
The Bulldogs (0-3 NWC) host league foe Delphos Jefferson (4-5, 1-1 NWC) Friday, January 13 as they attempt to end a three-game slide.
Ada then visits county foe Hardin Northern (4-7) Saturday, Jan. 14.
