By Cort Reynolds
ADA__The Ada High School girls basketball team methodically defeated spunky Hardin County foe Ridgemont 56-36 in a non-conference contest Monday evening, January 22.
The Bulldogs authored three key runs and outscored the scrappy Gopher gals 16-7 in the final period to put the game out of reach.
The Bulldog girls improved to 6-10 with the win. Meanwhile, the Gopher girls fell to 1-13 after the loss.
Ada senior guard Olivia Burkhart scored a game-high 19 points after a slow start. Sophomore post Anna Conley tied her season-high with 15 points, and she blocked five shots.
“Anna played hard, she fought for loose balls and finished well,” said Ada head coach Zach Ricker. “Olivia was more aggressive in getting her shot.”
Senior Mariah King started the scoring with a coast-to-coast layup off a steal. Ridgemont tied it on a layin by sophomore guard Anna Ramsey. Ada senior Katie Sizemore canned a 10-footer, but Laney Elsasser tied it on a lane banker at the 4:38 mark.
The Gophers took their lone lead at 6-4 when Ramsey bounced in a 12-footer. Ada ran off the next seven points to take control.
Freshman Kenley Poling banked in a 16-footer, followed by a driving banker and a foul shot from King. Conley canned a right side 12-footer for an 11-6 edge.
Jayda Dondrea knocked in a 17-footer from the circle for the visitors. But Conley hit a putback to make it 13-8 after the opening stanza.
Burkhart bounced in a 16-footer and sank an eight-foot shot to open the second stanza. Ramsey finished a nice drive and Gopher southpaw Kylie Shreve made a right-handed layup in transition to stay within 18-12.
The Bulldogs then fashioned an 8-0 flurry. Burkhart hit a lane flip shot at the 5:16 mark, and the speedy King scored in transition. Lexi Poling banked in a 10-footer, and Conley sank a short shot to put the hosts ahead 26-12 with under four minutes left in the half.
Elsasser canned a left wing 11-footer to stop the run. But Burkhart buried a triple to extend the lead to 15 at the 2:44 juncture. A Shreve layin off a steal pulled the Gophers within 29-16 at intermission.
Elsasser started the second half by completing an old-fashioned three-point play. Burkhart canned a stickback, followed by two Ramsey foul shots and a Conley layup off an in-bounds play.
Burkhart sank four of six foul shots to offset three Shreve points. Ramsey drilled a left wing trey with a minute left in the stanza to cut the lead to 10.
But Kenley Poling answered by draining a right corner triple at the 33-second mark. A follow shot by senior post Dondrea made it 40-29 heading to the final stanza.
Gopher Ruth Eckstein nailed a left baseline 17-footer to cut their deficit to nine 1:38 into the fourth quarter. Conley canned a short bank shot, yet Ramsey scored to stay within 42-33 with 5:33 remaining.
Burkhart drove the lane and scored to spark a 12-0 spurt at the 5:09 mark. Conley made a stickbback inside, and Burkhart scored on a step-through move. Sizemore hit a layup to build the lead to 17.
Conley kept the run going by sinking a short bank shot. Ashley Hevlin capped the flurry with a layup to provide a 54-33 cushion.
Ramsey drilled a trey to stop the run, and Hevlin added another layin to close the scoring.
“We got out-hustled at times,” Ricker noted. “Ridgemont played hard, they hustled and that kept them in the game. They have improved a lot from last year.”
King scored seven points and added a pair of steals and two blocked shots. Kenley Poling tallied five markers. Sizemore and Hevlin added four apiece.
Ramsey topped the Gophers with 16 points. Elsasser and Shreve netted seven apiece.
“Offensively we had trouble finishing, we could have blown it wide open,” said Ricker. “We wanted to pressure them and force turnovers, but they got too many backdoor layups.”
The Ada girls connected on 22 two-point goals and drained a pair of three-pointers.
The Bulldogs converted six of 10 free throws (60 percent).
The Gophers canned 13 two-point field goals and splashed two shots from beyond the arc. The visitors converted four of five shots from the charity stripe tries (80 percent).
There was no JV game.
Ada doesn’t play for eight days, then visits local arch-rival USV (5-11) Tuesday, January 30. The Bulldogs won their first grudge match meeting November 30 at Ada 45-32 as Conley scored 15 points.
Ada 56 (6-10)
Burkhart 7 4-6 19,
King 3 1-2 7,
L. Poling 1 0-0 2,
K. Poling 2 0-0 5,
A. Andreasen DNP,
Sizemore 2 0-0 4,
Conley 7 1-2 15,
Hevlin 2 0-0 4,
St. Laurent 0 0-0 0.
Totals: 22-2/6-10/56. 3-pointers: Burkhart 1, K. Poling 1.
Ridgemont 36 (1-13)
Ramsey 6 2-2 16,
Dondrea 2 0-0 4,
Shreve 3 1-2 7,
Eckstein 1 0-0 2,
Elsasser 3 1-1 7.
Totals: 13-2/4-5/36. 3-pointers: Ramsey 2.
SCOREBOARD
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | FINAL | |
| ADA | 13 | 16 | 11 | 16 | 56 |
| RMNT | 8 | 8 | 13 | 7 | 36 |
