By Cort Reynolds
ADA__The Ada High School girls basketball team fell behind early and lost 48-25 to visiting Leipsic in a Northwest Conference contest on February 8.
The Viking girls raced to a 10-2 lead and never trailed. The visitors led 14-5 at the end of the first period and stretched the margin to 16 at halftime.
The Bulldogs trailed 37-16 heading to the final quarter.
Ada fell to 9-12 overall and 0-7 in the NWC with the home defeat. Meanwhile, Leipsic improved to 9-10 and finished 2-6 in the NWC after the win.
“Their size was a challenge and made a big difference,” said Bulldog head coach Zach Ricker. “Offensively, we struggled to get anything done.
“It was our fifth game in 10 days,” he added.
Leipsic senior Leah Kirkendall canned the game’s first basket, and Ada senior Mariah King answered with a driving bucket.
The Vikings then ran off the next eight points and never were headed. Senior Ava Henry drained consecutive triples, and a Kirkendall layup gave the visitors a 10-2 lead just two minutes into the contest.
King stopped the run with a foul shot. Sophomore post Anna Conley canned a lane banker off a nice pass by Olivia Burkhart to cut the deficit to 10-5 at the 3:40 mark.
Leipsic made a foul shot, and then completed a dagger three-point play just before the buzzer. Junior post Jazelle Perez grabbed an airball three try and laid it in while being fouled with just 0.1 left on the first quarter clock.
The old-fashioned and-one gave the Vikings momentum and a nine-point lead at the end of the period instead of just six. The putback just before the horn seemed to deflate Ada a bit.
“That play was a difference maker,” said Ricker.
The bruising Perez scored inside to open the second stanza. Bulldog senior Autumn Andreasen canned a short bank shot at the 6:434 mark, followed by a Conley banker to pull Ada within 16-9.
But then Leipsic responded with three straight treys to regain control and end the half on a 9-0 spurt. Kirkendall splashed a triple from the left wing, followed by a right wing three from Henry 3:05 before halftime.
Kirkendall then drilled a left corner trifecta 63 seconds before intermission to put the Vikings ahead 25-9 at the half.
Leipsic senior Kaytlynn Schroeder canned two layups sandwiched around a Burkhart free throw to open the third quarter.
Henry completed a traditional three-point play inside to build the lead to 32-10. Conley stopped the 16-1 Leipsic flurry by making a short bank shot with 3:08 left in the third.
King then sank a coast-to-coast driving shot off glass a minute later to make it 32-14.
Kirkendall canned a putback before Henry made a southpaw three-point layup at the 1:26 juncture.
Andreasen rolled in a short right side shot with 35.4 ticks to go in the period to cut the lead to 37-16.
Conley scored inside off the backboard to start the fourth period. Henry made a deuce and Perez hit consecutive field goals to build the margin to 43-18. King split two charity stripers, and then Burkhart executed a fine steal and long pass ahead to Lexi Poling.
The junior guard chased the pass down and converted a transition layup to make it 43-21 with five minutes left. Perez sank a layin and Serenity Arrizola splashed a right wing triple to extend the lead to 27.
Andreasen hustled for a putback basket. Conley followed by knocking down a nine-foot stickback with 11 seconds left to conclude the scoring.
Henry led the Vikings with 17 points. Kirkendall contributed a dozen markers, and Perez added 11.
Conley led Ada with 10 points. Andreasen and King tallied six points apiece.
“Leipsic is a little better than their record,” Ricker agreed. “They have been in most of their games.”
The Bulldogs connected on 11 two-point baskets and made no treys.
Ada converted three of 10 free throws (30 percent), while Leipsic canned four of six charity stripe attempts (67 percent).
The Viking girls connected on 13 two-point goals and sank six trifectas.
The four Ada senior starters – Katie Sizemore, Andreasen, Burkhart and King – played their final regular season home game.
Ada (0-7 NWC) plays at Spencerville (11-9, 2-5 NWC) Thursday, Feb. 15 in the regular season and league finale. The Bearcats lost to streaking Allen East Thursday night, 55-24.
The 17-2 Mustangs (5-2 NWC) have won nine in a row.
Ada 25 (9-12, 0-7 NWC)
Burkhart 0 1-2 1,
King 2 2-4 6,
L. Poling 1 0-0 2,
K. Poling 0 0-0 0,
A. Andreasen 3 0-3 6,
Sizemore 0 0-0 0,
Conley 5 0-1 10,
St. Laurent 0 0-0 0.
Totals: 11-3/3-10/25. 3-pointers: Burkhart 3.
Leipsic 48 (9-10, 2-6 NWC)
Stuber 0 0-0 0,
Fausey 0 0-2 0,
Kirkendall 5 0-0 12,
Cunningham 0 1-2 1,
Henry 6 2-2 17,
Schroeder 2 0-0 4,
Arrizola 1 0-0 3,
Perez 5 1-2 11.
Totals: 13-6/4-6/48. 3-pointers: Henry 3, Kirkendall 2, Arrizola 1.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | FINAL | |
| ADA | 5 | 4 | 7 | 9 | 25 |
| LEIP | 14 | 11 | 12 | 11 | 48 |
