By Cort Reynolds
ADA – The Ada High School boys basketball team enjoyed a big second half to rally past Blanchard Valley Conference foe Leipsic 68-54 on Tuesday, February 4.
Ada trailed 35-30 at halftime, but seized control with tough defense in a 20-8 third quarter. The Bulldogs won the final period 18-11 to complete a 38-19 turnaround second half.
The Bulldogs improved to 12-7 overall and 6-3 in the BVC with the impressive victory.
Leipsic fell to 9-9 overall and 4-4 in BVC play after the defeat.
“We played better defensively in the second half,” said Ada head coach Chris Sautter, who agreed it was their best half of the season. “The kids played hard. We did a lot of good things we can build on.”
In the first quarter, a Warriors game broke out as the teams combined to knock down eight triples.
Junior Zack Zimmerman canned the first of his four first-period treys from the left wing to give Ada a 3-2 edge. Kayleb Hickman drained a trifecta from just left of the top of the key to spark a 12-0 run.
Zimmerman then swished three consecutive triples from the same left side spot to give the Bulldogs a 15-4 margin. Ada sophomore Kolton Dysert drove the lane for a southpaw layup.
Viking senior Jayce Brecht canned two treys, and Ty Lammers drained a right wing trey with two seconds left in the first period to edge the Vikings within 17-15.
Junior golf ace Brevin Brandt buried a long left wing three to open the second stanza and give the Vikes an 18-17 lead. Hickman answered by drilling a right corner triple and a foul shot.
Brecht sank three charity stripers and a left corner triple. The Viking lead reached 28-21 after a steal and fast break layup. Bulldog Carson Conley sliced through the lane for a layup to stop the 10-0 Leipsic run 2:32 before halftime.
Tavis Bejarano drilled a left wing trey to put the visitors back on top, 31-23. Ada senior Levi Green sank a driving shot, followed by a lefty layin from Brandt 63 seconds before intermission.
Hickman made a driving layup, and then Conley passed long over a press to Zimmerman for an easy layin. Hickman canned a foul shot to inch Ada within 35-30 at halftime.
Ada then captured the momentum with a 20-8 third period. Hickman started the half by nailing a triple. Junior Slade Gossman made a putback layin to tie it at 35. Conley tied it again on a driving layup at the 5:44 juncture.
Gossman rolled in a left-handed lane shot to give Ada a 39-37 lead at the five-minute mark. Viking guard Avery Paris drove to score and tie it for the last time.
Two Hickman foul shots and a transition layup by Zimmerman put the Bulldogs back in front for good, 43-39. Gavin Oldfield splashed two foul shots, then Hickman stole the ball and went coast-to-coast for a layup and a 47-39 lead to cap an 8-0 spurt.
“Kayleb did a nice job defensively,” Sautter said. “I thought his defense in the second half changed the course of the game.”
Brecht and Brandt hit driving layups to cut the lead to 48-43. Oldfield then rolled in a flying alley-oop off a Conley in-bounds pass with three seconds left in the third quarter.
“That was a high IQ moment,” said Sautter of the improvised alley-oop. The play gave Ada a seven-point edge and a boost heading to the final period.
Hickman again stole the ball and drove for a layin 47 seconds into the fourth quarter. Gossman finished inside off a nice Oldfield post-entry bounce pass. Two Hickman foul shots made it 56-43.
Bejarano canned a trifecta to keep Leipsic alive with 4:24 remaining. But Gossman hustled up a stickback layin. Conley then buried a left wing triple to stretch the lead to 15 with 3:40 left.
Zimmerman powered in a determined three-point drive off the right baseline to provide a 64-47 margin a minute later. Two Brecht foul shots and a Lammers trey cut the deficit to 12.
But Ada hit four straight foul shots to seal the verdict.
“We shot seven for seven from the foul line in the fourth period,” Sautter pointed out. “We just can’t turn the ball over at the end.”
Hickman came up with six steals and scored a career-high 23 points. Zimmerman tallied 20 markers.
“Offensively it is nice to see two guys score in the 20s,” said Sautter. “I didn’t expect to score 68 points. I thought it would be a grind it out game in the 40s.”
Conley tallied nine points, and Gossman added eight for the Bulldogs.
“We didn’t guard very well the first half, they made six three’s,” said Sautter. “We got good minutes out of Levi and Kolton. Slade did a nice job.
“I wasn’t sure how we would react after the loss to Arlington.”
Brecht topped Leipsic with 18 points.
Ada canned 15 two-point field goals, and the Bulldogs drilled eight triples. Ada converted 14 of 17 free throw attempts (82 percent).
The Vikings connected on 11 two-pointers and drilled eight trifectas. Leipsic sank eight of 14 foul shots (57 percent).
Ada improved to 3-5 at home with the win.
Ada also won the JV game, 53-36. The Bulldog reserves improved to 14-5 overall and 6-3 in the BVC with the victory. Connor McKean scored 14 points, and Andrew Allen added 11.
Ada 68 (12-7, 6-3 BVC)
Oldfield 1 2-2 4, Dysert 1 0-0 2, Zimmerman 7 2-3 20, Green 1 0-0 2, Conley 3 2-2 9, Hickman 6 8-10 23, Gossman 4 0-0 8, Lawrence 0 0-0 0, Erickson 0 0-0 0, Mowery 0 0-0 0, McKean 0 0-0 0.
Totals: 15-8/14-17/68. 3-pointers: Zimmerman 4, Hickman 3, Conley 1.
Leipsic 54 (9-9, 4-4 BVC)
Paris 4 0-0 8, Brecht 5 5-6 18, Walther 1 0-0 2, C. Schroeder 1 0-0 2, Brandt 3 1-2 8, N. Schroeder 1 2-4 4, Lammers 2 0-2 6, Bejarano 2 0-0 6.
Totals: 11-8/8-14/54. 3-pointers: Brecht 3, Lammers 2, Bejarano 2, Brandt 1.
|
ADA LEIPSIC |
1 17 15 |
2 13 20 |
3 20 8 |
4 18 11 |
FINAL 68 54 |
JV: Ada 53, Leipsic 36.
Ada plays at fifth-place league foe Pandora-Gilboa (9-9, 5-3 BVC) Friday.
Liberty-Benton sits alone atop the Blanchard Valley Conference at 7-0, with Arlington second at 6-1. Van Buren is third at 6-2, while Ada is fourth at 6-3.
“Playing at Pandora is never easy,” Sautter noted.
