By Cort Reynolds
RAWSON - Host Cory-Rawson outscored Ada 24-9 in the second half to spoil the Bulldog girls basketball season opener in the debut of new head coach Morgan Bass by a 42-20 count Tuesday night.
Ada trailed just 18-11 at halftime, but C-R's pressing defense helped the Hornets reel off a 16-2 third quarter that put the game out of reach with a 21-point cushion.
"We came out and it got away from us in the second half," said Bass. "We struggled to handle pressure and didn't get as many looks at the basket due to turnovers."
C-R sophomore guard Zoe Chisholm drained her only three-point goal of the night to open the second half, igniting the decisive Hornet third period run while extending their lead to 10.
Cory guard Grace Roebke started the fourth stanza with consecutive transition layups off steals to build the lead to 38-13.
Ada outscored C-R 7-4 the rest of the way to provide the final margin of 22.
The non-league victory upped the Hornet record to 1-2, while the Lady Bulldogs start out 0-1.
All eight Ada players in the game were freshmen and sophomores. The Hornet pressure defense against the inexperienced Bulldogs led to several easy second-half baskets.
Ada committed 33 costly turnovers to just 13 miscues by C-R.
"I wasn't upset with our effort at all, we just need to improve," said first-year Bulldog head coach Bass.
Chisholm and Roebke each scored 11 points to lead all players. Chisholm was credited with eight steals, while Roebke added seven caroms and four steals.
Ada freshman Kirsten Poling topped Ada with nine points, five rebounds and four steals. Hustling Bulldog sophomore Miranda Wills grabbed a team-best seven rebounds. Sophomore Alexis Waugh added four points.
C-R narrowly won the board battle, 36-35.
Ada converted four of 14 tries at the charity stripe (29 percent) and sank eight field goals. Meanwhile, C-R canned six of 12 free throws (50 percent) and knocked down 17 of 69 field goal tries (24 percent).
There was no reserve contest. C-R already had two games under its belt as well, aiding their cause, while youthful Ada was playing its lidlifter.
The Hornets opened their season last weekend by finishing fourth at the annual Bluffton Holiday tournament tip-off, won 40-39 by Arlington over the hosts. Allen East took third place by beating C-R in the consolation game, 52-31.
Ada 20 (0-1)
Wills 0-2-2, Light 1-1-3, Poling 4-1-9, Waugh 2-0-4, George 1-0-2. Totals: 8/4-14/20. 3-pointers: none.
Cory-Rawson 42 (1-2)
Roebke 5-1-11, Chisholm 4-2-11, Cascaden 2-0-5, Woodruff 1-2-4, Roth 2-1-5, McVetta 2-0-4, Peterson 1-0-2.
Totals: 17-69/6-12/42. 3-pointers (2-20): Chisholm 1, Cascaden 1.
1 2 3 4 F
Ada 4 7 2 7 20
C-R 15 3 16 8 42
No JV game.
Ada hosts non-league county rival Hardin Northern Tuesday, December 4 in its home opener.
Polar Bear guard Ashton Dye is expected back after missing most of last season with a knee injury. She scored 25 points against Ada in the 60-49 HN sectional upset at Bath in 2017.
Ada won the annual county rivalry battle last year at HN 34-33 on a last-second basket by Maddie Gossard.
