By Cort Reynolds
SPENCERVILLE - Visiting Ada lost a tough 55-50 battle at Spencerville in Northwest Conference boys basketball action Friday night.
The Bulldogs trailed 13-6 after a sluggish start. Ada inched within 22-21 at halftime, and the close margin stayed the same heading to the fourth period at 38-37.
Spencerville outscored the purple and gold 17-13 in the final eight minutes to pull out the five-point victory.
"It was a very hard-fought, physical conference contest between two similar teams," said Bulldog fourth-year head coach Dre White.
Ada fell to 7-12 overall and 2-4 in the NWC with the tough defeat. Meanwhile, Spencerville improved to 6-12 and 2-4 in the NWC on the strength of their fourth straight win.
"The keys coming in were to handle their physicality and make plays through adversity, and we did not make enough of them," White noted.
"Overall, we had some very untimely mental mistakes that I thought were the result of us not handling adversity and physicality the correct way," he continued.
"Much credit given to Spencerville's kids," White added. "They made winning plays when it counted."
Versatile Bulldog junior point guard Brandon Hull led all scorers with 22 points. He also led the team with six rebounds, and in assists with five helpers.
Ada junior guard Zac Swaney scored a dozen points, and senior wing Phillip Coulson added eight.
Bearcat Josh Henline led three Bearcats in double figures with a dozen points. Keegan Goecke netted 11 points while Dalton Prichard added 10 markers.
The Bulldogs canned 16 of 39 shots overall from the field (41 percent). Ada sank three of eight from beyond the arc (38 percent) and hit on 13 of 31 two-point attempts (42 percent).
Ada converted 15 of 20 from the foul line (75 percent), while the Bearcats canned 11 of 17 shots from the charity stripe (65 percent).
Spencerville connected on a sizzling 20 of 33 field goal tries overall (61 percent). The Bearcats sank 16 of 23 two-point attempts (70 percent), and connected on four of 10 triple tries (40 percent).
The Bulldogs out-rebounded the Bearcats, 19-15. Both teams committed just nine turnovers.
The Ada reserves rallied from a 17-point deficit to win by a point, 41-40. Tristan Conley led the Bulldog reserves with 17 points as Ada evened its JV record at 8-8 (3-4 NWC) with the comeback win.
Ada 50 (7-12, 2-4 NWC)
Swaney 5-0-12, Hull 7-8-22, Coulson 3-2-8, Rayl 0, Cook 1-3-6, C. Murphy 0, Miller 0-2-2.
Totals: 16-39/15-20/50. 3-pointers (3-8): Swaney 2, Cook 1.
Spencerville 55 (6-12, 2-4 NWC)
Henline 4-2-12, Brown 1-1-4, J. Goecke 3-0-6, K. Goecke 4-3-11, Koenig 3-0-6, Prichard 2-5-10, Harter 3-0-6.
Totals: 20-33/11-17/55. 3-pointers (4-10): Henline 2, Prichard 1, Brown 1.
1 2 3 4 F
Ada 6 15 16 13 50
Svl 13 9 16 17 55
JV: Ada 41, Spencerville 40.
Ada hosts tough Lincolnview (10-8, 5-1 NWC) on Valentine's Day Friday night, February 14. The Lancers knocked off visiting arch-rival Crestview 63-49 this Friday. They have won three games in a row, and four of their last five.
"Lincolnview is playing very well," said White. "They have won three in a row, with a big rivalry-game win over Crestview Friday.
"They will be physical as well. They will be disciplined and won't beat themselves."
The Bulldogs then visit winless Temple Christian (0-19) Saturday, Feb. 15 in a non-league game. Ada is 2-8 on the road this season.
