By Cort Reynolds
ADA - Visiting Spencerville used a decisive 26-0 first half run to defeat Ada 51-22 in a Northwest Conference girls basketball makeup game Monday night.
The Lady Bearcats led 4-1 in the first period when they went on the extended spurt. Strong defensive pressure helped hold Ada without a field goal over the first half as the visitors raced to a 30-3 intermission lead.
Ada played much better in the second half, losing only 21-19 after the break.
The Bulldog girls dropped to 6-14 overall and 0-7 in the NWC with the loss in their final home game of the 2019-20 season. Meanwhile, the Lady Bearcats improved to 12-8 and 5-2 in the NWC with the convincing win.
"We were intimidated by their pressure defense early," said Lady Bulldog second-year head coach Morgan Bass. "We got off to a slow start, and that set the tone.
"But I am proud we played hard and didn't give up. The second half was better."
The Bearcats jumped in front 4-0 and never trailed in the contest. Five players scored in the first period as they built an 11-1 lead.
Sophomore Kirsten Poling tallied the lone Bulldog first quarter point on a free throw that cut it to 4-1 at the 4:36 mark.
But then the visitors held Ada scoreless for 11.5 minutes while they netted 26 unanswered points, many in transition. Speedy senior post Nelaya Burden tallied four layups in the second stanza.
Junior Emma Leis scored on a backdoor layin from Burden to make it 15-1. Leis returned the favor by snaring an offensive rebound and finding Burden with a nice interior feed for a bunny shot.
Leis then sank a pretty left-handed reverse layup. Lilyan Goecke canned a fast break layup, followed by a Gillian Goecke layin off a dish from the slick-passing Leis.
"Emma is a great passer, she sees the floor well and is very unselfish," said Bearcat coach Greg Ekis. "She really tries to get others involved. She found Nelaya for a lot of layups."
Olivia Goecke then bounced in a lane shot off the back iron. Burden followed her own miss inside to complete a conventional three-point play and cap the run at 30-1.
Poling ended the Bulldog drought by hitting a foul shot with 1:06 to go in the half. Junior Alexis Waugh then split a pair at the charity stripe with 18 ticks left in the second stanza.
Poling canned a lane banker to start the third quarter well for Ada. Burden netted a fast break layup and a stickback to build the lead to 34-5.
Junior post Miranda Wills spashed two foul shots, and Bulldog freshman guard Courtney Sumner knocked down a right baseline 14-footer to make it 34-9.
Kirsten Wurst hit a short putback for Spencerville. Yet Sumner drove hard, spun and tossed in a contested 11-footer from the right side.
Burden answered by nailing the only trifecta of the night by either team. Olivia Goecke canned a fast break shot, and Wurst sank a driving layup. A free throw by Sumner ended the period with Ada down, 43-12.
Wills canned a driving layup and Poling sank a field goal to start the final quarter. Burden converted two foul shots and a transition layup.
Poling made a nice steal and drove coast to coast for a southpaw layup. Wills and Sumner each drained two free tosses as Ada reeled off six straight points.
Bearcat Emme Prine hit an eight-footer in the final minute to conclude the scoring. The Bulldogs managed to outscore the visitors 11-8 in the fourth quarter.
The mobile, six-foot Burden led all scorers with 23 points. Wurst tallied eight markers, while Leis netted six and dished out six assists.
Poling topped Ada with eight points. Sumner scored seven while Wills added six markers.
The Ada girls sank six field goals, all of which were two-point goals. The Lady Bulldogs converted 10 of 16 tries from the charity stripe (63 percent).
The Lady Bearcats made 21 two-point baskets and sank one three-pointers for a total of 22 field goals. Spencerville converted six of 16 at the foul line (38 percent).
Ada ended up 2-8 at home this season, and is 2-0 in neutral site games.
Spencerville 51 (12-8, 5-2 NWC)
G. Goecke 1 1-2 3, L. Goecke 2 0-0 4, Wurst 4 0-0 8, Prine 1 0-0 2, O. Goecke 2 1-4 5, Hoback 0 0-4 0, Burden 9 4-5 23, Leis 3 0-0 6.
Totals: 22/6-16/51. 3-pointer: Burden 1.
Ada 22 (6-14, 0-7 NWC)
Sumner 2 3-4 7, Poling 3 2-3 8, Acheson 0, Waugh 0 1-4 1, Wills 1 4-4 6, Jordan 0 0-1 0, Puerto 0, Cortez 0.
Totals: 6/10-16/22. 3-pointers: none.
1 2 3 4 F
Svl 11 19 13 8 51
Ada 1 2 8 11 22
No JV game.
Ada (2-6 road) visits non-league foe Waynesfield-Goshen Tuesday, February 11. The Ada girls beat W-G 43-36 in the Border Battle semifinals at Upper Scioto Valley back on Dec. 26.
"That would be a big win for us and our season if we can get it," said Bass. "They are scrappy and have a good point guard in Jordan Elliott. If we can contain her, we have a pretty good chance.
"We just need to move on from this game, put it behind us and focus on Waynesfield," added Bass. Elliott scored 17 of the 36 W-G points in their early-season loss to Ada at USV.
The Bulldog girls then finish NWC and regular season play at Lincolnview (2-18, 1-6 NWC) Feb. 13, which will be their third game in four days.
"Lincolnview is better than their record; they have had a lot of close losses," Bass warned.
