By Cort Reynolds
ADA - The host Ada girls basketball team was scrappy but lost 48-30 to tough McComb in non-league action Saturday afternoon.
The smaller Lady Bulldogs were out-rebounded and committed too many turnovers against the aggressive Panther press and halfcourt defense.
"Turnovers and (offensive) rebounds absolutely killed us the first half," said Ada third-year head coach Morgan Bass. "We had a better ending as far as effort, but we waited too long.
"You're never going to win if you turn the ball over like that, and can't rebound," she continued. "We aren't good enough to dig ourselves a big hole at the beginning of games and come back."
The purple and gold fell to 2-8 overall with the defeat. McComb improved to 6-3 with the win.
The Lady Panthers ran out to an 11-0 lead and never trailed in the game. Senior ace Malorie Schroeder hit a triple and a layup off a steal to lead the early charge.
Ada sophomore playmaker Courtney Sumner sank a left wing 17-footer to get the hosts on the scoreboard with 27 seconds left in the opening stanza.
Senior Miranda Wills opened the second period with a layup off an in-bounds feed to cut the lead to 11-4. Four McComb free throws built the lead back to 11.
Sumner swished a runner in the lane to slice the deficit to nine at the 3:03 mark.
Schroeder drove right through the defense for a layin. The pressing Panthers then stole the ball and Alexis Shoop netted an easy layup.
Three foul shots by Olivia Miehls, and a trey from the top of the key by Schroeder extended the lead to 25-6.
Sumner drained a 29-foot trifecta at the second period buzzer to pull Ada within 25-9 at intermission.
Panther post Eliza DeHart sank a layup to open the third period. Shoop drilled a left baseline triple to make it 30-9, and Madison Schroeder made a layup.
DeHart posted up for another layin, and a Mal Schroeder putback advanced the lead to 36-9.
Bulldog junior Kirsten Poling swished a trey from out top midway through the third period to ignite a pesonal eight-point scoring spree. Miehls stole the ball and went coast to coast for a layup.
Poling next banked in a driving shot from the left side, and Panther Cassidy Bryan drilled a long right side triple.
Poling then drilled another trey from the top of the key after Kylie Acheson snared a second straight offensive rebound and fed her with 30 seconds left in the stanza.
Wills converted two foul shots to make the deficit 22 to open the final period, but McComb answered quickly with a basket.
Poling continued her hot streak by swishing a left wing trifecta that cut the margin to 43-22. The speedy Sumner stole the ball and drove in for a layup.
DeHart sank a driving layup, and Mal Schroeder split two foul shots for the visitors. Sumner converted a nice backdoor cut and bank shot off an Olivia Burkhart assist.
After a Panther basket, Ada senior southpaw Alexis Waugh sank a transition layup. Sumner stole the ball again, and Waugh canned a putback off glass to reduce the final margin to 18.
"McComb was quick and athletic and we knew we had to get a body on them, but they still hurt us on the offensive boards," said Bass. "They and Delphos Jefferson are probably the two best teams we have played so far.
"We waited too long to amp it up," she added. "We need to play like we did at the end throughout games."
Sumner and Poling led Ada with 11 points apiece. All of Poling's points came in the second half. Bulldog senior post Megan Light contributed two blocked shots.
The Lady Bulldogs sank a dozen field goals, hitting eight two-pointers and four shots from three-point land. The Bulldogs converted two of five foul shots 40 percent).
Malorie Schroeder paced all scorers with 13 points. DeHart tallied 10, while Miehls netted nine and Shoop added eight.
The Panther girls canned 18 field goals. McComb sank 14 two-pointers and hit four treys. The visitors converted eight of 14 free throw attempts (57 percent).
McComb also won the reserve contest, 22-17. Jade Sampson, Karmen Hall and Katie Sizemore each scored four points for the Ada JVs.
Ada 30 (2-8)
Sumner 5 0-2 11, Poling 4 0-0 11, Burkhart 0 0-1 0, Light 0, Waugh 2 0-0 4, Wills 1 2-2 4, Acheson 0, King 0.
Totals: 8-4/2-5/30. 3-pointers: Poling 3, Sumner 1.
McComb 48 (6-3)
Shoop 3 1-2 8, Mad. Schroeder 2 0-0 4, Miehls 2 5-8 9, Bryan 1 1-2 4, DeHart 5 0-0 10, Mal Schroeder 5 1-2 13.
Totals: 14-4/8-14/48. 3-pointers: Mal. Schroeder 2, Bryan 1, Shoop 1.
1 2 3 4 F
Ada 2 7 8 12 30
McC 11 14 16 7 48
JV: VB 22, Ada 17.
Ada plays at former NWC foe Lima Central Catholic Thursday, January 14. "LCC doesn't have the post presence they have had in the past, but they have shooters," noted Bass.
Ada then plays at Cory-Rawson Saturday, Jan. 16 in a makeup game. "They are the best they have been in a while," said Bass of C-R, which won the Bluffton Holiday tournament to start the campaign for the first time ever this season.
