The visiting Ada boys basketball team led all the way in beating local rival Cory-Rawson 59-55 in a non-conference contest Saturday night, December 18.
"We had a solid effort at both ends," said first-year Ada head coach Vince Halliday. "We hit some big three's in the fourth quarter to keep them at bay."
The Bulldogs improved to 3-4 overall with the victory. With the win, they have already equaled last season's win total. C-R dropped to 2-7 with the defeat.
Ada got off to a good start as Carter Conley buried three three-pointers to give the Bulldogs an 18-7 lead after the opening period.
Cory switched to a zone defense and the shots stopped falling for Ada in the second quarter. Yet the visitors still led by five at the half, 26-21.
The Bulldogs scored the first five points of the second half to extend the lead to 10. C-R pulled within 38-33 after three periods.
But despite missing free throws down the stretch, Ada hung on to win by four. The high-scoring fourth quarter was 22-21 in favor of the hosts.
Junior Conley led the victors with 16 points. Bulldog senior Cayden Murphy netted 15 points, while junior Spencer Wall tallied 13.
Ethan Murphy scored eight on the strength of two treys. Jaden Leal added seven markers.
Hornet Mike Bixler led all scorers with 18 points. Eric Davis netted a dozen markers, and Wilson Garmatter added 11.
Ada connected on 20 baskets, hitting 12 two-pointers and eight trifectas. The Bulldogs converted 11 of their 16 charity stripe tries (69 percent).
C-R drilled 17 baskets, connecting on 12 two-pointers and five treys. They hit 16 of their 19 free throw attempts (84 percent).
The Ada junior varsity earned its first win of the season convincingly, 45-18.
Ada 59 (3-4)
C. Murphy 7 1-1 15, Conley 5 2-3 16, Sutherly 0, Leal 2 2-2 7, Wall 4 4-7 13, Preston 0, E. Murphy 2 2-3 8.
Totals: 12-8/11-16/59. 3-pointers: Conley 4, E. Murphy 2, Leal 1, Wall 1.
C-R 55 (2-7)
Boehm 0 1-1 1, Garmatter 3 2-2 11, Davis 4 2-2 12, Stumpp 1 0-0 2, Bixler 5 8-10 18, Marshall 0 2-2 2, Stuckey 4 1-2 9.
Totals: 12-5/16-19/55. 3-pointers:
1 2 3 4 F
Ada 18 8 12 21 59
C-R 7 14 12 22 55
JV: Ada 45, C-R 18.
Ada (1-3 home) hosts non-league foe New Knoxville (1-6) Thursday, December 23.
NK lost 44-31 to Lima Temple Christian Saturday night.
