By Cort Reynolds
The Ada High School girls basketball team seriously threatened favored Parkway before they succumbed to a late run and fell 45-39 in a Div. IV sectional first round barnburner Wednesday evening, February 16, at Shawnee.
The Lady Bulldogs rallied from a slow start and won the middle quarters, 25-14. Ada led by as many as six points in the third period, and held a 34-29 margin late in the quarter.
But Parkway ended the game on a 16-5 run to pull off the hard-fought victory.
The Lady Bulldogs finished their season 8-15 with the difficult defeat. They put together an 8-7 record in non-conference play.
"We played awesome," said fourth-year Ada head coach Morgan Bass. "We played for each other, and it felt so good.
"If we were going to lose, that's how I want to go down," she added. "I am so proud of our girls and how far they have come."
The fifth-seeded Lady Panthers improved to 15-8 with the win, and advanced to the sectional second round. Parkway takes on fourth-seeded MAC foe New Bremen at Shawnee Saturday afternoon, February 19.
"Ada played well, (Courtney) Sumner had a great game," said Panther head coach Dan Williamson. "We knew from film she could make tough, contested shots and she did.
"We found a way to get the lead back in the fourth quarter and made just enough free throws to win," he continued. "Our defense stepped it up in the end and we got some key loose balls."
Ada sophomore playmaker Olivia Burkhart split two foul shots to tally the first Bulldog point. Allison Hughes, a 6-1 junior, netted the first two Parkway baskets inside.
Panther 5-10 junior Gabrielle Stober scored off a drive to make it 6-1.
Lady Bulldog junior guard Courtney Sumner stole the ball in backcourt and converted a southpaw layin for the first Ada basket. Paige Williamson banked in a shot, but Katie Sizemore scored off a good pass to pull Ada within 8-5.
Hughes tallied again in close off the glass. Stober sank a driving banker to give Parkway a 12-5 lead.
Sophomore Mariah King came off the bench to score for Ada, followed by a rainbow triple from Stober. Stober then converted a traditional three-point play off the dribble with 16 seconds left in the period.
King sank her second basket just before the first quarter horn off a Sumner dish to bring Ada within 18-9.
Burkhart drained a triple to open the second stanza and cut the deficit to six. Williamson buried a trifecta to keep Parkway in front, 21-12.
Burkhart splashed another trey to pull within six again. Sumner was fouled shooting a triple and made two free throws to inch within 21-17.
Emiree Knittle scored to restore the Parkway lead to six. King split two foul shots, followed by a Sumner running banker that got Ada within 23-20.
Burkhart converted one of two free tosses with just over a minute left in the half. Sumner sped to the hoop and was fouled, making one of two shots to inch within 23-22 at intermission.
Ada won the second period 13-5, and closed the half on a 10-2 run. The Bulldogs out-rebounded the Panthers 18-13 in the first half.
Early in the third period, Sumner stole the ball and scored to give Ada their first lead. Burkhart then nailed a triple to put the Bulldogs ahead, 27-24.
Sumner buried a step-back trey to extend the Bulldog lead to six at the five-minute mark. Sizmeore went down with an ankle injury but returned later.
Knittle scored in transition off a long outlet pass to halt the 8-1 Ada run to start the second half.
Burkhart nailed a baseline pull-up shot with 2:23 left in the period. Knittle splashed a trey to make it 32-29.
Bulldog sophomore post Daicy Robinson scored inside. But Stober drove coast-to-coast and converted a three-point drive at the buzzer to end the third period with Ada ahead, 34-32.
Stober scored off a steal and assist from Williamson to open the final stanza. Williamson sank a floater to give Parkway a 36-34 lead, their first since the opening seconds of the third quarter.
Stober split two free throws to make it 37-34. Sumner knotted t up again 37-all on a three-pointer. Hughes rebounded her own miss, drew a foul and made two free tosses to unbreak the tie.
Sumner's driving banker tied it 39-39 with just over four minutes remaining to tally her 1,000th varsity point.
Stober maneuvered her way to the hoop and tallied a shot while being fouled. But she missed the free throw at the three-minute mark.
At the other end, Ada misfired and was called for a foul on the 15th rebound for Hughes. She converted both free throws to make it 43-39 with 2:43 left.
Sumner missed a long trey and Hughes rebounded again. Williamson missed a triple, and Sumner was fouled while corralling the rebound.
Burkhart's triple try was blocked by Williamson. After running some clock off, Stober was fouled and she split two shots to provide a 44-39 lead.
After another Ada miss, Stober was fouled and made one of two charity stripers with just over 20 seconds left. Down six, Ada missed again, Hughes rebounded and Parkway survived the upset bid by six.
"We had let some close games like this slip away in the final three or four minutes this season, but tonight our defense picked it up late and Ada's two guards kind of wore down," said Williamson.
"They are good players who had really good games but they have to do so much, and I think they ran out of steam a little bit," he noted.
Despite a sore right wrist, Sumner scored a team-high 17 points. Burkhart tallied 13 markers to give the fine Bulldog backcourt 30 combined points. King scored all five of her points in the second period.
Stober led Parkway with 21 points. She tallied nine of the final 15 Parkway points. Stober came into the game 27 points shy of the 1,000 mark.
Hughes contributed 10 markers and 17 rebounds. Knittle and Williamson each chipped in with seven markers.
"Gabi and Allison carried us on their backs down the stretch," said Williamson. "Like good leaders, they were not going to let us lose."
The Lady Bulldogs connected on 14 of 44 field goal tries (32 percent), canning nine two-pointers and five treys. Ada converted six of 11 attempts from the charity stripe (55 percent).
The Panther girls connected on 16 of 46 field goal tries (35 percent), hitting 13 two-pointers and three triples. Parkway converted 10 of 19 free throw attempts (53 percent).
Ada won the rebound battle, 39-32.
Bulldog seniors Kirsten Poling and Selena Jordan played their final games for Ada.
Ada 39 (8-15)
King 2 1-2 5, Sumner 6 3-5 17, K. Poling 0 0-0 0, L. Poling 0, Burkhart 4 2-4 13, Jordan 0 0-0 0, Sizemore 1 0-0 2, Robinson 1 0-0 2.
Totals: 14-44/6-11/39. 3-pointers (5-10): Burkhart 3, Sumner 2.
Parkway 45 (15-8)
Huff 0 0-0 0, Stober 7 6-13 21, Williamson 3 0-0 7, Hughes 3 4-6 10, Louth 0 0-0 0, Miller 0 0-0 0, Knittle 3 0-0 7.
Totals: 16-46/10-19/45. 3-pointers (3-18): Stober 1, Williamson 1, Knittle 1.
1 2 3 4 F
Ada 9 13 12 5 39
Pkwy 18 5 9 13 45
