Additional photos by Cort Reynolds follow this article.
By Cort Reynolds
ADA__The Ada High School girls basketball team played two nearly identical battles with Waynesfield-Goshen this season and both ended up in three-point defeats where a last-second three-point try came up just short.
In the do-or-die tournament rematch at Ada Wednesday, February 21, visiting W-G dodged a furious Bulldog rally and hung on for a thrilling 53-50 win in an intense Div. IV sectional semifinal battle.
Ada senior guard Olivia Burkhart tallied 10 of her game-high 26 points late to lead the rally. After Cambrey Miller sank a clutch foul shot with 5.7 seconds left to give the Tigers a three-point lead, the Bulldog ace rushed up the right side for a final shot to tie.
Her right wing triple was highly-contested by multiple Tigers. Tatelyn Faraglia, a 6-0 junior with a nine-inch height advantage, appeared to make contact with the Ada senior’s shooting arm while also getting a piece of the ball at the final buzzer.
The Bulldog crowd thundered its outrage at the non-call, while Burkhart sank to her knees in disbelief before her teammates rushed to her side to console her, knowing the season was over.
“We put Tatelyn over to help out Avery (Kessen) on the last play because of her length and size, knowing it would be hard to shoot over her,” said W-G head coach Jocelyn Hennon.
The Bulldogs finished their season 9-14 after the heart-wrenching loss. Ada may have played its best game of the season in defeat.
The Tiger girls improved to 12-11 with the win and advance to the second round of the tournament.
“The third quarter made the difference,” said Ada head coach Zach Ricker. “We couldn’t get anything going offensively. After that we were playing from behind a lot.
“It is tough to go out that way, but at least we know we left everything out on the floor,” he added.
W-G outscored Ada 13-7 in the third stanza to break a halftime tie and take control of the game.
“I am really proud of our girls, it was a great game,” said Hennon. “Olivia always plays well against us, I have all the respect in the world for her. We played solid defense and gave full effort the whole time.”
“We have played through so many injuries, Tatelyn has played with a partially torn ACL all season,” she added.
Tiger freshman Makenna Shaw started the game with a stickback layin 15 seconds into the fray. A backcourt steal and layup by pressing guard Avery Kessen gave W-G an early 4-1 lead.
Burkhart netted a fast break basket for Ada, and a nine-foot banker by Anna Conley gave the hosts their first lead at 5-4.
Faraglia tied it on a free throw and Hutchison gave the visitors the lead back by canning a short turnaround shot off glass at the 2:22 mark.
Faraglia tied it on a free thoiw and Hutchison gave the visitors the lead back by canning a short turnaround shot off glass at the 2:22 mark.
A pair of foul shots by Raegan Hutchison were answered by a short bank shot from Autumn Andreasen off a nice Burkhart assist. An eight-foot shot by Tiger freshman Cambrey Miller made it 11-8.
Ada then ran off the last five points of the period to seize the momentum. Conley sank a follow shot with 45 seconds left. Lexi Poling then came up with a loose ball off a scrum and swished a triple from the top of the key two seconds before the buzzer to give Ada a 13-11 lead after the opening stanza.
Burkhart splashed a left corner trifecta at the 5:44 mark of period two to give Ada a 16-12 edge. Faraglia hit two foul shots and Hutchison split a pair to cut the lead to 16-15.
Burkhart then completed a three-point play on a fast break drive to bring the crowd to its feet. Gritty Ada senior Katie Sizemore grabbed a weakside offensive rebound and fed a nice bounce pass to Andreasen, who canned a short bank shot 4:11 before the half to build the lead to 21-15.
Miller sank a power layup at the 3:51 juncture but Conley sank a basket to restore the lead to six. Faraglia then grabbed a loose ball in midair and laid it in at the two-minute mark.
Faraglia then splashed two foul shots to cut the Ada lead to 23-21 with 1:01 left. Faraglia scored her sixth straight point on another layup to tie it 23-23 with 33 ticks remaining in the half.
Burkhart hit a foul and a pretty short jump hook for a 26-23 edge. Kessen split two foul shots, and Hutchison grabbed the miss and banked in a six-footer just before the horn to tie it 26-all at intermission.
Shaw made a short right baseline shot to open the second half with W-G on top. A short stickback by Shaw made it 30-26 with six minutes left in the third quarter to give W-G a 16-4 run bridging the quarters.
Bigger W-G corralled five offensive rebounds in the first four minutes of the second half.
“The offensive rebounds hurt,” admitted Ricker.
Conley drew a foul off an offensive carom at the 3:41 mark and made one shot to pull Ada within three points. Faraglia then swished a high-arching triple from the right wing eight seconds later.
Andreasen split two foul shots and Faraglia posted up and made a spinning layup. Poling splashed a triple and Burkhart canned a putback.
Shaw hit two should shots to give W-G a 36-33 lead. Faraglia then drained a step-back trey from long range with eight ticks left in the stanza to put the visitors ahead 39-33.
Burkhart drove baseline, drew a foul with 6:10 remaining and converted both shots to pull Ada within 39-35. Miller drilled a key right side trey seconds later.
Miller then swished a dagger left wing triple at the 5:16 juncture to build the Tiger lead to 45-35. Burkhart nailed a right corner triple with 4:47 left to prompt a W-G timeout.
“The two three’s by Miller were huge,” Hennon agreed.
Faraglia came up with a big blocked shot and defensive rebound with 3:15 to go. Burkhart stole the ball, but Faraglia swiped it back in transition. Conley stole the ball but couldn’t finish the left-handed layup.
Faraglia made Ada pay with a conventional three-point play in transition at the 2:26 mark for a 48-38 cushion. Burkhart then canned three of four free shots, but Hutchison scored an easy putback.
Conley fought for an offensive board and sank a six-footer to cut the Tiger lead to 50-43 with 91 seconds to go. Gracy Zechman then banked in a key press-breaker layup and Burkhart left a 15-footer short.
Faraglia suffered a calf cramp breaking the press going up the right sideline with 47 seconds to go and lost the ball out of bounds. Burkhart then rattled in a trifecta from the top of the key at the 36.7 mark to inch within 52-46.
Ada stole the ball on along pass and Mariah King drove baseline for a layin and a 52-48 score with 25 seconds left. Zechman was fouled with 17.1 ticks to go and missed both. The Bulldogs rebounded, and Burkhart was fouled with 11.7 left.
She drained both shots to edge Ada within two points. W-G ran off several crucial seconds before Miller was fouled with 5.7 ticks left. She missed the first shot, and Ada called its final timeout to ice her and set up the last play.
Miller canned the second shot, and Burkhart hurried upcourt for a last-gasp shot to tie it. But her triple was deflected by Faraglia on a controversial non-call just before the buzzer to preserve the three-point W-G win.
“We gave it everything we had,” said Ricker of the physical battle. “Foul trouble in the first half hurt us. It was very similar to the first game at Waynesfield where we made a late run and had a chance to tie on a three at the buzzer.”
Burkhart’s 26 points was her second-best output of her career, with the 28 she scored at W-G in late December her highest. In the previous encounter her 45-foot triple try at the buzzer just missed tying it after bouncing off the backboard and rim.
Faraglia led W-G with 20 points after a slow start. Miller scored a dozen big points, while Hutchison netted nine markers. Shaw added seven.
Conley scored nine points and had two blocked shots. Poling chipped in with seven markers, and Andreasen added six.
It was the last Ada game for seniors Burkhart, King, Andreasen and Sizemore.
The Ada girls connected on 11 two-point goals and hit five three-pointers. The Bulldogs converted 13 of their 17 free throws (77 percent).
The W-G girls canned 14 two-point field goals and hit four shots from beyond the arc. The Tigers converted 13 of 21 charity stripers (62 percent).
Waynesfield advances to play at St. Henry (17-5) Saturday, Feb. 27 at 2 p.m. The Redskins shared the Midwest Athletic Conference title with three other teams at 7-2 (Marion Local, Minster and Versailles).
“It is survive and advance,” Hennon summed up regarding the tournament mindset. “St. Henry will press a lot. We will have to box out and rebound well.”
Ada 50 (9-14)
Burkhart 7 9-11 26, King 1 0-0 2, L. Poling 3 0-0 7, K. Poling DNP, A. Andreasen 3 0-0 6, Sizemore 0 0-0 0, Conley 4 1-2 9, B. Andreasen 0 0-0 0.
Totals: 11-5/13-17/50. 3-pointers: Burkhart 3, L. Poling 1.
W-G 53 (12-11)
Kessen 1 1-2 3, Faraglia 6 6-7 20, Vorhes DNP, Zechman 1 0-2 2, Miller 4 2-4 12, Shaw 3 1-2 7, Hutchison 3 3-4 9.
Totals: 144-/13-21/53. 3-pointers: Faraglia 2, Miller 2.
1 2 3 4 F
Ada 13 13 7 17 50
W-G 11 15 13 14 53
