By Cort Reynolds
ADA – The Ada High School girls basketball team fell behind big early, then climbed back in contention before eventually losing 54-32 to visiting Blanchard Valley Conference foe Elmwood on Thursday, December 19.
The Bulldogs trailed 14-0 but rallied within 31-22 at halftime behind a big 19-point second quarter. Yet the Royals started the second half on an 11-2 run to regain control, and won by 22.
The defeat dropped the Bulldog record to 0-7 overall and 0-4 in the BVC. The Royal girls improved to 2-5 overall and 1-3 in the BVC after the victory.
“We dug too big a hole at the start,” agreed Ada third-year head coach Zach Ricker. “I thought the first possession of the second half really drained our energy. We got within nine at halftime, and had momentum after the second quarter.
“They got a bunch of offensive rebounds on that first play and scored,” he continued. “There were positives, we scored 19 points in the second quarter. We made some basketball plays.”
Junior guard Selina Deal tallied seven early points to help shoot Elmwood to a big lead. Madi Lee scored in transition off a steal, then splashed a right wing trey.
Elmwood led 14-0 before a foul shot by Brooklynn Andreasen got Ada on the board with 3:47 left in the opening stanza. Lee canned a breakaway layin off a steal and the lead reached 17-1.
Bulldog junior Ashley Hevlin drilled a left wing 17-footer with two seconds left to give Ada their first field goal and cut the deficit to 17-3. Nine turnovers, many against the zone press, hurt the Bulldogs.
Ada junior Anna Conley sank a short banker to open the second stanza. She added a power layup at the 5:55 mark to make it 21-7. Two Andreasen foul shots, and a Conley putback pulled Ada within 23-11 at the 4:04 mark.
Senior Lexi Poling splashed a right wing trey to make it 26-14 with 3:30 left in the half. Deal converted a pretty baseline-driving three-point play, but Poling answered quickly with a basket.
Hevlin canned two foul shots to make it 29-20 at the 1:27 juncture. Deal hit two foul shots, but Conley sank a six-footer off an in-bounds pass to get Ada within 31-22 at intermission.
The Bulldogs outscored Elmwood 19-14 in the second quarter. “That (19) is a half for us sometimes,” said Ricker. “We have to do that for four quarters.”
But Royal 5-10 post Molly Barringer then took over in the third quarter. She scored the first 10 Elmwood points in a row to spark an 11-2 run out of the locker room that put the game all but out of reach.
Barringer tallied four layups and two free throws in her personal run.
Andreasen drilled a right baseline 16-footer to break up the flurry. Mariah Burns made a layup off a nice Conley pass at the 3:33 mark. Conley then found Poling for a layup to cut the deficit to 42-28 with 2:50 to go.
Deal responded with four points to end the period with Elmwood firmly ahead, 46-28. Nine more turnovers plagued Ada in the stanza as the Royals turned up the intensity on their full-court press.
Andreasen canned a right baseline 15-footer, and Poling finished a breakaway layup off a Conley block to provide the two Bulldog baskets in the final period.
Baringer added four late points, and Deal netted a backdoor layin to finish the game.
The dynamic Royal duo of Deal (23 points) and Barringer (19) combined for 42 points.
“Elmwood is better than their record,” Ricker agreed. “They have played everyone close, and have played a tough schedule.”
Conley led Ada with 10 points, all in the second quarter, and blocked a career-high six shots. Poling contributed nine points. She also drew three charging fouls, all on Deal.
Andreasen scored seven markers, and Hevlin added four.
Ada committed 24 costly turnovers, several of which were turned into layups off the Royal press in the first and third periods.
The Bulldogs canned 12 two-point field goals and sank one triple. Ada converted five of their six foul shots (83 percent).
The Royals connected on 16 two-point goals and also drained one trifecta.
The Royals converted 19 of 25 free throw tries (76 percent).
The Bulldogs concluded a five-game stretch of home contests with the loss.
Ada 32 (0-7, 0-4 BVC)
Lawrence 0 0-0 0, K. Poling 0 0-0 0, Gibson 0 0-0 0, L. Poling 4 0-0 9, Hevlin 1 2-2 4, Burns 1 0-0 2, Conley 5 0-0 10, Andreasen 2 3-4 7.
Totals: 12-1/5-6/32. 3-pointers: L. Poling 1.
Elmwood 54 (2-5, 1-3 BVC)
Morgart 1 0-0 2, Lee 3 1-2 8, Casey 1 0-1 2, Deal 7 9-12 23, Barringer 5 9-10 19. Totals: 16-1/19-25/54. 3-pointers: Lee 1.
|
ADA ELMWOOD |
1 3 17 |
2 19 14 |
3 6 15 |
4 4 8 |
FINAL 32 54 |
No JV game.
The Bulldog girls visit struggling Continental (1-7) in a non-league game Saturday morning. The Pirate girls snapped a 33-game losing streak earlier this season when they beat Holgate.
“We want to take the positives from tonight and move forward to Saturday,” said Ricker. “We have a good opportunity, if we play like we did in the second quarter.”
