By Cort Reynolds
ADA - The Ada High School boys basketball team lost to the red-hot shooting of visiting arch-rival Upper Scioto Valley 66-50 in the annual non-conference grudge match on Saturday, January 11.
Ram senior Maddox Underwood drove and shot his way to a game-high 31 points to pace the victors. The athletic guard made 10 two-pointers, hit two treys and added five foul shots.
The Bulldogs fell to 9-5 after the defeat. USV improved to 7-5 with the road win. The Rams have won seven of their last nine games after an 0-3 start.
“They wanted it more than us, they were more physical,” said Ada head coach Chris Sautter. “They just wanted it more.”
USV came out firing as Underwood buried a left baseline fadeaway jumper to open the scoring. Bulldog junior Kayleb Hickman tied it on a driving left-handed layup.
Ram junior guard Andrue Kindle then drained a right wing triple, followed by a driving power layup by Ada sophomore Carson Conley. USV sophomore 6-2 post Beau Sanders then knocked down three straight short jumpers to give the visitors an 11-4 lead with 2:22 left in the opening stanza.
Hickman made another layup, and junior Zack Zimmerman splashed a trifecta from out top to pull within a bucket. Underwood converted a backdoor layup to finish the period on top, 13-9.
Hickman opened the second stanza by making a fast break layup off a fine long lead pass from Conley. Underwood answered by drilling a right corner trey. Zimmerman hit three of four foul shots to inch Ada to 16-14.
Hunter Damron then nailed a baseline 15-footer and a triple from out top, sandwiched around a power layup from Ada junior post Slade Gossman.
Underwood hit a 17-foot jumper from the circle to make it 23-16 at the 3:44 mark. Ada soph guard Kolon Dysert drove the lane and nailed a pull-up shot a minute later.
Underwood hit a twisting jump hook 40 seconds before intermission. Hickman then swiped the ball and drove in for a layup with five seconds left to make it 25-20 at halftime.
Cold from the perimeter, Ada made just one of its eight triple tries in the first half.
Gavin Oldfield sank a putback inside to open the second half for the Bulldogs. Sanders responded by hitting a short fadeaway. Two Conley foul shots kept Ada within 28-24 at the 6:08 mark.
Ram senior post Mason Thompson splashed his first three of the season from the top of the key 28 seconds later. Kindle drilled a left side trey, followed by a Conley eight-footer.
Underwood drove for a layup, yet Conley buried a triple from the top of the key to make it 36-29 with 4:33 left in the third stanza.
Sanders canned two foul shots, and Zimmerman hit a left wing trey to cut the deficit to 38-32 at the 3:50 juncture. Underwood came right back and nailed a right corner trifecta just 17 seconds later to spark a dagger 8-0 run.
Kindle bombed in a left wing triple, and then Underwood made a pretty spinning drive. He capped an 11-point frame by hitting two foul shots that gave USV a 48-33 cushion heading to the fourth period.
The Rams outscored Ada 23-13 in the key third quarter.
The determined Ram senior continued his assault by making a layup and another spinning drive to start the final stanza. After a Zimmerman foul shot, Underwood again penetrated the lane for a layup and a 55-34 lead with 6:15 remaining.
Hickman hit a layup for the first Ada field goal in over five minutes to stop the decisive 19-4 flurry. Damron converted a breakaway layup, followed by a running Zimmerman basket with 5:17 left.
Underwood sank a driving floater, answered by two free throws from quarterback counterpart Levi Green. Zimmerman canned an eight-footer.
Oldfield grabbed an offensive rebound and banked in a hanging double-pump shot to cut it to 59-44 at the 3:13 mark. Green then stole the ball and made an uncontested layup to cap a 10-2 Ada spurt with 2:45 to go.
But USV hit four straight foul shots to restore the lead to 19 with 1:54 left. Conley muscled his way in for a driving layup and the game’s last basket.
The Rams then hit four charity stripers to three by Ada in the final 1:42.
Sanders supported Underwood’s big night with 12 points. Damron and Kindle added nine markers apiece, and Thompson scored five.
Zimmerman led Ada with 15 points. Conley scored 11, and Hickman added 10 markers before fouling out.
“The free throw line hurt us, as did losing Slade (Gossman),” said Sautter.
Ada converted just 11 of its 23 free throws (48 percent). The junior big man had to leave the game to get stitches in the mouth area in the second period.
Ada connected on 15 two-point field goals, and the Bulldogs made good on only three of 15 triple tries (20 percent).
The Rams canned 16 two-pointers and splashed seven of 13 trifectas (54 percent). Sharpshooting USV also sank 13 of 15 foul shots (87 percent).
Ada fell to 2-3 at home after the defeat.
The Bulldogs won the JV game, 44-28. Tyler Stauffer led the Bulldog reserves with nine markers. Andrew Allen and T.J. Griffith each scored eight points. Ram reserve Douglas May netted 12 points.
Ada (4-1 BVC) hosts league foe Van Buren (6-5, 3-2 BVC) Friday, January 17. “Van Buren will play fast and make it a 94-foot game,” warned Sautter.
“We have eight games left, and we are good enough to win all eight,” he noted. “We could also lose all eight.”
Liberty-Benton is alone atop the league at 5-0. Arlington is also undefeated in the BVC at 4-0, and is 11-1 overall.
|
ADA USV |
1 9 13 |
2 11 12 |
3 13 23 |
4 17 18 |
FINAL 50 66 |
JV: Ada 44, USV 28.
Ada 50 (9-5)
Oldfield 2 0-0 4, Dysert 1 0-0 2, Zimmerman 4 5-12 15, Green 1 3-4 5, Conley 4 2-3 11, Hickman 5 0-0 10, Gossman 1 0-0 2, Lawrence 0 0-2 0, Erickson 0 1-2 1. Totals: 15-3/11-23/50. 3-pointers (3-15): Zimmerman 2, Conley 1.
USV 66 (7-5)
Kindle 3 0-0 9, Sanders 4 4-4 12, Damron 3 2-2 9, Thompson 1 2-2 5, Underwood 12 5-7 31.
Totals: 16-7/13-15/66. 3-pointers (7-13): Kindle 3, Underwood 2, Damron 1, Thompson 1.
Walter Bettinger, a 1979 Ada graduate, was recognized at halftime after being inducted into the Ada Alumni Hall of Honor earlier Saturday night. See 15 Minutes with Walt Bettinger.
