Ada boys build early lead, hold on to edge Hardin Northern 52-49 (w/photo gallery)

By CORT REYNOLDS

Times correspondent

ADA — The homestanding Ada boys basketball team built an early lead and held on to defeat county rival Hardin Northern 52-49 Saturday night.

The Bulldogs improved to 3-11 overall. HN fell to 3-9.

Ada jumped ahead 15-6 after the first period and never trailed. Yet an 8-0 Polar Bear run helped them inch within 25-22 at halftime. 

The Bulldogs led 40-35 after the third stanza, and held off the Bears in the fourth quarter to win.

“Obviously we started really well,” said Ada third-year head coach Vince Halliday. “Levi sparked us with a couple of three’s early, and he took a big charge in the fourth. 

“Slade played well despite foul trouble, and Kayleb was solid, especially at the defensive end,” he added. “It was a solid team win.”

Sophomore Kayleb Hickman made a nice reverse layup off the opening tip to start the game well. Sophomore post Slade Gossman made a putback layin, and junior Levi Green splashed a left corner triple to give Ada a 7-0 lead with 4:33 left in the opening stanza.

Green bounced in a triple from the same spot at the 3:17 mark. Kolton Dysert swished another three from the left corner 37 seconds later for a 13-2 lead.

Northern pulled within 15-6 at the end of the period on a Nolan Hopson follow-up shot inside.

Hickman then dove on the floor for a steal and fed Green nicely for a breakaway layup and a 17-7 lead 4:55 before halftime. A layup by senior Carson Gossard equaled Ada’s biggest margin at 19-8 just 15 seconds later.

HN then started to chip away at the Bulldog lead. Andrew Sutton swished a high-arching left corner triple to start an 8-0 Bear run. Sutton then canned a layup at the four-minute mark.

Xander Wilson then drained a left corner trifecta to cut the deficit to 19-16 3:25 before intermission.

Ada’s Zach Zimmerman sank a driving floater to stop the flurry 14 ticks later. Hickman then drilled a right wing trey to provide a 25-18 lead.

HN then scored the last four points of the half to pull within three at the break, 25-22. Wilson drained a trey from out top and Landon Wetherill added a foul shot to close the second stanza.

Gossman scored inside and Hickman canned a three from the top of the ley to give Ada a 5-0 spurt out of the second half gate. Hopson nailed a turnaround fadeaway from 11 feet.

After a Zimmerman foul shot, Cooper Thomas splashed a triple from the left corner. Wilson then scored on a third-effort layup to inch within 31-29 midway through the third period.

Gossman sank a layin, but Thomas responded with a stickback layup. Hickman canned two foul shots, and Gossman finished inside off a nice Dysert assist to restore the lead to six at the 2:15 mark.

HN’s Mason Stewart made a southpaw layup and Carson Conly hit three of four free throws after he also made a steal to give Ada a 40-35 edge heading to the final quarter.

Wetherill banked in a transition shot two minutes into the final stanza to pull Northern within three. Gossman followed in his own miss 14 seconds later.

The speedy Green made a fast break layup for a 44-37 lead with 5:25 left. Wilson made a short bank shot seconds later. After a Gossman free throw, Hopson stole the ball and sank a layin to cut the Ada lead to 45-41 with 3:34 remaining.

Another Gossman putback put Ada up six with 3:06 to go. Thomas executed a nice back cut and layup at the 2:35 mark. HN went for a teal and missed, opening a lane for Green to drive the right side and make a layup 19 ticks later.

Wilson made a nice spin move and layup to make it 49-45 with 2:01 to play. But HN missed two key foul shots and Green fed Gossman for a layup and a six-point lead with 1:27 left.

Wilson canned a short shot with 87 seconds left. After an Ada miss, Green drew the big charging foul with a minute left. 

But Ada thew the ball away with 29 seconds left to keep HN alive. The Bears missed a 19-footer, got the rebound and pitched it back out for an open triple.

But that shot too was awry and Green rebounded with 10 seconds left. Dysert was fouled at the 6.5-second mark and split the pair to build the lead to five. 

Wetherill made a layup just before the buzzer to cut the final margin to three.

“Ultimately we made the plays we needed to at the end,” Halliday summed up. “We played with good energy and had three guys in double figures.”

Gossman led the team with 15 points. Green netted a career-high 12 points, and Hickman tallied 10. Zimmerman added six. 

Wilson led all players with 18 points. Thomas contributed 11 markers. Wetherill added seven points, while Hopson netted six. 

The Bulldogs connected on 13 two-pointers and drilled five triples. 

Ada converted 11 of its 17 shots from the charity stripe (65%). 

HN connected on 15 two-pointers and sank four treys. Northern converted just seven of 14 from the free throw line (50%).

The Bulldogs lost the JV game 46-38 to drop the Ada reserve record to 8-6. Hunter Hollon led Ada with 11 points, while Christian Rostorfer tallied 13 for the Bears.    

Ada won the freshman game to open the tripleheader, 31-23. Jaden Ash scored nine points for the Bulldog frosh, while Corbin Blair tallied eight markers for HN.

Ada hosts Arlington (8-5) today at 7:30 p.m. “I know they are good,” said Halliday. The Red Devils lost 63-40 to Spencerville Saturday night.

HARDIN NORTHERN (3-9): Wilson 7 2-4 18, Thomas 3 4-8 11, Wetherill 3 1-2 7, Hopson 3 0-0 6, Sutton 2 0-0 5, Stewart 1 0-0 2. Totals 19 7-14 49.

ADA (3-11): Gossman 7 1-3 15, Green 5 0-0 12, Hickman 3 2-2 10, Zimmerman 1 4-6 6, Dysert 1 1-2 4, Conley 0 3-4 3, Gossard 1 0-0 2. Totals 18 11-17 52.

3-point goals: Wilson 2, Green 2, Hickman 2, Dysert, Thomas, Sutton.

Score by quarters

Hardin Northern          6                                  16                                13                                14                                — 49

Ada                             15                                10                                15                                12                                — 52

                                    Junior varsity: Hardin Northern won 46-38.