Ada girls hold off Hilldale in fourth quarter

Jeff Cali, The Ada News, Okla.
·4 min read

Feb. 27—The Ada High girls basketball team turned back a second-half Hilldale rally and stung the Lady Hornets 38-30 in a Class 4A Regional Tournament consolation contest Friday night inside the Cougar Activity Center.

The 13th-ranked Lady Cougars improved to 16-6 on the year and will play in their third straight regional tournament elimination game at 1 p.m. Saturday. Hilldale finished its season at 13-9. The Lady Hornets own a 55-47 win over Ada back on Dec. 28 as part of the Cougar Christmas Classic.

It looked like Ada might run away from Hilldale in the regional rematch. Ada used a tenacious defensive effort to win the first quarter 12-4. Hilldale finished the first eight minutes 1-of-9 from the field and had seven turnovers.

Ada post player Shayla Wofford scored back-to-back baskets to end the second quarter and push the Lady Cougars' lead to 23-12 at halftime.

"I thought we did some really good things in the first half," said Ada head coach Christie Jennings.

Ada still let by double digits after senior Landyn Owens scored on a fast break that made it 27-17 at the 3:19 mark of the third quarter.

Hilldale got big 3-point buckets from Skye Been and Madi Folsom late in the third and closed the gap to 31-26 heading into the fourth quarter.

"We were trying to be a little conservative and keep Shayla out of foul trouble. We kind of get passive and that's not what we want to do. We just want to be more careful. We've got to get better in those situations," Jennings explained. "We just couldn't ever get the game put away."

A free throw by Carizma Nelson to start the final frame put Ada on top y six, but the Lady Hornets scored the next two baskets to get within 32-30 just under five minutes left. However, Hilldale wouldn't score again.

Amaya Frizell hit a pair of free throws — her only points of the game — at the 4:20 mark to make it 34-30.

The scoring then stopped until Owens hit 2-of-4 free shots following a technical foul on Hilldale junior Riley Barnoske (for shoving Owens) that put the home team on top 36-30 with 1:20 left.

Owens scored the final points of the game on two more free shots with 26.1 ticks remaining.

Oddly enough, Ada never attempted a field goal in the fourth quarter, going 7-of-11 from the charity stripe and limiting Hilldale to 1-of-7 shooting.

"I didn't realize that until after the game. I knew we didn't take very many field goals. I don't think I've ever coached a game where my team didn't take any shots in the fourth quarter," Jennings said.

Owens led the Lady Cougars with 15 points and eight rebounds. Wofford battled early foul trouble and still finished with 12 points, two rebounds and three blocks.

Sisters Carizma and Makaviya Nelson hit Ada's only 3-pointers of the game. Frizell added eight rebounds and three steals.

Barnoskie and Folsom scored seven points apiece to pace the Lady Hornets.

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By The Numbers

CLASS 4A REGIONAL

At Ada

Loser's Bracket

Ada 38, Hilldale 30

HILLDALE 4 8 14 4 — 30

ADA 12 11 8 7 — 38

HILLDALE: Riley Barnoskie 2-4, 3-3, 7; Madi Folsom 3-16, 0-0, 7; Celeste Wood 2-6, 0-0, 6; Skye Been 2-11, 0-0, 5; Nevaeh Johnson 1-3, 3-5, 5. Totals: 10-41, 6-8, 30.

ADA: Landyn Owens 5-11, 5-8, 15; Shayla Wofford 5-8, 2-2, 12; Carizma Nelson 1-3, 1-2, 4; Makaviya Nelson 1-2, 0-0, 3; Jaeden Ward 1-3, 0-0, 2; Amaya Frizell 0-6, 2-3, 2. Totals: 13-34, 10-16, 38.

Turnovers: Hilldale 15, Ada 14.

Steals: Hilldale 7 (Barnoskie 3); Ada 6 (Frizell 3).

Rebounds: Hildale 29 (Johnson 8); Ada 30 (Frizell 8).

3-point goals: Hilldale 4-17 (Wood 2-4, Folsom 1-7, Been 1-6); Ada 2-8 (C. Nelson 1-2, M. Nelson 1-2).

Fouled out: Barnoskie, Folsom (H).

Technical Fouls: Barnoskie (H).