Ada girls pull away from Kingston late
Dec. 6—KINGSTON — The Ada High School girls basketball team found itself in a tussle for most of the contest against host Kingston in their season-opener Friday night.
The Lady Redskins wouldn't go away until Ada put them away by sinking 15-of-18 free throws in the fourth quarter on the way to a 66-52 victory in a physical matchup with the home team.
Abbey Strong had put the Lady Cougars on top 54-40 with a pair of free throws with 3:36 to play. But Kingston (1-1) wouldn't go away. Olivia Quapaw and Jaci Herndon drained back-to-back 3-pointers to get the Lady Redskins within 54-46 with 2:50 left in the contest before Ada finally iced the game by hitting 12 free throws down the stretch.
"I thought we were really good late from the free-throw line," Ada head coach Christie Jennings said following the game. "We have some guards that can really handle the basketball. We're going to have to use that to our advantage a lot, especially in that type of game. You have two athletic teams and they were letting us play. So we took advantage of them not being in foul trouble to run some clock and made enough free throws to put them away."
Jennings said her team showed great poise in a hostile atmosphere.
"I was a little concerned because we had kind of been up and down in scrimmages and I didn't know how detailed and intentional we would be. In the second half, we were so intentional. Everybody was communicating with the bench. They were communicating with each other. They had the right person at the right time on defense," she explained. " I can't tell you how proud I am of them. They showed so much maturity late in the game and it kind of surprised me that they were at that point right now. Hopefully, that just continues."
Ada never led by more than five in the first half. Senior Nirene Riley scored late in the second period to put Ada head 26-21 but Kingston got a 3-pointer at the buzzer from Quapaw that made it 26-24 at halftime.
Tyley Dotson's putback followed by a steal from Jakobi Williams capped an 8-0 Ada spurt to start the third quarter that gave the visitors their first double-digit lead at 34-24.
Kinston responded with a 9-2 run to get within 36-33.
Strong buried a 3-pointer for Ada — it was the first AHS triple of the contest and snapped an ugly 0-for-12 streak — at the 1:57 mark. Richardson then drew a charge and scored on a nice drive to the basket to put the Lady Cougars on top 41-33 heading into the fourth quarter.
Richardson started her sophomore season with a game-high 28 points to go with eight rebounds, four steals and six assists. Tyley Dotson, playing in her first game as a Lady Cougar, scored 14 points and grabbed seven boards. Nelson also hit double figures with 11 points, while Strong scored nine points and picked up five rebounds.
Bohannon and Quapaw led the Kingston offense with 15 points apiece. Bohannon also had five rebounds and four steals. Ethel Stewart finished with six points, 13 rebounds and three steals for the hosts.
Ada is back on the road tonight, at Tecumseh. The Lady Cougars open play in the Sequoyah-Tahlequah Tournament on Thursday.
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By The Numbers
GIRLS
Friday, Dec. 2
At Kingston
Ada 66, Kingston 52
ADA 12 14 15 25 — 66
KINGSTON 9 15 9 19 — 52
ADA: Sanai Richardson 10-23, 8-10, 28; Tyley Dotson 7-13, 0-0, 14; Makaviya Nelson 3-7, 4-4, 11; Abbey Strong 2-4, 2-4, 9; Jakobi Williams 1-6, 0-0, 2; Nirene Riley 1-1, 0-0, 2. Totals: 24-57, 15-18, 66.
KINGSTON: Olivia Quapaw 6-16, 0-0, 15; Kamry Bohannon 6-12, 2-3, 15; Jaci Herndon 4-9, 0-0, 10; Ethel Stewart 0-5, 6-6, 6; Kaya Wiebener 2-6, 0-0, 6. Totals: 18-56, 8-9, 52.
Turnovers: Ada 12, Kingston 18.
Steals: Ada 11 (Richardson 4, Williams 3); Kingston 9 (Bohannon 4).
Rebounds: Ada 40 (Richardson 8, T. Dotson 7); Kingston 33 (Stewart 13).
3-point goals: Ada 3-17 (Strong 2-4, Nelson 1-4); Kingston 8-28 (Quapaw 3-11, Wiebener 2-6, Bohannon 1-1, Herndon 2-3).
Fouled out: None.
