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| 2/25/2009 8:38:00 AM | Email this article • Print this article | Ada girls nip USV in sectionals
By Cort Reynolds
Ada Herald Writer
LIMA BATH - Tuesday night's emotion-packed sectional semifinal showdown between arch-rivals Ada and USV was everything it was expected to be, and more. In the end, the Lady Bulldogs scored eight of the game's last 10 points and then dodged a pair of last-ditch Lady Ram three-point tries to post an extremely hard-fought 41-38 win over their nemesis and advance to the Div. IV sectional finals Saturday night.
Senior Morgan Dumbaugh refused to let Ada lose and led all scorers with 19 points, including a perfect 11-for-11 from the foul line as she netted the last six Bulldog points. Yet it was her junior sister Malary, who started the last decisive run for the victors.
Malary Dumbaugh hustled down a missed shot and knocked in a short left baseline shot with 5:07 to go to bring Ada within 36-35. Then came a big momentum-changing play.
USV head coach Brenda Mullins was whistled for a technical protesting when the Rams were called for a foul after doubling Morgan Dumbaugh successfully at halfcourt.
Morgan nailed both free tosses to give Ada a 37-36 edge with 4:46 remaining, and the Bulldogs never trailed again. After both teams missed from the field, the Bulldogs spread the floor, went into a semi-delay game and ran off two minutes. Under major pressure with just a one-point lead, they showed good poise and worked the ball well on the perimeter.
When the Rams tired briefly on defense, Morgan Dumbaugh penetrated and bounced in a clutch, almost back-breaking six-footer to give Ada a three-point bulge with 1:45 left.
Ram sophomore sharpshooter Whitney Carroll came back with a 19-footer from just inside the arc out top to slice the USV deficit to 39-38 with 1:27 still to go.
Ada missed the front end of a one-and-one, but Morgan Hunsicker's baseline runner came up short, Malary Dumbaugh snared a huge rebound and was fouled. Yet she shot long on the front end of her one-and-one and USV had another chance to take the lead with 33 ticks left.
Carroll missed a long triple try from out front, and Morgan Dumbaugh emerged from a crowd inside with the biggest rebound of the season. "I jumped as high as I could," she recalled afterward.
With 17.9 seconds left, the senior calmly drained both foul shots to give Ada 41-38 cushion.
Sam Fell then almost came up with a huge steal at midcourt and was whistled for a foul, yet it was only Ada's fifth so it was a good gamble. With just seconds left, Katie Hicks launched a trey that bounced off iron and out of bounds after a mad scramble for the ball. The referee ruled it was USV ball, so they had one last chance with a mere 1.5 seconds left.
The Ada coaches wanted the Lady Bulldogs to foul and not allow the Rams to even get a potential tying shot off, but with USV out of timeouts and the ball at the other end amid a deafening din, the players did not notice. The Rams got the ball in and ended up getting a good shot under the ciircumstances, but Carroll's rushed 21-foot trey try from the left wing hit the rim short and bounced harmlessly to the floor as time expired. The Ada crowd erupted in celebration, with the student section storming the floor to congratulate the victors.
"It's not an upset," said Ada coach Neal Dumbaugh, whose team was unseeded and chose to play the second-seeded Rams in the first round. "Our two games prior to this we played well. Our kids believed we should have won when we played earlier this season" (a 56-50 loss at USV on December 9).
Both teams came out playing tough defense in the highly-charged atmosphere. As a result, the offenses struggled to get untracked early. Carroll opened the scoring with a left wing triple almost 2:30 into the fray. Ada took its first lead at 5-4 when Morgan Dumbaugh canned two foul shots at the 2:47 mark. Fell's left wing trey made it 8-4 with 1:23 left and Jeffers halved the deficit on a pair of foul shots.
Ram post Ginnie Critten tied it 8-8 on a follow basket with 18 seconds to go in the first period, the first Ram basket since Carroll's triple.
The Ram box-and-one defense, with Paige Mullins and Hicks taking turns shadowing Morgan Dumbaugh, limited her to no official shot attempts. Still, the senior kept her poise and did not force her offense, letting the game come to her.
Carroll's second triple, this one from out top, gave USV a 12-8 margin 4:36 before intermission. Ada dented the scoreboard when freshman Tabby Jolliff made two free throws 25 seconds later, but Jeffers answered with a lane bank shot.
Hicks canned a one-footed lane runner but Morgan Dumbaugh made two free throws and added a pretty coast to coast driving banker over Jeffers to bring Ada within 16-14 at the break.
Jeffers began half two with a follow basket but Dumbaugh's half-hook stickback kept Ada within 18-16. Morgan then executed a pretty driving left-handed bank for a conventional three-point play that gave Ada its first lead since arly on at 19-18 with 5:22 left in the third stanza.
Hicks came back with a fine steal and driving layup to give USV the lead right back. Malary Dumbaugh scored on a lane runner yet Jeffers countered by splashing a left wing 17-footer.
Morgan used her fine court vision to thread a fine diagonal pass to Jolliff for a layup as the lead changed hands for the fifth straight time at 23-22 with 2:05 left.
Jeffers tied it on a free throw and then Hunsicker made a tough left baseline runner, the same shot she missed in the final minute, to give USV a 25-23 lead. Yet Nikki Grzybowski stepped up and nailed a right wing trey that put Ada back in front 26-25 with 66 seconds to go in the quarter.
Jeffers made a pair of foul shots for the eighth lead change, followed by two perfect free tosses by Morgan Dumbaugh just seconds later.
Hicks then capped the furious stanza with a spectacular baseline driving reverse layup that went high into the air and dropped through for a 29-28 Upper margin with just seconds left in the quarter.
"As disappointing as it was to only have 14 points in the first half, I told the girls we did well to hold them to 16," said Dumbaugh. Both teams heated up as Ada equaled its first half output by out-pointing the Rams in a seesaw 14-13 period.
As good as the third period was, the fourth was even more tense. Fell drained a right wing three-pointer to give the Bulldogs a 31-29 lead, but the determined Hicks came right back with a trey of her own from theleft side for a 32-31 USV lead.
Fell made a fine head fake, then drilled a 15-footer from the foul line to put Ada back in front 33-32. Ram Paige Mullins canned two clutch foul shots and then Jeffers bounced in an eight-footer to give USV a 36-33 lead with 5:33 to go before the final 8-2 Ada run and heroics by Dumbaugh.
"I thought defense kept us in the game and gave us a chance to win," said coach Dumbaugh. "It was nice to beat them with them playing a box and one on Morgan," he added.
Fell supported Dumbaugh with eight key points and Jolliff added six. Morgan came into the gameneeding four assists to break the all-time score record held by Alicia Fetter, but it was not known officially if she had more than two assists.
Ada only made 12 baskets all night, four by Morgan. USV canned 13 field goals in the tight defensive battle.
USV senior Rachel Jeffers scored 14 points and Hicks added nine, while Carroll added eight as all three gave a valiant effort in defeat. The Lady Rams ended their season 12-9.
Both teams played exceptionally hard and well in the hard-fought battle that could easily have gone either way. Ultimately, Ada improved to 8-12 and won behind Dumbaugh's determination, floor game and clutch foul shooting. Clutch rebounding and timely shooting also played a big role as Ada outscored USV 14 to nine from the line.
Ada 41 (8-12)
Mo. Dumbaugh 4-11-19, Fell 4-0-8, Jollifff 2-2-6, Gryzbowski 1-0-3, Ma. Dumbaugh 2-1-5, Wilson 0, Fullom 0. Totals: 12/14-19/41.
3-pointers: Fell 2, Grzybowski 1.
USV 38 (12-9)
Jeffers 4-6-14, Hicks 4-0-9, Carroll 3-0-8, Conley 0, Coburn 0, Hunsicker 1-0-2, Critten1-0-2, P. Mullins 0-3-3. Totals: 13/9-13/38. 3-pointers: Hicks 1, Carroll 2.
1 2 3 4 F
Ada 8 6 14 13 41
USV 8 8 13 9 38
Ada meets Hardin Northern, whom they smothered 45-20 in the season opener back on November 29, in the second sectional final at approximately 8 p.m. Saturday night at Bath. The winner advances to the Div. IV district semis at Liberty-Benton on Thursday, March 5 against the survivor from the Findlay sectional final between top-seeded Carey and Fostoria St. Wendelin.
Cory-Rawson, which rallied for a 46-43 win over Ridgemont in the initial Bath sectional semifinal Tuesday night, plays top seed Pandora-Gilboa (15-5) in the first sectional final at 6:15 p.m.
Morgan Dumbaugh slightly hyperextended her knee going for a rebound early in the fourth quarter vs. USV but kept playing, and it is not expected to be an issue Saturday. She scored 19 points in the opening win over HN, while Sara Flinn led the Lady Polar Bears with 10 markers.
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