Griffith’s free throws with 31.7 seconds left help Ada edge USV 44-42

By SEAN BLEVINS

Times sports editor

McGUFFEY — Téa Griffith rose to the occasion by hitting a pair of go-ahead free throws with 31.7 seconds left in the fourth quarter and Ada got the stops they needed to secure a 44-42 win at Upper Scioto Valley in Saturday’s regular season girls basketball finale.

The Rams (9-13) took their first lead of the game, 42-39, on a triple by Raegan Castle with 2:06 left in the game. Ada’s Kenley Poling responded with a 3-pointer at the 1:51 mark to tie it up at 42-42. Griffith drew a foul almost 80 seconds later and sank both free throws to give the Bulldogs (12-10) a 44-42 lead.

“Téa [Griffith] has been really consistent,” Ada coach Zach Ricker said. “We know what we’re getting out of her. She’s very calm and knows how to play the game, especially for a freshman. Lucy [Carter] has grown as the season has gone. She’s built more confidence in herself and handling the ball in those moments. We have a lot of confidence in what they can do for us as a team.”

USV had multiple chances to win or tie the game in the final minute. Layla Hunsicker intercepted a long throw by Ada in her own backcourt and the Rams called a timeout with 8.1 seconds left in the fourth quarter. Hunsicker drove and missed the potential game-tying shot in the closing seconds.

“Raegan [Castle] hit a big three, then they got it out of bounds and we lost their best shooter,” USV coach Mark Campbell said. “They had an answer all day for us. We fought back. Proud of our girls for that. We have to come out with better energy. We weren’t ready to play from the start. Just have to figure out how to win that game. They hit some free throws late and we missed some, that was big. That’s where the game was won and lost.”

Griffith and Anna Conley both tallied 12 points for Ada. Lucy Carter chipped in 11 points. Poling netted six points. Jaylin St. Laurent had three points.

Ada made 12 two-pointers and four triples in the contest while going 8/12 (66.67%) from the free throw line.

“From the first game until now the growth they’ve made mentally and moments like that, I think we let that one go at the beginning of the year,” Ricker said. “Where now we are confident in ourselves to respond in moments where we need to. Trying to take the win into Allen East next week going into the tournament.”

Kamyn Titus poured in 10 points to pace USV. Castle contributed nine points. Hunsicker had eight points. Araya Boyd bagged six points. Ruby Risner, Mariah Burns and Chloe Cunningham all had three points.

The Rams had just five deuces, but knocked down nine 3-pointers. USV went 5/8 (62.5%) from the charity stripe.

“We get the same group back next year, all of them are juniors and sophomores,” Campbell said. “Anytime we can have close games, it’s only going to make us better in the long run. Anytime we can fight back, take a lead, put it on film. We have to put ourselves in those situations to learn from them. We’ve been playing really well, it’s just a matter of time before it clicks.”

Ada raced out to a 5-0 lead after a layup by Griffith and a corner trey from Poling. Titus got USV on the board with a long deuce from the top of the key with 4:44 left in the first quarter, 5-2.

Griffith stepped into a floater for a 7-2 Ada lead. Castle split from the line with 2:08 remaining in the first quarter, 7-3. Carter also split to make it 8-3.

Castle kicked it out to Risner for a triple to get Ada’s lead down to 8-6, which was the score after one.

“We started slow,” Campbell said. “We got shots. They’re a difficult matchup. They’ve got two bigs [Anna Conley and Téa Griffith] that sit inside and we couldn’t figure it out. We couldn’t get the ball inside so we had to shoot some threes. Then they started falling and it opened up a bit inside, but we were missing our kick-outs that were wide-open threes. We have to be better at executing the game plan.”

Titus made one of two free throws with 7:03 left in the second quarter, bringing Ada’s lead to 8-7.

Conley tacked on a layup, then Titus nailed a 3-pointer to knot it at 10-10.

Carter converted 3/4 free throws on the next two Ada possessions for a 13-10 lead. Griffith held it high and sank a mid-range jumper for a 15-10 edge.

Burns, an Ada transfer, buried a triple to shorten it to 15-13. The Bulldogs responded with a 6-0 run to go up 21-13.

Castle connected from deep, then assisted a triple by Hunsicker as USV rallied to cut it to 21-19 late in the first half.

A layup by Conley with 10 seconds left pushed Ada’s lead to 23-19 at half.

Hunsicker had the first bucket of the third quarter, but the Bulldogs reeled off a 7-0 run right after to extend their lead to 30-21.

Boyd hit two huge triples in the third quarter to keep the Rams in it, with the second one making it 32-27.

Cunningham canned a 3-pointer as the Rams got within five, 35-30. Carter followed with a deuce with five seconds left and the Bulldogs led 37-30 through three.

USV battled back in the fourth quarter with a couple buckets by Titus. Hunsicker got a putback off of her own miss to trim Ada’s lead to 39-38.

Castle tied it up at 39-39 with a free throw. She launched a 3-pointer that hit off the rim and bounced in for USV’s first lead of the game, 42-39.

Poling struck nylon on an open 3-pointer to tie it at 42-42 with 1:51 to play.

Castle missed a shot with just under a minute left, leaving it at 42-42.

Griffith drew a foul and went to the line with 31.7 seconds left. She made both free throws to put Ada ahead 44-42 and they held on.

USV hosts Cory-Rawson in a sectional semifinal at 6 p.m. Wednesday.

Ada travels to take on Allen East in a sectional final at 6 p.m. Thursday.