Hot shooting Lions end Cougars season
Mar. 5—HENNESSEY — A 16-0 run and a 28-4 run by the hot shooting No. 8 Blanchard Lions ended the No. 9 Ada Cougars trek to the state tournament one game short, in a 73-48 loss in an Area 1 consolation finals game Saturday at the Eagle Event Center.
Ada took a 23-17 lead late in the first half after a Devon MacCollister 3-pointer. Blanchard would hit three straight 3-pointers to end the half to grab a 26-23 halftime lead. Blanchard hit their fourth 3-pointer in five tries to start the second half and added back-to-back baskets by Blanchard big-man Ross Johnston that capped off 16 straight points by the Lions.
Ada got to within eight on back-to-back 3-pointers by Milan Riley and Caron Richardson. Blanchard would get hot again with a 28-4 over the final four minutes of the third quarter and the opening four minutes of the fourth quarter for an insurmountable 60-33 lead. The Lions scored 15 straight at one point before a Keith Cook 3-pointer ended a five-minute Cougar drought without a basket.
Early foul trouble didn't help the Ada cause in the game as starting post player George Maddox picked up his second a minute and 20 seconds into the contest. The Cougars overcame early foul trouble by jumping out to a 7-2 lead after a Richardson 3-pointer.
Ada would maintain that lead for most of the first quarter. Richardson picked up his second foul with three minutes left in the first, just before MacCollister hit a triple for a 10-5 lead. The Cougars would finish out the final two minutes of the quarter without a basket, but Blanchard found its mark with seven straight points and grabbed a 12-10 lead.
Ada would have their best run of the night to start the second quarter. Back-to-back 3-pointers by MacCollister and Riley helped spark a 13-5 run that ended with MacCollister hitting his eighth point of the AHS surge with just over three minutes left in the half.
The wheels would fall off at that point as Blanchard hit 3-of-4 3-pointers in the final two-and-half minutes to start one of their decisive runs for a 26-23 lead.
MacCollister was the only Ada player in double-figure with 18 points. Richardson added eight, Riley seven, Cook five, Marr two, Colombe two and Lindsay two.
Blanchard had four players in double figure with Johnston leading the way with 16. Jared Wigley added 13, Cole Watkins 12 and Emory Smalley 10.
Ada ends the season with a 22-8 record.
