Ada — For a little over a half, the Ada Lady Cougars went toe-to-toe with Class 5A giant Shawnee Friday night inside the Cougar Activity Center.

But the Ada offense did a second-half disappearing act, and the Lady Wolves finally pulled away for a 44-29 victory in a game that was much closer than the final score might indicate.

“We came out and competed with Shawnee early. I think at some point, we started doubting we could beat them, and we fell apart,” said Ada head coach Christie Jennings.

The Lady Wolves, ranked No. 1 in Class 5A, won their 14th straight game to improve 18-1, while Ada — No. 18 in Class 4A — slipped to 12-7.

In the boys contest, the Cougars couldn’t overcome 22 turnovers or the sharp shooting of Shawnee junior Trey Maston in a 61-54 setback.

The Wolves moved to 8-11 on the season, while Ada fell to 11-8.

Ada invites old rival McAlester to town Tuesday night.

The Ada squads learned last week that they will be traveling to Dickson on Friday, Feb. 15, for Class 4A District Tournament action. Ada is included in 4A Area II and will host the first round of the regional tournament before advancing to Newcastle, the regional’s main site. Should either Ada team advance to the 4A Area Tournament, those games would be played in Chickasha.

GIRLS

Shawnee 44, Ada 29

The Lady Cougars scored seven straight points late in the first quarter and had the lead for a bit. Trailing 11-6, Kyndel Carter started the Ada spurt with a 3-pointer, and Menee Thomsen followed with a conventional three-point play after a fast-break bucket. A Sami Jewett free throw would put Ada on top 13-11 at the 1:53 mark.

Bailey Taylor hit a 3-pointer with 47 seconds left, and that ignited a 14-0 Shawnee run that ended with five straight points from freshman Monique Tramble — a 3-pointer and a steal and layup — that pushed Shawnee ahead 25-13.

The Lady Cougars went on another 7-0 surge of their own that started when Olivia Wells picked up a loose ball after a mad scramble and scored from point-blank range. Then, after a basket inside by Aaliyah Blakley, Thomsen sank a 3-pointer to get Ada back within five at 25-20 with just under three minutes to play in the second period.

Blakley scored via a nice entry pass from Carter to get Ada even closer at 26-22 at the 1:14 mark, but Shawnee scored four quick points late to grab a 30-22 halftime lead.

Blakley hit a sweet turnaround jumper on the first possession of the third quarter to cut the Ada deficit to 30-24, but the Lady Cougars wouldn’t hit another field goal until Markeisha Black finally broke the ice with her 3-pointer with 3:27 left in the game. By that time — even though Shawnee was having a bit of trouble scoring in the second half against a rugged AHS defense — the Lady Wolves had built a 37-26 lead. Shawnee would hit seven free throws in the final 57 seconds to pull away.

Ada managed just Blakley’s two points in the third period – going scoreless over the final 7:45 — and scored just seven points over the entire second half. Ada also committed 22 turnovers to just six for Shawnee, which is 47-1 in its last 48 ballgames.

“We had too many turnovers to beat an average team, let alone beat the defending state champions who are ranked No. 1,” Jennings said. “I thought at times, we played uninspired. I think you should be fired up to have an opportunity to beat the No. 1 team in 5A. I guess a bright side would be our defense was pretty good.”

No Ada player scored in double figures, but Blakley finished with nine points and 13 rebounds, helping her team win the battle of the boards 37-27.

Jewett and Thomsen added six points each.

Shawnee got 12 points from Micaela Yu, while McKenzie Cooper added nine points, including a 6-of-8 showing from the free-throw line.

BOYS

Shawnee 61, Ada 54

Trey Maston hit four of his seven 3-pointers in the fourth quarter, almost singlehandedly keeping the Cougars at bay in a game that was nip-and-tuck throughout. Maston would finish with a game-high 27 points.

“He just lit us up,” said Ada head coach Ron Anderson. “I told the kids after the game that the two things that stood out the most is No. 11 making those baskets and turnovers.”

Anderson said if Maston had missed a few shots and the Cougars had taken a little better care of the basketball, the outcome would have likely been different.

“I think our defensive effort was as good as it can be, other than leaving No. 11 open. It was just hard to keep up with him,” he said. “But forget about No. 11 scoring those points. Just cut our turnovers in half, and we can win this game. Overall, I was real happy with the effort by everybody.”

Ada opened the fourth quarter with a Cory Kilby 3-pointer, and big man David Forbes followed with a putback that gave the Cougars a 47-41 lead with 6:22 to play.

Maston hit a 3-pointer at the 5:38 point that put Shawnee ahead 48-47, and Ada wouldn’t lead again.

The Cougars got within one at 50-49 on a fast-break basket by John Stout after a nice assist from Easton Pingleton, but Maston answered with another 3-pointer.

A Walker Whitworth triple cut the Ada deficit to 56-54 with 2:08 to play. The Cougars got the ball back with a chance to either tie or take the lead, but they committed an unforced turnover.

Maston then hit yet another back-breaking trifecta with 1:03 showing to seal Ada’s fate.

Ada trailed 17-10 to start the game but went on a 12-2 run to take a 22-19 lead on two Stout free throws at the 5:25 mark of the second period.

The Wolves followed with a 16-4 volley to take their biggest lead of the game at 35-24 before Stout hit two more free throws to close the gap to 35-26 at halftime.

Kilby — who finished with 22 points and 16 rebounds in a losing cause — used a personal 9-0 run to start the second half. And after Stout followed with a basket on an inbounds play, Ada soared back in front at 37-35 at the 5:13 mark of the third period. The game would be a dogfight from that point on.

Stout scored 14 points for the Cougars, while Forbes and Whitworth added six apiece.

Marquese Tramble scored nine points and had seven steals for the Wolves.

Ada dominated the boards, outrebounding Shawnee 36-18.