Chickasha —
Things looked dicey for the Ada boys after Madill’s Kéven Davis hit a 3-pointer with 3:03 left in the game to tie the score at 46-all. It was the 10th tie score of the game.
It didn’t look like the Cougars would be able to shake the upset-minded Wildcats.
But Madill’s shots stopped falling down the stretch and the Cougars finished the game with an impressive 12-2 run and defeated the Wildcats 58-48 in a Class 4A Area Tournament elimination game Thursday afternoon inside the Chickasha Activity Center.
“Like I told them, some of our games I feel like I had my head under water the whole time. Today, my head was underwater. It was just a straw sticking out,” Ada head coach Ron Anderson said following the game. “We played a little ugly, but you know what at this time and on this stage, it doesn’t matter as long as you advance.”
Madill led by five at 17-12 after Hunter Chapa hit a triple from the corner with six and a half minutes to go in the second quarter.
David Forbes started an 8-0 Ada run with a 3-pointer before Easton Pingleton took over. He scored on a strong baseline move and then hit a trey of his own to put the Cougars ahead 20-17.
The game then went back and forth from there and Chapa’s second 3-pointer of the quarter in the closing seconds knotted the score at 27-27 at the break.
“We had to crack a whip on them a little bit at halftime to get them to understand that this was all about effort. We were getting shots and contesting most everything. I just thought it was just a lack of effort,” Anderson said.
Ada, ranked No. 17 with a 17-10 record, stays alive to face the Tecumseh-Blanchard winner while Madill is finished at 16-8. The Cougars will either plays the fifth-ranked Savages for the fifth time this season or a 10th-ranked Blanchard club that is less than 20 miles away from the Chickasha gym.
“We’re going to play a good team tomorrow — Blanchard or Tecumseh — so we’re going to have to come with a lot more effort than that,” Anderson said.
Madill led by three on three different occasions in the third period and was still clinging to a 41-40 advantage heading into the final frame.
There were three lead changes early in the fourth quarter before Ada took control down the stretch. Ada’s final eight points came from the free-throw line where they finished 14-of-20 overall compared to 4-of-9 for Madill.
John Stout had 17 points for the Cougs to lead all scorers and also had five rebounds and six assists. Cory Kilby had an all-around solid outing with 14 points, eight rebounds two steals and three blocked shots.
Forbes also reached double figures with 11 points while Pingleton chimed in with nine points and six rebounds.
Madill got 14 points and seven rebounds from post player Joe Avery while Davis added 11 off the bench.
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