By BROOKE APPLE The Delphos Herald

DELPHOS — The Battle of the Cats and Dogs was held on the newly-done floor of Jefferson Senior High gym for the first home game in the usual spot for the Lady Wildcats of Jefferson as they hosted the Lady Bulldogs of Ada.

In this Northwest Conference basketball battle, the Bulldogs overcame the Wildcats with a 41-38 victory. “We held our composure well as we had some foul trouble and they never gave up,” stated Ada coach Neal Dumbaugh. The first quarter was going all Jefferson’s way until an unfortunate event put sophomore Stephanie Blockberger out of the game with a knee injury, the second such injury for the Lady ’Cats as Kristin Klausing suffered one in the second scrimmage of the season. Three-pointers seemed to be the shot tonight, as there were 13 of them in the first period of play. Jefferson freshman Bridget Culp (12 markers) would drain two and sophomore Jenna Miller (10) added one out of the 17 points put on the board by Jefferson at the end of the period. Ada would have Kara Dysert and Morgan Dumbaugh (14) get into foul trouble in the period, both leaving for a period of time with two fouls each. “Stephanie going out took a lot of us but I was pleased with our execution; we just couldn’t follow through with our shots,” stated Jefferson’s coach Dave Hoffman. Both teams were only able to acquire six points for the second period. Neither was able to shoot over 30% from the field, causing there to be many rebounds with Ada having 30 and Jefferson obtaining 33 caroms. As the rebounds were close, it caused the game to be back-and-forth with a fast-paced tempo. Junior Ashley Watkins would hit the last basket of the second period to make the score 23-16 going into the break. “I’m really proud of them for playing hard the whole game and this was a good road win,” added Dumbaugh. After the break, the Wildcats seemed to be tired as they allowed the Bulldogs to dominate the third period. The ’Cats seemed to be struggling with getting momentum when everyone was shocked as the referee called a technical on Hoffman for being on the floor with 4:13 remaining in the third quarter. Jefferson was never able to get momentum as the Bulldogs outscored them 16-9. Watkins would make the last basket of the quarter once again to tie the score 32-32. “We lost some momentum with the technical, which was my first in 35 years; it was my fault and it didn’t help our momentum. The girls played hard along with the JV girls who stepped up and played well,” added Hoffman. The fourth quarter was a closer period, making the game exciting in the final minute. Samantha Fell (15 counters) would make a huge basket for the Bulldogs after a timeout with a weave play. Jefferson then lost Culp to fouls with 8.7 seconds remaining, down by 5. Miller drove to the basket after getting the ball back for 2; Hoffman called a timeout with 7.1 seconds remaining and Jefferson down 3. Jefferson was able to get the ball back but could not get a good shot off to tie the game as the horn sounded. The Wildcats are now 2-2 on the season and 0-1 in the NWC; the Bulldogs increased to 2-2 and 1-0 in the league. The Wildcats are next in action Thursday with LCC at the Jefferson High School; the Bulldogs travel to Hardin Northern on Saturday. In JV action, the Wildcats would prevail over the Bulldogs 34-23. The Wildcats were led in scoring by Chesley Fischer as she tallied 8 points. The Bulldogs were led by Alexis Acheson as she tallied 14.