It was a productive weekend for the North Adams Green Devils varsity boys squad as they picked up two wins to improve their season mark to 3 wins and 2 losses. On Friday, Dec. 11, the Devils hosted West Union in Southern Hills Athletic Conference play and came away with a hard-fought 53-46 win and with a short turnaround time, came back on Saturday afternoon to top Northwest 43-33 in the Newt Oliver Classic played at Rio Grande University.
On Friday night with the young Dragons in town, the Devils fell behind early as West Union grabbed a 13-11 lead after the first quarter. In the second stanza, both teams went downtown with the Devils getting three-pointers from Isaiah Anderson and Justin Knechtly, while the Dragons got long distance bombs from Garrett Vogler and Craig Horton. When the half rolled around, visiting West Union still held the lead at a slim 27-26.
The third quarter would spell doom for the visiting Dragons as their offense could muster only 7 points, while the Devils rode the hot hand of Trey Meade to grab the lead at 42-34 after three periods. The fourth quarter was a war of attrition as the two teams battled but the Dragons could make no headway and it was the Devils on top when the final buzzer sounded, 53-46.
Both teams had balanced scoring attacks on the night, with eight players cracking the scoring column for North Adams and nine for West Union. The victorious Green Devils were led by three players in double figures, Trey Meade with 14, Isaiah Anderson with 12, and Justin Knechtly with 10. West Union was paced by 8 points apiece from Garrett Vogler and Craig Horton and 7 from Logan Clifford.
WUHS 13 14 7 12 —46
NAHS 11 15 16 11 —53
WUHS (46): Welch 1 2-2 4, Fuller 2 0-0 4, Vogler 2 2-6 8, McCarty 3 0-0 6, Kramer 1 0-0 2, Horton 3 0-1 8, Clifford 3 1-2 7, Weeks 1 0-0 2, Fenton 2 1-2 5, Team 18 6-13 46.
NAHS (53): Anderson 3 4-4 12, Barnes 1 0-0 2, England 2 0-1 4, Sheeley 0 1-2 1, Knechtly 4 0-2 10, Gingerich 2 0-0 4, T. Meade 5 4-5 14, C. Meade 3 0-0 6, Team 20 9-14 53.
Three-Point Goals:
WUHS- Vogler 2, Horton 2
NAHS- Anderson 2, Knechtly 2
On Saturday afternoon, the Green Devils were part of the 2015 Newt Oliver Classic at Rio Grande University, a full day of boys varsity basketball action in the campus arena named after the former Rio Grande head coach. North Adams was matched up with the Northwest Mohawks out of the Southern Ohio Conference.
Even with less that a day to recover from a tough battle on Friday night plus a long bus ride to Rio Grande, the Green Devils were able to overcome and improve their season mark to 3-2 with a 43-33 win over the Mohawks.
North Adams led at every stop, 12-6 after the first quarter, 20-16 at the half, 33-27 after three quarters, and then the final of 43-33.
The Devils were led by two seniors with Isaiah Anderson tallying 16 points and Trey Meade 14. Cole Meade scored 8 as the Devils led from wire to wire in the victory.
North Adams put their perfect 2-0 SHAC mark on the line on Tuesday, Dec. 15 when they traveled to Leesburg to face the Fairfield Lions and will again be in conference play on Friday, Dec. 18 when they board the bus once more for a trip to Fayetteville.
NWHS 6 10 11 6 —33
NAHS 12 8 13 10 —43
NWHS (33): Smith 4 1-2 9, Taylor 3 0-0 6, Hall 1 0-0 2, Logan 2 0-0 4, Leslie 6 0-0 12, Team 16 0-3 33.
NAHS (43): Anderson 5 3-6 16, Sheeley 1 0-0 3, Knechtly 0 0-3 0, C. Meade 4 0-0 8, Barnes 1 0-0 2, T. Meade 6 2-2 14, Team 17 5-11 43.
Three-Point Goals:
NWHS- Smith 1
NAHS- Anderson 3, Sheeley 1