By Mark Carpenter-
After starting their 2018-19 season with three consecutive non-conference victories, Coach Nathan Copas and his North Adams Green Devils finally dipped into Southern Hills Athletic Conference play earlier this week as the hit the road to battle the Fayetteville Rockets on Tuesday, Dec. 11. After firing in 84 points in a win over South Gallia the previous weekend, the Devils found the points a little harder to come by at Fayetteville, but still managed to pull away in the second half to defeat the host Rockets by a final score of 61-45.
“It feels good to get that first conference win of the year,” said Coach Copas. “Fayetteville is always a tough place to come play and walk out with a win. We struggled with getting the game into our tempo and when we were turning them over or getting transition opportunities, we were not finishing of making some bad decisions.”
In the opening period, the Devils used three-pointers from Cameron Young and Cade Meade to forge a 10-5 advantage, but the Rockets ended the quarter on a 7-0 run, capped by a C.J. McCulley three in the final seconds to tie the game at 12 after eight minutes.
The Devils continued to be ice cold from the field in the second quarter, getting only a Cade Meade basket in the first three minutes. The Rockets took the lead on another McCulley trey and extended the advantage to 23-18 on buckets by Christopher Murphy and Bowen Doane. With 1:50 left in the half, a Dalton Gardner free throw made it 25-21 Fayetteville and then with just 12.2 seconds to go, an old-fashioned three-point play by Austin McCormick pulled the Devils within a single point, trailing just 25-24 at the intermission.
Momentum can change quickly in any sport, but maybe none as quickly as it can on the hardwood, and one possession of the third quarter totally changed the complexion of the game. After North Adams busted out of the second half game with a McCormick basket and a Jayden Hesler three-pointer to reclaim the lead, the Rockets answered with a bucket by Blake Coffman to cut the Devils’ lead to 29-27, but the next North Adams possession turned out to be game-changer.
Fayetteville’s McCulley was whistled for a foul and did not agree, being charged with a technical foul which was also his fourth foul of the night, sending him to the bench. McCormick hit one of two free throws on the regular foul call and Elijah Young nailed both of the technical freebies. Getting the ball out of bounds, the Devils got a basket from Cade Meade to complete a five-point trip and take a 34-27 lead.
Moments later, a three-pointer by Cameron Young pushed the lead out to 37-29, but the Rockets battled back to slice the gap to five points at 39-34 as the third quarter closed.
The final eight minutes of the game went at a very slow pace, mainly because the Rockets turned to fouling to stop the clock and reduce possessions. A three-point play by Cade Meade put North Adams up by 10 and a later backdoor cut and score by Cody Rothwell kept the visitors firmly in control. A basket by Doane pulled the home team within 50-43 but over the final three minutes, the Devils finished the game on an 11-2 run, most of the damage done by Hesler at the charity stripe, where he sank 8 of 9 attempts to put the final nails in the coffin as North Adams claimed its fourth win of the season and first SHAC win, downing the Rockets by the final count of 61-45.
Mainly due to his fourth quarter heroics, Hesler led four Devils in double figures with 21 points, followed by Cade Meade with 12, Cameron Young with 11, and Austin McCormick with 10.
“I thought Jayden was big at the end of the game, knocking down those clutch free throws,” said Copas. “We are still a young team and we need to learn from each game situation and each practice to just keep getting better.”
On Friday, Dec. 14 the Devils faced a huge SHAC challenge as they hosted the Eastern Brown Warriors and on Saturday will travel to Portsmouth Clay for another non-conference affair.
The North Adams JV squad, under the guidance of Coach Rob Meade, stayed unbeaten at 3-0 on Tuesday night, rolling past Fayetteville 49-19.
North Adams
12 12 15 22 —61
Fayetteville
12 13 9 11 —45
N. Adams (61): Hesler 6 8-9 21, C. Young 4 1-2 11, Rothwell 1 0-0 2, Gardner 0 1-3 1, E. Young 1 2-2 4, C. Meade 5 1-1 12, McCormick 3 4-10 10, Team 20 17-27 61.
Fayetteville (45): Cornette 0 0-1 0, Wiederhold 1 0-0 2, Doane 7 3-6 17, Murphy 2 0-4 4, McCulley 3 0-1 8, Coffman 3 3-6 9, Novak 1 3-4 5, Team 17 9-22 45.
Three-Point Goals:
N. Adams (4)- Hesler 1, C. Young 2, C. Meade 1
Fayetteville (2)- McCulley 2
