By Mark Carpenter-
Annual trips to the championship game of the Holiday Classic have become commonplace for Coach Rob Davis and his North Adams Lady Devils and they took the court on Dec. 29 in the 2018 semi-finals, facing the Manchester Lady Greyhounds on the home court at MHS, the host of this year’s Classic. The Lady Devils came in with four Classic titles in a row and earned the opportunity to play for number five as they never trailed on their way to a 63-51 win over the Lady Hounds.
Both teams can be considered young squads, loaded with sophomore talent, and the Lady Hounds played well, but big games from senior Grace McDowell, junior Mary Sonner, and sophomore Braylie Jones led the way for the winners with that trio combining for 43 points.
A three-pointer by McDowell gave North Adams an early 5-2 lead and later buckets by Faith Howell and Sonner increased the gap to 9-4. With 17 seconds left in a low-scoring first period, Manchester’s Brooke Kennedy hit two free throws to cut the Lady Devils’ lead to three and the Lady Hounds tied the game on their first possession of the second stanza on a Darrington White three-pointer.
The Lady Devils responded with baskets by DeLaney Harper and Jones to take a lead they never relinquished. After a Manchester free throw, North Adams reeled off seven straight, five of those from Sonner, to move in front 20-10. A jumper by Jones and a McDowell score later made it an 11-2 run, one which the host Lady Hounds never recovered from. Sonner’s second trey of the game gave her team a 29-16 lead and the first half closed with Manchester’s Hannah Hobbs banking in an off-balance shot to send the two teams to the break with North Adams still up by 11.
The pace of the game quickened in the third quarter with the two teams combining for 35 points. The quarter began with each team scoring on their first two possessions and a later three-point play by McKenzie Morrison kept the Lady Hounds within striking distance, trailing 37-27 at the 4:48 mark, but the steady North Adams squad with their animated coach keeping them in line kept the home team at bay, getting two Sonner free throws and a McDowell jumper to lead 46-35 after three.
All that remained for the Lady Devils in the final eight minutes was to maintain the status quo and they began the final period with a Marah Call three-pointer and later got two free throws from Wylie Shipley and a Jones score off a Manchester turnover to jump the lead up to a very comfortable 56-37. The feisty Lady Hounds kept playing hard, going on a 6-0 run sparked by Hobbs three-point goal. With 1:13 to play , Karissa Buttelwerth hit two from the charity stripe, and the game closed with Manchester getting a triple from Emily Sweeney and a basket from Morrison to account for the final score of 63-51 in favor of the Lady Devils.
The trio of McDowell, Sonner, and Jones led the way for the victors, all in double figures with 17, 15, and 11 points respectively. North Adams also got 6 points each from Shipley and Harper, improving their season mark to 5-3, and 3-2 in the Southern Hills Athletic Conference after the win which counted in conference standings.
Manchester (3-7, 2-5 SHAC) was led by Kennedy’s 16 points, with Morrison adding 9, White 8, Hobbs 7, and Yasmin Lucas 5.
North Adams
9 20 17 17- 63
Manchester
6 12 17 16 —51
N, Adams (63): Sonner 5 3-6 15, Shipley 1 4-6 6, Buttelwerth 0 3-4 3, Jones 4 3-4 11, Call 1 0-0 3, McDowell 8 0-0 17, Harper 2 2-2 6, Howell 1 0-0 2, Team 22 15-22 63.
Manchester (51): White 3 1-3 8, Morrison 2 5-5 9, Smith 0 1-2 1, Kennedy 6 4-4 16, Sweeney 1 0-0 3, Lucas 2 1-2 5, Hobbs 2 2-2 7, McFarland 1 0-0 2, Team 17 14-18 51.
Three-Point Goals:
N. Adams (4)- Sonner 2, Call 1, McDowell 1
