By Mark Carpenter-
The first half of the 2018-19 season has been a pretty successful one for Coach Nathan Copas and his North Adams Green Devils, winning nine of their first 11 outings, and standing 5-1 in the Southern Hills Athletic Conference standings. Win number nine of the season came at the expense of conference foe Fairfield on Tuesday, Jan. 8 as the Devils used a late first half run to spur a second half surge that led them to a 63-49 triumph.
It was a balanced scoring night for the Devils, who placed eight players in the scoring column in the win, their third in their last four games.
“I like conference wins,” said Coach Copas. “We knew they were a team that traditionally pushed the ball up the sideline and we had to get back and get set up in whatever we were doing. We did a good job of hitting the boards and getting to the free throw line and we had balanced scoring again, which we have done all year. That makes us hard to scout because you never know from night to night who might put up big numbers.”
It was the visiting Lions who drew first blood on Tuesday night, scoring the game’s first five points before a Cameron Young three-pointer got the home team on the board. The score remained close for the next few minutes before the Devils took their first lead of the night on a pair of Cody Rothwell free throws and an Elijah Young trey that made it 12-9.
Those scores were part of a 12-1 North Adams run that also included a Seth Meade triple and a bucket by his twin brother Cade that put the Devils on top 17-10. The Lions’ Conner Priest recorded the final basket of the first quarter that ended with the home team holding a five-point advantage.
A three-point goal by Jayden Hesler at the 5:38 mark of the second period pushed the North Adams lead to 24-16, but the Lions quickly turned that around with an 8-0 run to tie the game at 24 on a Sam Buddelmeyer basket with 2:35 left. That 2:35 turned out to be the most important minutes of the night as the Devils finished the first half with a 7-0 run on three consecutive possessions, two baskets by Austin McCormick and another Seth Meade trey that sent them to the intermission with a 31-24 lead, one they would not relinquish the remainder of the game.
That run would balloon along with the North Adams lead as the third period began. Fairfield’s Buddelmeyer scored the first basket of the quarter, but the Devils responded with 10 straight to build their lead to double figures at 41-26. A three-point play by Hesler kept the lead at 15 , but the Lions managed to stay just within striking distance, finishing the third stanza on a 6-2 run to cut the North Adams margin down to 51-41.
The lead went back under double digits when two free throws by Austin Setty opened the fourth quarter for Fairfield, but the Devils had an answer, getting three free throws from McCormick and a basket by Elijah Young to push the lead back up to 56-43. With 2:31 to play in the game, a basket by Cade Meade gave the home team a 60-47 lead and when they regained possession, the Devils took the air out, running over a minute off the clock and Coach Copas emptied his bench with less than a minute to go. The final North Adams points of the game came on a Jentry Crawford three-pointer that put the final touches on a 63-49 conference win for the home team.
Of the eight players who scored, two Devils hit double figures, led by Jayden Hesler’s 12 points, with Austin McCormick adding 11. The winners got 9 points apiece from Seth Meade and Elijah Young, 7 from Cameron Young, and 6 each from Cade Meade and Cody Rothwell. North Adams fired in a total of seven three-point goals in the win.
Fairfield’s Sam Buddelmeyer led all scorers with 17, with teammate Wyatt Willey joining him in double figures with 13.
The 9-2 Devils were back in SHAC action on Friday, Jan. 11 with a trip to Lynchburg and weather permitting, will come back on Saturday with a trip to the “Beast of the Southeast” at Chesapeake High School to face the host Panthers.
Fairfield
12 12 17 8 —49
North Adams
17 14 20 12 —63
Fairfield (49): Setty 1 2-2 4, Buddelmeyer 6 5-6 17, Willey 5 2-4 13, Saunders 0 1-2 1, Priest 1 3-4 5, James Bentley 3 0-2 6, Jon Bentley 1 0-0 2, Teeters 0 1-2 1, Team 17 14-22 49.
N. Adams (63): Hesler 5 1-1 12, C. Young 3 0-0 7, Rothwell 1 4-4 6, Crawford 1 0-0 3, S. Meade 3 0-0 9, C. Meade 3 0-0 6, McCormick 4 3-4 11, Team 24 8-10 63.
Three-Point Goals:
Fairfield (1)- Willey 1
N. Adams (7)- Hesler 1, C. Young 1, Crawford 1, S. Meade 3, E. Young 1
