By Mark Carpenter-
Two of the perennial girls’ powerhouses of the Southern Hills Athletic Conference met on Thursday, Jan. 17 at Eastern Brown High School as the host Lady Warriors, unbeaten in conference play, welcomed the North Adams Lady Devils to Brown County. Thursday marked the second meeting of the season between the two teams with the Lady Warriors having posted a 46-34 victory in Seaman back on Dec. 13.
Whenever teams coached by Rob Davis and Kevin Pickerill hook up, fans can expect a hard-nosed defensive battle and that was the case last week as the two teams went toe-to-toe, but it was two big second half runs that made the difference as the Lady Warriors claimed a 47-26 win, in a game far more competitive than the final score indicated.
“We’re in the ball game then we come down and turn the ball over two or three times in a row,” said Coach Davis after the loss. “We didn’t shoot the ball well and we just seemed to panic whenever they put pressure on us. We weren’t strong with the basketball and we have things to work on.”
“Turnovers and 50/50 balls kill us. You have to want it and tonight they wanted it more than us and it looked like we got tired in the fourth quarter.”
Defense ruled in the opening period, with the Lady Devils opening the scoring with a DeLaney Harper three-point play on their first possession, but that was the only North Adams points until just 30 seconds remained in the stanza when Harper scored a bucket in the paint. Luckily for the visitors, their defense was solid as they only allowed Eastern Brown nine points in between and the first quarter ended with the Lady Warriors on top 9-5.
Offense was again at a premium in the second quarter, especially for the Lady Devils, who were ice cold from the field and only managed two baskets, one by Wylie Shipley and the other by Grace McDowell. Eastern didn’t fare much better, scoring just seven and the McDowell bucket came with 2:09 left in the first half and was the last points scored as the Lady Warriors went to the locker room holding a 16-9 advantage.
The halftime rest must have done both teams good as they combined in the third quarter to score nearly as many points as they had combined for in the entire first half. The Lady Devils suddenly found their range, scoring on their first three possessions, with a Shipley three-pointer and a Harper free throw pulling them within 20-16 at the 4:46 mark. Eastern answered with a three-pointer from Camryn Pickerill, matched a minute later when North Adams’ Karissa Buttelwerth also hit from long distance to make it 23-19 Eastern, but the downfall for the guests began when the third quarter ended with a 7-0 run by the Lady Warriors, capped by a Morgan Reynolds “basket and one” that gave her team a 30-19 lead after three.
That run extended to 11-0 when Reynolds got the first two baskets of the fourth quarter, both coming off of North Adams turnovers as the young Lady Devils began to become unraveled. North Adams stayed within striking distance , getting baskets by Harper and Buttelwerth and a trio of McDowell free throws to trail 35-26 with 3:33 to play, but the Lady Devils were to score no more as Eastern Brown, fueled by an Alexa Pennington trey and two baskets by MacKenzie Gloff, finished the game on a 12-0 run to coast home with the 47-26 triumph.
The Lady Warriors were led by two players in double figures, Reynolds scoring 15 and Pennington 13, with Gloff and Allison Malott adding 6 each.
In a tough offensive night, the Lady Devils placed only four players in the scoring column, paced by 8 points apiece from Wylie Shipley and DeLaney Harper.
The North Adams girls were back in action on Saturday, Jan. 19 in the Coach Young Classic, picking up a win over Chesapeake 46-41, and then got their 12th win of the year against five losses when they downed Blanchester 65-39 on Monday night. They were slated to travel to Huntington in non-conference action on Thursday, Jan. 24.
North Adams
5 4 10 7 —26
Eastern Brown
9 7 14 17 —47
N. Adams (26): Sonner 0 0-1 0, Shipley 3 1-2 8, Buttelwerth 2 0-0 5, McDowell 1 3-4 5, Harper 3 2-3 8, Team 9 6-10 26.
E. Brown (47): Pickerill 2 0-0 5, Frost 0 1-2 1, Reynolds 6 3-6 15, Malott 2 2-2 6, Edmisten 0 1-2 1, Gloff 3 0-0 6, Pennington 5 2-4 13, Team 18 9-15 47.
Three-Point Goals:
N. Adams (2)- Shipley 1, Buttelwerth 1
E. Brown (2)- Pennington 1, Pickerill 1
