By Mark Carpenter-
It was Homecoming Night at West Union High School on Friday, Jan. 18 and if that in itself didn’t mean a packed house, the fact that the opponent was the North Adams Green Devils certainly did. The two teams had met in the finals of the Holiday Classic on Dec. 29 with the Dragons coming out with a 68-59 win and the Green Devils were looking for two-fold success on Friday night, avenge that earlier loss and spoil the West Union Homecoming. They were successful on both fronts.
Trailing by two after the third quarter, the Devils showed poise in the final eight minutes, taking the lead on a Jayden Hesler trey with four minutes left and then hitting four free throws down the stretch to hand the Dragons a 56-52 Southern Hills Athletic Conference defeat.
“West Union is just a tough match up for us,” said North Adams head coach Nathan Copas in his post game radio interview. “They’re athletic, they get up the floor, and it’s one of those games where you just feel fortunate to get out with a win. We executed poorly in the first half , but Cody Rothwell stepped up and was fantastic on both ends for us. It was our defense and rebounding that were keys tonight.”
The West Union-North Adams rivalry has become one of the county’s most intense and Friday night was no exception, turning out to be the expected close game for those in attendance there to watch basketball. In the opening period, the Dragons took an early lead behind some strong work on the offensive end by Zane Kingsolver, but the Devils battled back behind three-pointers from Seth Meade and Elijah Young and a bucket late by Cody Rothwell gave the visitors a 12-10 advantage after one.
Momentum turned full circle in the second stanza, completely in favor of the home side and the play of senior Ryan Rothwell. Rothwell went off for 12 points in the second period, including a pair from beyond the arc, as the Dragons stormed back in front. It was an all “Rothwell” quarter as North Adams’ Cody Rothwell scored seven of his own but when the halftime break rolled around, it was West Union with its biggest lead to that point, up 31-22.
The Dragons maintained that advantage through about half of the third quarter and a Rothwell three gave them their biggest lead of the game at 38-28, but that double digit deficit must have lit a flame in the Devils as they reeled off nine straight, capped by a Hesler trey that sliced the margin to a single point. With 12 seconds left in the period, a basket by Cameron Campbell put west Union up four, but an Elijah Young score in the final seconds brought North Adams within 41-39 headed into what promised to be a thrill-a-minute final eight minutes.
The Devils truck first, taking the lead back with a basket by Hesler and a stick back score from Austin McCormick. Another Rothwell three gave the lead back to the home side at 44-43 but a sweet little half hook in the lane from Cade Meade flipped the scoreboard again. Two Kingsolver free throws saw the lead change hands once more and that rend continued when Cody Rothwell scored and then the Dragons’ Clayton Madden hit a pair from the line to give his team a 48-47 lead.
All season North Adams sophomore Jayden Hesler has made big plays in clutch situations and he did it again Friday, drilling a three-point shot that gave his team the lead at 50-48. A pair of McCormick free throws put the Devils up by four, but the Dragons rallied, two free throws by Bowan Tomlin and a basket by Madden tying the game at 52 apiece with 1:46 to play, but unfortunately for the hosts, they were done scoring for the night.
With 31 seconds left, Elijah Young nailed a jumper to put the Devils in front and after Cameron Campbell misfired on a three-point attempt on the West Union end, North Adams rebounded and Cameron Young was fouled with 9.8 seconds remaining. The Dragons turned the ball over on their final possession and the Devils could celebrate their 12th win of the season as they knocked off the host Dragons by the final count of 56-52.
The win improved North Adams to 12-2 on the season, 8-1 in the SHAC, still on game behind first-place Ripley. The Dragons lost their third in a row on Friday, dropping them to 6-7 on the year, 5-3 in conference play,
The victorious Devils were led by Jayden Hesler’s 15 points, joined in double figures by Cody Rothwell with 11. Elijah Young added 9 and Austin McCormick 8 for the Devils.
West Union was paced by Ryan Rothwell’s game-high 18 points, with Bowan Tomlin scoring 12 and Zane Kingsolver 10.
The Devils were scheduled to face Racine Southern on Saturday night in the annual Coach Young Classic but that game was cancelled due to weather concerns, so the Devils will not be back on the court until Friday, Jan. 25 when they go on the road for another stiff conference test, traveling to Eastern Brown to face the Warriors in one of the area’s toughest venues.
West Union was back in action on Saturday at the Young Classic and likely suffering from “jet lag” and a noon tip off, fell to Fairland 43-29 to fall to 6-8 on the year. The Dragons were back in action on Tuesday, Jan. 22 with a non-conference trip to Portsmouth West and will be back in SHAC play on Friday night when they travel to Lynchburg.
North Adams
12 10 17 17 —56
West Union
10 21 10 11 —52
N. Adams (56): Hesler 6 1-3 15, C. Young 2 2-2 6, Rothwell 5 1-3 11, S. Meade 1 0-0 3, E. Young 4 0-1 9, C. Meade 2 0-0 4, McCormick 3 2-2 8, Team 23 6-11 56.
W. Union (52): Rothwell 6 202 18, Cameron Campbell 2 0-1 6, Staten 0 0-2 0, Madden 1 2-2 4, Tomlin 4 4-4 12, Conner Campbell 1 0-0 2, Kingsolver 4 2-2 10, Team 18 10-13 52.
