By Mark Carpenter-

Old Man Winter had other ideas about the North Adams boys being able to play the finale of last weekend’s Fast-Track It Coach Young Classic, but he was not able to prevent the Lady Devils for their appointed contest as they hosted the Chesapeake Lady Panthers in the third game of the day in the Classic. With two fairly evenly matched teams, the contest was tight from start to finish, with neither team able to hold more than a six-point advantage, before the Lady Devils hot six free throws in the final 1:22 of play to hang on for a 46-41 victory.
As is often the case, it was a balanced scoring attack that led the Lady Devils to the win, getting eight player in the scoring column and only one of those in double figures, DeLaney Harper with 10 points. The win at the Classic was the 11th of the season for the North Adams girls against five losses, and they came back on Monday, Jan. 21 to post win number 12, 65-39 over visiting Blanchester.
“An ugly win is better than an ugly loss,” said North Adams head coach Rob Davis. “We just didn’t seem to have a lot of energy today, maybe after playing Eastern in our last game got us out her flat today.”
A Mary Sonner three-pointer accounted for the first North Adams points of the game as the two teams went back and forth through the first quarter, one that saw two ties and six lead changes. A Harper free throw tied the game at 7 with 2:06 left in the period and a later three-point goal from Karissa Buttelwerth gave the host team a 10-9 lead, answered by a trey from Chesapeake’s Karli Davis, but the last volley went to North Adams as Grace McDowell drilled a long three at the buzzer to give the Lady Devils a 13-12 lead.
The home team increased that margin to five with two baskets by Buttelwerth to start the second period, but a later 6-1 run by the Lady Panthers tied the game again, this time at 20 apiece. A basket by Harper and two free throws from Marah Call late in the half sent North Adams to the intermission nursing a slim 24-22 advantage.
The two teams combined for just 14 points in the entire third quarter, but the Lady Devils got a nice spark off the bench from sophomore Faith Howell, Howell, who was injured earlier in the season and is just now rounding back into full game shape, scored three baskets in the third quarter to help her team stay in front. The only other basket in the third frame for the Lady Devils came on a put back by Braylie Jones and as the fourth quarter rolled into view, North Adams still led 32-28.
“Faith gave us some great minutes today,” said Coach Davis. “She plays hard all the time and she is improving every game.”
McDowell extended the lead to six points with a pair of free throws to open the fourth quarter, and after Chesapeake rallied to slice that lead in half, an offensive rebound and score by Sonner kept North Adams up 36-31, but a three-pointer from Corrine Ferguson brought the Lady Panthers back to within 36-34. Both teams then went scoreless for nearly two minutes before a three-point play by Harper after she rebounded her own miss again stretched the North Adams lead out to five.
After another free toss by Harper made it a six-point lead before the Lady Panther reeled off five straight to pull within 40-39 with just 1:40 remaining, but good teams close out wins with strong performances at the charity stripe and the Lady Devils did just that, first getting a pair from Harper at the 1:22 mark to make it 42-39. Next came two from McDowell with 46.4 seconds to play that pushed the lead back to five. After the Lady Panthers got a basket from Davis, the host squad sealed the deal, with McDowell again nailing a pair from the line to close out the scoring in a 46-41 North Adams victory.
In the “W”, Harper’s 10 points led the Lady Devils, and the rest of the balance included 7 points each from McDowell and Buttelwerth and 6 points apiece from Sonner, Jones, and Howell.
Chesapeake placed a pair of girls in double figures, led by Karli Davis with a game-high 13 points, with Maddie Ward adding 12.
After the Monday night win over Blanchester, the stretch of late season non-conference games for North Adams was scheduled to continue on Thursday,Jan. 24 with a trip to Huntington. The Lady Devils, who sit third in the big school division of the Southern Hills Athletic Conference, then get back into conference play with West Union (Jan. 28), Peebles (Jan. 31), and Ripley (Feb. 4).

Chesapeake
12 10 6 13 —41
North Adams
13 11 8 14 —46

Chesapeake (41): Anderson 2 3-4 7, Ferguson 3 0-0 7, McComas 1 0-0 2, Ward 4 4-6 12, Davis 6 0-0 13, Team 16 7-10 41.
N. Adams (46): Sonner 2 1-2 6, Shipley 1 0-0 2, Buttelwerth 3 0-0 7, Jones 1 4-5 6, Call 0 2-2 2, McDowell 1 4-5 7, Harper 2 6-9 10, Howell 3 0-0 6, Team 13 17-23 46.
Three-Point Goals:
Chesapeake (2)- Ferguson 1, Davis 1
N. Adams (3)- Sonner 1, Buttelwerth 1, McDowell 1

North Adams’ Faith Howelll gave the Lady Devils a nice spark off the bench in the third quarter of their 46-41 win over Chesapeake on Saturday, Jan. 19 in the annual Coach Young Classic, (Photo by Mark Carpenter)
Using the left hook, North Adams’ Mary Sonner maneuvers to get around the defense of Chesapeake’s Blake Anderson in action from last Saturday’s Coach Young Classic. (Photo by Mark Carpenter)