By Mark Carpenter-
Just minutes before the tip off of Monday night’s Southern Hills Athletic conference rivalry battle at Eastern High School, where the Lady Warriors were entertaining the North Adams Lady Devils, the first Associated Press poll was released and the undefeated Lady Warriors found themselves as the #2 ranked team in Division III in the state of Ohio. For one night at least, the Lady Devils weren’t impressed.
Putting together one of their best efforts of the entire season, the Lady Devils threw quite a scare into their hosts, holding an eight-point lead early in the fourth quarter before the Lady Warriors went on a crucial 12-0 run to take the lead and they never gave it up, holding on for the 55-51 win in an exciting and well-played varsity girls basketball game.
“This was one that we should have won,” said North Adams head coach Rob Davis. “I thought we really outplayed them most of the game”, a sentiment shared by Eastern Brown head coach Kevin Pickerill.
“We killed them on the boards but we just couldn’t make free throws and some really easy put backs,” Davis continued. “We got rattled in the fourth quarter and stopped attacking the basket and probably panicked a little. We’re past moral victories but tonight was a game that we have to close out.”
The story of the first half of Monday night’s game was the dominant inside play of North Adams junior DeLaney Harper. When Eastern’s big girl, Mackenzie Gloff was saddled with foul trouble, Harper took full advantage in the paint, and would eventually end up with a game-high and career high 30 points. Harper began the game from the outside, however, hitting a three-pointer on the Lady Devils’ first possession and another try by Braylie Jones gave North Adams a quick 8-0 lead over the stunned Lady Warriors. Coach Pickerill’s squad never panic and the home team responded in a big way, scoring the game’s next nine points, capped by a Rylee Leonard bucket that gave them a 9-8 lead.
A three-pointer from Wylie Shipley flipped the lead back to North Adams, but the Lady Warriors ended the first period with a 6-0 run to lead 15-11 after one.
Early in the second stanza, a three-pointer from the freshman Leonard gave Eastern an 18-13 advantage, but the Lady Devils stormed back with three consecutive baskets in the paint from Harper to regain the lead at 19-8, but a three from Camryn Pickerill continued the back and forth and gave the lead back to the home side. Pickerill dialed long distance again later in the quarter to put her team up by five and the half closed with two Harper free throws that drew the Lady Devils to within 26-23 at the break.
The play early in the third quarter was nothing short of thrilling as the two rivals battled for the lead, North Adams taking it back on another Harper three-point goal, but an old-fashioned three-point play by Leonard put the home team back in front and two Pickerill free throws at the five minute mark left Eastern on top 31-30, but the Lady Devils found a spark and fueled by a Mary Sonner three, the visitors went on a 9-0 run that turned the momentum totally and gave North Adams a 39-31 advantage, and the visitors hung on to the lead at 41-35 as the third quarter ended.
The upset continued to look imminent as the Lady Devils got a bucket from Faith Howell to open the fourth quarter and a later “basket and one” by Harper made it 48-40 with 6:16 to play, but momentum took another shift as North Adams went almost six minutes without scoring, a bad time for that to happen.
The seasoned Lady Warriors took full advantage of the North Adams drought, going on the run that eventually made them winners. Beginning with a three-pointer from Juanita Frost and ending with a Gloff free throw, the Eastern squad scored 12 straight at a crucial point in the final period, taking back the lead at 52-48 and taking the wind out of the sails of a determined North Adams squad. There was still hope for the Lady Devils as a coast to coast drive and score by Sonner made it 53-51. The senior guard was fouled on the play but missed the free throw and on the other end, Leonard canned a pair from the stripe for a four point Eastern lead, which is how it ended up when the Lady Devils turned the ball over on their final possession of the night and the Lady Warriors, though not easily, preserved their unbeaten record and moved to 14-0 on the season.
The winners placed a duo of players in double figures, their solid 1-2 guard combo of freshman Rylee Leonard with 23 ( 8 for 8 from the foul line) and senior Camryn Pickerill with 13. Junior Emma Brown also played a solid game for the Lady Warriors, scoring 8 points.
The Lady Devils were led by the aforementioned DeLaney Harper’s game-high 30 points, the only North Adams player in double figures. Wylie Shipley scored 7 for the Lady Devils, who dropped to 9-4 with the loss, 4-1 in the SHAC.
Coach Davis and his troops were back in conference action on Thursday, Jan. 9, hosting Whiteoak and will also be at home on Monday, Jan. 13 to face county rival Manchester.
North Adams
11 12 18 10 —51
Eastern Brown
15 11 9 20 —55
N. Adams (51): Sonner 2 0-1 5, Shipley 3 0-0 7, Jones 1 0-0 3, Call 2 0-0 4, Harper 11 6-7 30, Howell 1 0-0 2, Team 20 6-12 51.
E. Brown (55): Wills 0 0-2 0, Pickerill 3 4-4 13, Frost 1 0-0 3, Leonard 7 8-8 23, Prine 1 0-0 2, Brown 3 2-4 8, Gloff 2 2-4 6, Team 17 16-22 55.
Three-Point Goals:
N. Adams (5)- Sonner 1, Shipley 1, Jones 1, Harper 2
E. Brown (5)- Pickerill 3, Frost 1, Leonard 1
