By Mark Carpenter
The North Adams Lady Devils kept it rolling on Tuesday, Jan. 26, claiming their 12th consecutive victory after a season-opening loss. The latest victim was the West Union Lady Dragons as the North Adams squad traveled to the county seat and kepi their hold on first place in the big school division of the Southern Hills Athletic Conference as they handed the home team a convincing 69-25 defeat.
It was a tough call for the Lady Dragons, who came out of quarantine last week and have been forced to play three games without the benefit of any practice time. That may or may not have mattered as the Lady Devils led from start to finish, scoring the game’s first 11 points to make their early statement.
The North Adams defensive pressure, as it normally does, forced their opponent into a number of turnovers that resulted in easy scores, and a pair of three-point goals from Braylie Jones extended the lead to 14-2 after the Lady Dragons had finally got on the board with a basket by Alexa Rowe.
The home team showed a little more spark as the first quarter wound down, getting baskets Molly Purcell, Maddie Taylor, and Kendra Grooms to slice the deficit to 20-8 after one.
A bucket by Rowe began the second stanza but North Adams responded with a basket by Sierra Kendall and two DeLaney Harper free throws. Later in the second period, the Lady Devils began to pull away further after getting three-balls from Jones and Laney Ruckel as art of a 10-0 run, that was finally snapped with a basket by Purcell and a Payton Stapleton three-pointer and when the two teams reached halftime, it the visitors, in front of a very sparse crowd, leading 36-16.
The eight minutes after halftime turned out to be disastrous for the Lady Dragons as they managed nary a field goal over the entire third quarter, just a single free throw from Purcell. In the meantime, the red-hot Lady Devils got a three-pointer from Marah Call on their first possession and two more from Wylie Shipley later in the frame as they out hustled the home team on both ends of the floor. Back to back buckets from Kendall closed out the third period with North Adams leading 59-17.
The final quarter saw the Lady Devils able to get their reserves some floor time and they got point production from Ainsley Grooms,Brianna Robinson, and Keetyn Hupp, while West Union got three-pointers from Stapleton and Kaitlyn Davis. When all was said and done, the Lady Devils had improved to 12-1 overall and 8-1 in the conference with the 69-25 triumph.
Braylie Jones led the 13 North Adams girls in the scoring column with 17 points, a total that included a quartet of three-point goals. Wylie Shipley also hit double figures for the winners with 14, while DeLaney Harper and Sierra Kendall scored 6 apiece.
On the strength of her two three-point goals, Payton Stapleton led West Union with 6 points, with Molly Purcell and Alexa Rowe each adding 5.
The Lady Devils face a big moment on their schedule on Saturday, Jan. 39 when they will venture over to Brown County for a rematch with the Eastern Lady Warriors, who are still rankled in the top 10 in Ohio in Division III. The rivalry continues on Saturday with Eastern looking for revenge for a 44-40 loss to the Lady Devils in Seaman earlier this season.
North Adams
20 16 23 10 —69
West Union
8 8 1 8 —25
N. Adams (69): Hupp 2 0-0 4, 3 0-0 6, Shipley 6 0-2 14, Grooms 1 1-2 3, Buttelwerth 2 0-0 4, B. Jones 7 0-0 17, Call 2 0-0 5, Robinson 1 0-0 2, Ruckel 1 1-2 4, K. Jones 1 0-0 2, Harper 2 2-2 6, Howell 1 0-0 2, Team 27 4-6 69.
W. Union (25): Grooms 2 0-0 4, Davis 1 0-0 3, Taylor 1 0-0 2, Purcell 2 1-2 5, Stapleton 2 0-0 6, Rowe 2 1-2 5, Team 10 2-4 25.
Three-Point Goals:
N. Adams (7)- Shipley 2, Call 1. B. Jones 4
