By Mark Carpenter
Saturday afternoons are usually reserved for college football or basketball rivalries but in this odd season of high school basketball last Saturday afternoon saw an Adams County rivalry renewed on the hardwood at Peebles High School. The Indians entertained their rivals, the North Adams Green Devils, in Southern Hills Athletic Conference play as both teams continued to try to get in as many conference games as possible before tournament action begins.
As far as last Saturday’s contest went, it was a solid performance on both ends of the court by the visiting Green Devils that led them to their 12th win of the season. Trailing by one after one quarter, the Devils outscored their hosts 26-12 in the second period and never looked back, claiming a 52-36 victory over the Indians.
“We’re just glad to be back in the gym and playing again,” said North Adams head coach Nathan Copas in a postgame radio chat. “We’ve played two games in like 18 days and practice was limited. Some of our rhythm was gone a little bit and we had two guys who hadn’t played in a month because they had been quarantined. We were lucky to get this one in and now we get ready for the sectionals.”
The two rivals only met once this season, that being on Saturday, and for the first eight minutes it was the typical Peebles-North Adams battle, played tight and close. The Indians held a 10-9 lead after one period, but then the roof caved in period number two.
North Adams opened the second quarter with a huge 19-2 run, fueled by three-point goals from Jayden Hesler and Seth Meade. Add in two buckets from Cade Meade and in the blink of an eye, the Devils had opened up a 28-12 advantage. Peebles regained a bit of composure with consecutive three-pointers from Oakley Burba and Hunter White, but drives and scores from Hesler and Bransyn Copas pushed the North Adams lead back out to 35-18. Two White free throws and a strong stick back score from Easton Wesley left their Indians trailing at the half, 35-22.
No team coached by Josh Arey is going to roll over and die and the Indians came out of the locker room with a passion, with baskets by Burba, White, and Wesley cutting the North Adams lead back to single digits at 35-28. It took over three minutes for the Devils to get on the board on a bucket by Copas, which actually turned out to be the only North Adams points of the entire third quarter. Even holding their opponent to a single basket, the Indians squandered an opportunity to really get close, only scoring 7 points of their own and still trailed 37-29 as the final period began.
“We talked at halftime about how they could get back in the game, for us to start settling and taking bad shots and giving up offensive rebounds,” Coach Copas said. “I thought we started forcing things in the second half and got stagnant, just a little rusty from being off so many days I guess. We did separate early in the fourth quarter and I think that was the difference.”
The Peebles offensive struggles continued over the final eight minutes as they again only mustered 7 points, four of those from senior Dawson Mills. Meanwhile, the Devils found the range early, five quick points from Seth Meade pushing their lead back to 42-29. with 4:35 to play, a free throw by Alan McCoy got the home team back within 44-36, but a bucket by Andrew Brand and another from Cade Meade as part of 6-0 run that sealed the deal for North Adams as they came out on top in this rivalry contest by the final count of 52-36.
For the winners, Jayden Hesler led a quartet of players in double figures, scoring 16, with Seth Meade adding 12, while Cade Meade and Bransyn Copas tossed in 11 apiece. The North Adams defense was outstanding, only allowing Peebles 12 field goals in the game.
“We tried to mix up our defenses a little bit,” said Coach Copas. “We played more zone than we normally would but it seemed to get them a little stagnant.”
No Indians hit double figures on the day but it was a balanced book with Oakley Burba scoring 9, and Dawson Mills, Hunter White, and Alan McCoy each scoring 7. Easton Wesley added 6 in the loss.
The Devils improved to 13-6 on the season, 9-2 overall in the SHAC, with two conference games still to play, both to come after the postseason run ends. That North Adams postseason began on Monday night as they Devils hosted a Division III sectional semi-final, welcoming Nelsonville-York to town. Look for a report on that contest in the upcoming weekend edition of The People’s Defender.
“I like our draw and we just have to go play each tournament game, four quarters at a time, you aren’t guaranteed a next game,” said the North Adams head coach. “I like out match ups with people, we just have to take care of the basketball, rebound, and execute.”
The Indians will begin tourney play as a #7 seed on their home court on Saturday, Feb. 27 as they will host a Division IV sectional title game, facing the winner of South Gallia and Sciotoville East in a 7 p.m. tip off.
North Adams
9 26 2 15 —52
Peebles
10 12 7 7 —36
N. Adams (52): Hesler 6 2-2 16, Vogel 0 0-2 0, Copas 4 3-4 11, Brand 1 0-0 2, S. Meade 5 0-0 12, C. Meade 4 2-2 11, Team 20 7-10 52.
Peebles (36): Mills 2 2-2 7, White 2 2-2 7, Burba 3 2-3 9, McCoy 2 3-6 7, Wesley 3 0-1 6, team 12 9-14 36.
Three-Point Goals:
N. Adams (5)- Hesler 2, S. Meade 2, C. Meade 1
Peebles (3)- Mills 1, White 1, Burba 1
