With Peebles’ Payton Johnson (right) closing in, North Adams’ Laney Ruckel gets off a three-point jumper in the first half of the Lady Devils’ 50-44 victory on November 22. (Photo by Mark Carpenter)
Second half comeback leads North Adams to 5-44 victory
North Adams’ Sierra Kendall, center, runs into a roadblock in the form of Peebles’ Marisa Moore (10) in action from the two teams’ SHAC opener on November 22. (Photo by Mark Carpenter)
Perhaps the most important pass of the game was this one from North Adams’ Sydney Figgins which resulted in a third quarter Lizzie Gill three-pointer that gave the Lady Devils a six-point lead at the time. (Photo by Mark Carpenter)
By Mark Carpenter
People’s Defender
An early season Southern Hills Athletic Conference girls showdown came to North Adams High School on Monday, November 22 as the Lady Devils played host to county rival Peebles. The Lady Indians already had a non-conference game under their belts, a loss to Portsmouth West, while for Coach Rob Davis and his North Adams squad, it was the opener to their 2021-22 campaign.
In their season opening loss, Coach Sidney Pell’s Peebles squad struggled badly in the first half and then put together a much better second half and that momentum carried over to their trip to North Adams as the Lady Indians led for most of the first half, taking a four-point advantage into the intermission. But the Lady Devils stormed back in the second half, taking the lead for good midway through the third quarter, and held off all the Peebles rallies to open their season with a 50-44 home triumph.
“It’s nice to win a league game right off the bat over the team that’s favored to win the small school division,” Coach Davis told C103 Radio after the win. “We knew we’d have our hands full, they’re a good ball team. I couldn’t be more pleased with winning this first game.”
“We got gassed a little bit tonight and we got in some foul trouble, but kids like Sydney Figgins came in and gave us a spark. Our role players did what they needed to do. It’s early and we’re still trying to get the bugs out.”
What turned out to be a fast-paced, intense, and physical contest began with the Lady Indians landing the first punches, taking a 7-2 lead on a three-point play by Payton Johnson and baskets by Summer Bird and McKenzie Morrison. That lead evaporated quickly when North Adams got back-to-back threes from Keetyn Hupp and Morgan Shupert and it was “game on”. A bucket by Emmi Nichols put Peebles back in front and a basket by Johnson extended the advantage to 13-9 before the Lady Devils rallied again. A score by Ainsley Grooms on an out-of-bounds play and a steal and score at eh buzzer by Laney Ruckel left the two rivals deadlocked at 13 apiece after one period of play.
The opening two minutes of the second stanza belonged to the Lady Indians as a 6-0 run propelled them in front 19-13. The only point the home team could muster for the first three minutes of the second quarter was a Ruckel free throw at the 6:07 mark and when Morrison hit an acrobatic shot in the lane that resulted in an “and one”, Peebles had a 22-14 lead. The Lady Devils clawed their way back into the game, most of that work done at the free throw line. Charity tosses from Sierra Kendall, Gill, and Sydney Figgins sliced the Peebles lead down to 26-22 by halftime.
The pace of the second half was slowed won somewhat by continual trips to the free throw line as the two sides combined for 30 free tosses over the final 16 minutes, 24 of those going to the home team. The third quarter began with a Morrison trey that put Peebles up 29-24, but an 8-0 run by the Lady Devils, capped by three Kenlie Jones free throws put North Adams on top 32-29, and the home side stayed there for the game’s final 10 minutes.
Coach Davis’s troops continued to pad their lead, two free throws from Hupp, a three-pointer by Gill on a perfect inside-out look by Figgins, and then a Figgins layup in transition gave the Lady Devils their biggest lead of the night at 39-31. Peebles was able to shortcut some of that home team momentum when Johnson got loose to drain a long three-pointer at the buzzer, leaving the Lady Indians down five as the final period began.
Peebles pulled closer with a bucket from Johnson on their first possession of the fourth quarter, but the Lady Devils answered with a four straight, including a Jones three-pointer to lead 43-36. There’s no quit in Pell’s team, however, as the Lady Indians hit four free throws of their own over a three-minute span to close back to within 44-40 with 2:25 left to play.
At that point, the Lady Devils decide to take the air out and milk the clock but turned the ball over and the Lady Indians returned the favor with a turnover of their own. With time running down, Coach Pell began the fouling process, sending the Lady Devils to the line, which partially accounts for the high free throw totals. Jones had the ball in her hands most often for the home team, which meant she collected eight free throws down the stretch, converting half of those to keep her team in front.
Peebles’ Natalee Workman hot a short jumper with 7 seconds left to close the gap to 48-44, but a pair of Hupp free throws two seconds later turned out to be the final points in a hard-fought 50-44 opening win for the North Adams girls.
Due mostly to her work at the charity stripe the sophomore Jones led the winners in scoring with 14 points, but as is usually the case for Rob Davis teams, she was joined in the scoring column by seven teammates as every North Adams player who saw time, scored. Ruckel added 9 to the cause, with Hupp and Gill scoring 8 apiece.
“Our kids get after it and they’re a fun bunch to coach,” said Davis. “We’re undersized and we’re just going to have to battle.”
The Lady Indians had two players reach double figures, led by Payton Johnson’s 16 points, with McKenzie Morrison adding 11. Summer Bird scored 7 as Peebles dropped to 0-2, but they picked up their first win later in the week with a 66-61 overtime victory on the road at Miami Trace.
Peebles
13 13 8 10 —44
North Adams
13 9 17 11 — 50
Peebles (44): Workman 1 0-0 2, Moore 1 0-1 2, Nichols 1 0-1 2, Morrison 3 4-7 11, Johnson 6 3-3 16, McFarland 2 0-1 4, Bird 2 3-6 7, Team 16 10-19 44.
N. Adams (50): Shupert 1 0-0 3, Kendall 0 1-2 1, Grooms 1 1-2 3, Hupp 2 4-6 9, Ruckel 2 5-8 9, Jones 3 7-12 14, Gill 2 3-4 8, Figgins 1 1-2 3, Team 12 22-36 50.
Three-Point Goals:
Peebles (2): Morrison 1, Johnson 1
N. Adams (4): Shupert 1, Hupp 1, Jones 1, Gill 1
