By Mark Carpenter
People’s Defender
Non-conference high school boys basketball action came to North Adams High school on Saturday, February 12 and it turned out to be one of the season’s most exciting contests. It was Homecoming Night and the Green Devils hosted the Minford Falcons, a team that earned a #1 seed in the upcoming Division III sectional tournament. The favored Falcons built a 10-point halftime lead only to see the Devils storm back in the second half to win 45-44 on an Avery Anderson free throw in the final seconds.
North Adams trailed 13-0 after one quarter and then 27-17 after a sluggish offensive first half. Things changed in the third period, however, with serious offensive sparks provided by Bransyn Copas and Kam Buttelwerth, In the third stanza, Copas drilled a trio of three-point goals while Buttelwerth scored seven as the home team rallied to take a 35-33 lead after three, much to the delight of the large contingent of Devils fans on hand.
The game came down to the final seconds, a tie game when Minford missed a shot and Anderson hauled down the rebound and was fouled with 1.5 seconds left. The senior center hit the first free throw to give his team the lead and the visiting Falcons couldn’t get off a last shot, giving the Devils the huge upset win.
“This was a big win for our guys heading into the tournament,” said Coach Copas. “I thought we played flat in the first half but in the second half we played with more energy and urgency. I though we battled defensively most of the night. We had a great third quarter that gave us the momentum to get this ‘W’.”
“We had multiple guys step up. Kam Buttelwerth and Bransyn (Copas) gave us the offensive spark n the third and Avery had a man’s rebound at the end of the game and went to the line to seal the deal. We have to build confidence off this game and carry it into the tournament.”
The Devils improved to 11-10 overall and were led in scoring in the win by 18 points from Bransyn Copas, with Kam Buttelwerth also reaching double figures with 10.
Coach Copas and his troops began Division III sectional tournament play on Tuesday, February 15as they hosted Coal grove with a trip to the sectional finals at Eastern Brown on the line. The results of that Tuesday game were not available at press time.
BOX SCORE
Minford
13 14 6 11 —44
North Adams
9 8 18 10 —45
Minford (44): Zimmermann 4 5-6 13, Crank 3 0-0 8, Montgomery 6 2-2 16, Parker 1 0-0 2, Connelly 2 0-0 5, Team 14 7-8 44.
N. Adams (45): J. Rothwell 1 0-0 2, Copas 7 0-1 18, C. Rothwell 1 4-4 6, Osborne 1 0-0 3, Anderson 1 2-4 4, Campbell 1 0-0 2, Buttelwerth 4 1-2 10, Team 16 7-11 45.
Three-Point Goals:
Minford (4)- Crank 2, Montgomery 2
N. Adams (6)-Copas 4, Buttelwerth 1, Osborne 1
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