North Adams’ Ainsley Grooms is fouled on her way up to the basket in action from the third quarter of the Lady Devils first-round sectional win over Chesapeake on February 10. (Photo by Mark Carpenter)

North Adams’ Ainsley Grooms is fouled on her way up to the basket in action from the third quarter of the Lady Devils first-round sectional win over Chesapeake on February 10. (Photo by Mark Carpenter)

<p>North Adams freshman Tatum Grooms (1) is hammered on this fourth quarter shot attempt, with the resulting free throw being her first career varsity point. (Photo by Mark Carpenter)</p>

North Adams freshman Tatum Grooms (1) is hammered on this fourth quarter shot attempt, with the resulting free throw being her first career varsity point. (Photo by Mark Carpenter)

By Mark Carpenter

People’s Defender

The super sectional tournament format employed by the Southeast District often leads to lopsided first-round games and that was definitely the case on Thursday, February 10 at North Adams High School. In first round Division III sectional action, the #8 seeded and host Lady Devils faced off with the #25 seeded Chesapeake Lady Panthers and after a somewhat close first quarter, the home team scored 29 consecutive points in a run that spanned parts of three quarters to easily handle the Lady Panthers by a final score of 44-10. The win propelled Coach Rob Davis and his squad back to a familiar spot, the Division III sectional finals.

“We just came out and jumped on them from the start, made our easy shots for a change,” said Coach Davis in his postgame radio interview. “When we make shots, we can get in our pressure earlier.”

The Lady Devils did establish control early, leading from wire-to-wire after scoring the game’s first six points, baskets by Keetyn Hupp, Ainsley Grooms, and Laney Ruckel. the latter two of those scores came off of steals as the Lady Panthers had no answer for the patented North Adams pressure defense. The visitors didn’t get on the board until a Emily Duncan three-pointer at the 4:50 mark of the opening period, but the Lady Devils responded with a 6-2 to end the first, a three-pointer from Harlee Brand giving the home side a 14-5 advantage.

That Brand trey was the beginning of a remarkable run for the North Adams girls, as they scored the game’s next 26 points, a 29-0 run altogether. The Lady Devils’ defense pitched a shutout in the second period and did more damage from three-point land, getting triples from Hupp and Morgan Shupert, the latter coming in the final seconds of the second frame and sending the home team to the intermission with a commanding 30-5 lead.

Neither the North Adams offense or defense let up after the break as the Lady Devils tallied the first 10 points of the second half, boosting the lead to 40-5 and bringing the OHSAA running clock rule into effect. The Lady Panthers finally broke a 14-minute scoring drought with a basket by Kate Ball with 2:45 remaining in the third, but another Shupert three-ball made it 43-7 heading into the final eight minutes.

With the clock on the move and the pace slowing and the benches emptying, the Lady Devils managed just a single point in the fourth quarter, a free throw from Tatum Grooms but that was certainly no factor as they cruised to their 17th victory of the season and advanced in tournament play with the one-sided triumph.

As usual, the Lady Devils produced a balanced scoring attack, with eight girls part of the scoring column, led by two in double figures, Laney Ruckel with 12 and Keetyn Hupp with 11. Morgan Shupert added 6 with Sierra Kendall and Ainsley Grooms getting 5 apiece.

“Keetyn had been struggling with her shot but she was better tonight, she runs the floor and does a little bit of everything for us,” said coach Davis. “She gets down on herself but we have to have her keep her head up, she’s one of our key players. Laney is just a tough kid, we love that toughness. All my kids can play tough and they all gave us good minutes tonight.”

Chesapeake was led by 5 points from Kate Ball,

The win moved the Lady Devils into the Division III sectional title game, which was played on Monday, February 14, right back on the North Adams home court. They faced #9 seeded Coal Grove for the right o move to the district tourney at Waverly. Look for a report on that game in the upcoming weekend edition of The People’s Defender.

“It’s tournament time and we have to come out ready to play and execute,” said Coach Davis.

BOX SCORE

Chesapeake

5 0 2 3 —10

North Adams

14 16 13 1 —44

Chesapeake (10): Pauley 1 0-0 2, Duncan 1 0-0 3, Ball 1 3-4 5, Team 3 3-4 10.

N. Adams (44): T. Grooms 0 1-2 1, Shupert 2 0-0 6, Kendall 1 3-4 5, A. Grooms 2 1-2 5, Hupp 4 2-2 11, Ruckel 4 4-5 12, Brand 1 0-0 3, Jones 0 1-2 1, Team 14 12-17 44.

Three-Point Goals:

Chesapeake (1)- Duncan 1

N. Adams (4)- Shupert 2, Hupp 1, Brand 1