North Adams junior guard Kenlie Jones led the way with a career-high 26 points as the Lady Devils opened their 2022-23 season with a 51-37 road win at Fairfield on November 21. (Photo by Mark Carpenter)
By Mark Carpenter
People’s Defender
Coach Rob Davis and his North Adams Lady Devils are always a force in the Southern Hills Athletic Conference and they made an early conference statement in their 2022-23 season opener. On Monday, November 21, the Lady Devils made the road trip to Fairfield High School to face the host Lady Lions in one of the toughest venues for opposing teams in southeast Ohio.
Lady Devils’ wins are always a team effort but at Fairfield it was the play of junior guard Kenlie Jones that lit up the scoreboard, Jones came out with the hottest of hands, scoring 16 points in the first quarter, hitting six three-pointers in the game, and leading all scorers with a career-high 26 points as North Adams claimed the big road win by the final score of 51-37.
The Jones explosion in the opening period along with two buckets by senior Keetyn Hupp gave the Lady Devils a double digit lead of 22-11. The scoring pace for the visitors slowed in the second frame as the Lady Lions won it 11-7, but that still left North Adams on top 29-22 at the halftime break.
The Lady Devils’ defense clamped down after the break, allowing the Lady Lions just three third quarter points. North Adams got three-balls from Jones and Hupp and extended their advantage to 39-25 as the final quarter began. Free throws late in games have haunted the Lady Devils in past seasons and in this win, they managed to convert 5 of 8 down the stretch to maintain their double digit lead and hold on for a season-opening victory.
Jones’s 26 easily led all scorers while Hupp also reached double figures with 10, with Laney Ruckel adding 9. Hailey Tolle led Fairfield with 10.
“It’s always good to get a league win up here at Fairfield,” Coach Davis told C103 Radio in the postgame. “ We’ve always seemed to struggle when we come up here, but a win’s a win. We worked against a zone a lot to get prepared for tonight and I thought we handled it well.”
“Kenlie really stepped up and if she can keep doing that we can be pretty good. A lot of our shots didn’t fall tonight but we have kids that are good shooters and they will start to fall.”
The next scheduled outing for the Lady Devils will be yet another tough conference road game as they travel to Peebles on Thursday, December 1 for an early season county showdown.
North Adams
22 7 10 12 —51
Fairfield
11 11 3 12 —37
N. Adams (51): Grooms 1 0-0 2, Boerger 1 0-0 2, Hupp 3 3-6 10, Ruckel 2 4-7 9, Brand 1 0-0 2, Jones 9 2-2 26, Team 17 9-16 51.
Fairfield (37): Tolle 4 2-2 10, Hanilton 2 0-0 6, Quickle 1 0-0 3, Magee 2 5-6 9, Donley 2 2-4 7, hattan 1 0-2 2, Team 12 9-15 37.
Three-Point Goals:
N. Adams (8): Jones 6, Hupp 1, Ruckel 1
Fairfield (4): Hamilton 2, Quickle 1, Donley 1
