By Mark Carpenter
People’s Defender
Starting their season later than any boys team in the county, Coach Nathan Copas and his North Adams Green Devils got their 2022-23 campaign off to a rocking start last weekend, sweeping non-conference wins over Chesapeake on Friday night on the road and then Fairland at home the following evening.
At Chesapeake on Friday, the Devils led just 11-10 after the first quarter, but exploded to outscore the host Panthers 40-17 in the middle two frames to pull away en route to a 57-34 opening night triumph. Junior Bransyn Copas led the winners and all scorers with 28 points, a total that included five three-pointers and a 7 for 7 performance from the free throw line. Carson Osborne and Breestin Schweickart added 9 points apiece for the Devils.
“We got off to a slow start but our defense picked up and we got some easy baskets in transition that helped our offense get flowing,” said Coach Copas. “Overall, I felt it was a solid effort from our guys and a good way to start the season.”
The Saturday night win didn’t come as easily as the Devils hosted the Fairland Dragons in a contest that went into overtime and then down to the final shot. With the score tied at 35 in the final seconds of the overtime period, the Devils had the ball under their own basket and a perfectly executed out-of-bounds play resulted in a Jayce Rothwell basket at the buzzer and a thrilling 37-35 victory.
In the low-scoring affair, Rothwell led the Devils with 13 points, with Copas adding 9 and Hunter Brown 7.
North Adams was back on their home court on Tuesday, December 6, hosting the Manchester Greyhounds in the first Southern Hills Athletic Conference outing of the season. Look for a report on that county battle in the upcoming weekend edition of The People’s Defender.
