By Mark Carpenter
People’s Defender
It didn’t turn out to be as easy as it looked three-quarters of the way through but Coach Nathan Copas and his North Adams Green Devils picked up their fourth win to open the season on Saturday night, hanging on late to claim a 75-72 Southern Hills Athletic Conference win over the Lynchburg-Clay Mustangs.
Even with five different players hitting the scoring column, the Devils found themselves trailing on their home court after one quarter, 16-15. Then behind a eight-point second quarter from Bransyn Copas and a pair of Carson Osborne three-pointers, the home team rallied to take a 35-29 halftime advantage.
In the third stanza, the Devils caught fire early and extended their lead out to 20 points, but the Mustangs cut that down to 55-43 as the fourth quarter began.
“We took some bad shots, had some turnovers and decided not to guard anybody,” said Coach Copas.
The Lynchburg rally continued in the fourth quarter as the visitors put up 29 points to make things way too interesting for the home side. But with seven points from Jayce Rothwell and a couple of clutch free throws by Copas down the stretch, the Devils managed to hang on to pull out the three-point win and improve to 4-0 on the season.
The winners placed four players in double figures, led by Branysn Copas’s 21 points. He was joined in double figures by Carson Osborne with 15, Jayce Rothwell with 13 and Breestin Schweickart with 12.
Lynchburg was led by 21 points from Denver Clinton and 16 from Bryce Binkley.
The Devils put their unbeaten streak on the line on Tuesday night as they hit the road to face another unbeaten squad, the 5-0 Fayetteville Rockets, in an early showdown between two SHAC powers. The North Adams boys will be back at home on Friday, December 16, hosting Fairfield in conference action.
Green Devils 75
Mustangs 72
Lynchburg
16 13 14 29 —72
North Adams
15 20 20 20 —75
Lynchburg (72): Waits 2 2-2 8, Clinton 7 4-4 21, C. Bell 2 0-0 4, A. Bell 2 0-0 4, Shope 5 1-2 11, Binkley 6 3-4 16, Chisman 3 2-2 8, Team 27 12-14 72.
N. Adams (75): Rothwell 6 1-3 13, Hesler 3 0-0 6, Copas 8 3-5 21, Osborne 5 2-2 15, Schweickart 4 3-3 12, Ragan 4 0-2 8, Team 29 9-15 75.
Three-Point Goals:
Lynchburg (6)- Waits 2, Clinton 3, Binkley 1
N. Adams (5)- Copas 2, Osborne 2, Schweickart 1