As she typically does, North Adams point guard Kenlie Jones quickly brings the ball up the court in action from the Lady Devils’ win over Wilmington on January 21. (Photo by Mark Carpenter)
46-33 victory keeps North Adams undefeated
North Adams; Keetyn Hupp attempts to chase down a loose ball during the Lady Devils’ win over Wilmington. Hupp scored 11 points as the North Adams girls improved to 18-0. (Photo by Mark Carpenter)
By Mark Carpenter
People’s Defender
On Saturday, January 21, Eastern Brown High School hosted eight varsity girls basketball games and the finale of that action matched up the North Adams Lady Devils with the Division II Wilmington Lady Hurricane in an 8:40 p.m. tip off. The Lady Devils came into the game with a perfect 17-0 record and looking for a win that would pad their already impressive tournament resume.
After trailing after a sluggish first quarter, the Lady Devils used a 12-0 second quarter run to take control of the game and never gave up that lead as they downed the Lady Hurricane by a final count if 46-33.
“Our bench came in and gave us a spark, great minutes when we rallied there in the second quarter, ” said North Adams head coach Rob Davis in his postgame radio spot. “Keetyn (Hupp) got into foul trouble and had to sit out most of the second quarter and our defense came up big again. The game was physical and that’s what we have to learn to deal with.”
“I thought Mckenna Shelton came in and gave us some good minutes in the second quarter and I rewarded her with some more minutes in the second half. She’s a little timid at time but she plays hard. Our sophomores are playing big varsity games now and they are maturing as we go. The whole team is relentless and I love coaching these girls.”
The North Adams girls struggled from the opening period, missing shot after shot, shots that they normally convert. After taking a 6-5 lead on baskets by Kenlie Jones, Harlee Brand and Katelynn Boerger, the Lady Devils went scoreless for four minutes while Wilmington finished the first quarter on an 8-0 run that gave the Lady Hurricane a 13-6 advantage.
The break between quarters seemed to energize the Lady Devils, undoubtedly with a bit of urging from Coach Davis. North Adams began the second stanza with 12 straight points- a layup in transition from Jones, a Jones three-pointer, a two and a three from Brand and a steal and score from Jones that gave the Lady Devils an 18-13 advantage. Wilmington’s Taylor Noszka scored to break the run but the first half ended with a three-pointer by Laney Ruckel and a steal by Boerger that resulted in an easy bucket for Ruckel and a 23-15 halftime lead for North Adams.
Out of the locker room hot came the Lady Devils, scoring the first eight points of the third quarter- a put back by Boerger followed by a pair of Keetyn Hupp scores, the last one a nice left-handed runner through the lane and two Brand free throws gave her team a double digit lead at 31-15.
After that run, the Lady Hurricane seemed to wake up and went on an 11-2 run of their won that turned what was beginning to look like a North Adams rout into a tight contest. The 11-2 run that ended with a three-point play by Wilmington’s Ke’Asia Robinson, pulled the Lady Hurricane to within 33-26 with 1:52 left in the third. It was up to the Lady Devils to respond before quarter’s end and they did with baskets by Brand and Tatum Grooms that pushed the lead out to 37-26 as the third period closed.
Both teams scored on their first possessions of the fourth quarter and when the Lady Hurricane trimmed the North Adams lead to 39-30, the Lady Devils answered with five straight points from Hupp to bulge the lead back to 14 with just over two minutes to play. Two free throws by Ruckel at the 1:42 mark extended the lead to 16 and Coach Davis was content o keep the ball in the hands of his own “Curly Neal”, a.k.a. Kenlie Jones, who tends to elusively dribble out the final seconds of wins just the way that Neal did with the Globetrotters. The Lady Hurricane did get a late three-pointer from Noszka but it was too little, too late as the Lady Devils finished off the Hoops Classic with the 46-33 victory.
One of the trademarks of a Coach Davis squad is the balanced scoring attack and on Saturday night that was evident with Keetyn Hupp and Harlee Brand leading the way with 11 points apiece, while Kenlie Jones and Laney Ruckel dropped in 9 each.
Wilmington was paced by a game-high 17 points from Katie Murphy.
After their Saturday night triumph, the Lady Devils were back in action two nights later and put themselves in prime position to sew up the big school division of the Southern Hills Athletic Conference as they hosted the Fayetteville Lady Rockets and handed their visitors a 56-39 defeat to improve their overall record to 19-0 and their SHAC mark to 11-0. The Lady Devils are also in good position to pick up the #1 seed in the upcoming sectional tournament draw. The North Adams girls are also ranked #2 in the state in the latest AP Division III girls basketball poll.
Coach Davis and his troops were back in action on Wednesday, January 27, hosting Ironton in non-conference play and will host West Union the next night with a win wrapping up the SHAC title.
Wilmington
13 2 11 7 —33
North Adams
6 17 14 9 —46
Wilmington (33): Robinson 1 1-1 3, Noszka 2 0-1 5, Tippett 1 2-2 4, Conley 1 0-0 2, Diels 1 0-0 2, Murphy 7 2-2 17, Team 13 5-6 33.
N. Adams (46): Grooms 1 0-0 2, Boerger 2 0-0 4, Hupp 4 3-4 11, Ruckel 3 2-2 9, Brand 4 2-2 11, Jones 4 0-0 9, Team 18 7-8 46.
Three-Point Goals:
Wilmington (2)- Noszka 1, Murphy 1
N. Adams (3)- Jones 1, Brand 1, Ruckel 1
