By Mark Carpenter
People’s Defender
After a 22-0 regular season, Coach Rob Davis and his #2 state ranked North Adams Lady Devils began what they hope will be an exciting postseason run on Saturday, February 18 as they hosted the Ironton Lady Tigers in a Division III sectional championship game. The Lady Devils had not played since February 2, so the rust had to be shaken off but when they did that, the North Adams girls took control of the game. A 13-0 run to end the second quarter broke up a tie game and the Lady Devils rolled from there, winning yet another sectional title as they sent the Lady Tigers back to the bus smarting from a 50-30 defeat.
“I told our girls to not take this for granted, getting a sectional title,” said Coach Davis in his postgame radio interview. ” Ironton has a good team and I think I got more nervous the more I watched them about how dangerous they could be. They’re much better than their record shows. We played them a couple of of weeks ago and hey gave us all we could handle.”
“I’m sure the time off had something to do with us struggling early. We did get fed well by a lot of people,” Davis said jokingly.
“We knew they liked to shoot the three and when they attacked the basket we got good help and closed out well and we forced them to take some bad shots. We pride ourselves on our defense and if you can play defense and have a bad shooting night, you’ll still be in the ball game.”
After the Lady Tigers scored the game’s first basket, the home team ran off the next six, beginning with a steal and score from Harlee Brand followed by a drive and scoop from Kenlie Jones and two Keetyn Hupp free throws. Two scores from Ironton’s speedy point guard Evan Williams tied the game at 6 apiece, while the Lady Devils continued to look a little sluggish, going nearly four minutes without scoring.
With 1:38 left in the opening period, the Lady Devils broke that drought with a nice up and under move and bucket from Tatum Grooms and then another Grooms score in transition to lead 10-6 as the first stanza came to a close.
A grooms block on defense opened the second quarter and that resulted in a Laney Ruckel basket on the other end as the Lady Devils doubled up their opponent and looked ready to break things open, but the Lady Tigers had other ideas. As North Adams again hit an offensive drought, scoring just a Katelynn Boerger free throw over a span of over three minutes, Ironton used a 7-1 run and with 3:50 left in the first half, the battle was surprisingly all even at 13.
If you have watched Rob Davis teams over his 23 years at the helm, you know that they can go on huge runs at any time, usually with their offense fueled by a swarming, trapping defense. That was the case over the final 3:30 of the first half as the Lady Devils finally exploded, going on a 13-0 run to end the first half, scoring on six consecutive possessions. A basket by Hupp, another steal and score from Grooms, buckets in the paint by Hupp and Boerger, a three-pointer from Jones and a steal and layup by Jones and a deadlocked contest suddenly turned into a 26-13 North Adams halftime lead. The margin was almost even bigger as a three-quarter court heave from Ruckel at the horn banked home but was called off by the officiating crew.
The third period began with a three-point goal from Ironton’s Kirsten Williams on the Lady Tigers’ first possession but quickly the home team showed that they weren’t giving up control. North Adams scored the next nine, a run that included a Brand three-ball from the wing, and the Lady Devils had taken full control, leading 35-16.
After the Lady Tigers got a three from Isabel Morgan, the Lady Devils finished the third quarter on a 8-2 run that included tow baskets from Boerger and as the fourth period began, the home team was comfortable on top 43-21.
As they tend to do when they get big leads, the Lady Devils slowed down the pace considerably over the final eight minutes, easy to do with the wealth of good ball handlers on their roster. The two teams combined for just 16 fourth quarter points, Ironton actually winning the period 9-7, but that was a bit too late for the visitors. The Lady Devils got a trio of free throws down the stretch from Jones and the celebration was on for the now 23-0 home team, cheered on by their normal large crowd of fans.
The winners were led by three girls in double figures, led by 12 points each from Kenlie Jones and Katelynn Boerger, with Tatum Grooms adding 10. While adding her normal strong play on the defensive end, Keetyn Hupp scored 7 for the Lady Devils. Unsung again, senior Laney Ruckel scored 4 points but her major contribution was her tenacious defense that sets the tone for the rest of the team.
Ironton was led by 10 points from Kirsten Williams and 7 from Isabel Morgan.
Even though they are the #1 seed in the tournament, the road gets no easier for Coach Davis and his squad as they advance to the division III district semi-finals. There they will meet a familiar foe and one that is playing well lately, the Lynchburg-Clay Lady Mustangs. The Lady Mustangs also won their sectional crown on Saturday as they knocked off Piketon 67-35.
The two teams met twice in the regular season, with North Adams coming out on top in both outings, 51-44 at Lynchburg on December 5 and then 62-50 in Seaman on December 19. The two members of the SHAC will meet in the district semi-finals on Wednesday, February 22 at Jackson High School. Tip off is scheduled for 6:15 p.m.
“It’s hard to play someone three times and at least either way there will be SHAC team in the district finals,” said Coach Davis. “It’s a one-and-done tournament so you have to be ready to play.”
Ironton
6 7 8 9 —30
North Adams
12 14 17 7 —50
Ironton (30): Deer 1 0-0 3, E. Williams 3 0-1 6, Carpenter 1 1-2 3, McCall 0 1-2 1, K. Williams 4 0-0 10, Morgan 3 0-0 7, Team 12 2-5 30.
N. Adams (50): Grooms 5 0-0 10, Boerger 5 2-4 12, Hupp 2 3-4 7, Ruckel 1 2-2 4, Brand 2 0-0 5, Jones 4 3-4 12, Team 19 12-14 50.
Three-Point Goals:
Ironton (4)- Deer 1, K. Williams 2, Morgan 1
N. Adams (2)- Brand 1, Jones 1