That first loss comes at a bad time

By Mark Carpenter

People’s Defender

There are many impressive adjectives to describe Coach Rob Davis’s North Adams Lady Devils basketball program, especially this season’s team that won 25 consecutive games, won the Southern Hills Athletic Conference gold ball, and won Division III sectional and district championships. But there seems to be just one adjective to describe how the last two seasons have ended for the Lady Devils, snake-bitten.

For the second year in a row, the Lady Devils’ season came to an abrupt and heartbreaking end. In 2022, North Adams was eliminated by Wheelersburg on a desperation last-second shot and history repeated itself in 2023. With a perfect 25-0 record, the Lady Devils faced off with the Portsmouth West Lady Senators on March 1 at Logan High School in the Division III Sweet 16, the regional semi-finals. Advancing that far in the postseason with an unbeaten record is difficult, the target on the back doubles in size and the Lady Senators were certainly worthy competition, coming into last week’s game with a sparking 24-1 record, exactly the kind of match up you’d expect in a regional tourney.

For the Lady Devils after 29 minutes of play in the regional semi, it looked like they were going to make their second Elite Eight trip in four seasons. Unfortunately for the North Adams girls, there are 32 minutes in a high school basketball game. Leading by a seemingly comfortable seven points with 2:40 to play, the Lady Devils looked to be on their way to win #26, but the Lady Senators had other ideas. Taking advantage of uncharacteristic North Adams mistakes, Portsmouth West went on a 9-1 run over the final 2:40 to rally from behind and hand the Lady Devils their first loss of the season, 52-51, hitting the winning basket with 4.3 seconds left in the game.

“We just didn’t play very well the first half,” said Coach Davis in his postgame radio spot. “We got stops but we just didn’t rebound that well, we looked a little tired.”

As last Wednesday’s game began, the nerves of a regional semi-final seemed to get to both teams, but they quickly overcame those early jitters to begin what turned out to be one of the most exciting tourney contests of the year. North Adams took an early lead on a baseline drive and score from Katelynn Boerger followed by a Kenlie Jones three-pointer. Two scores from West flipped the scoreboard but two Keetyn Hupp free throws put the Lady Devils back up 7-6. After the Lady Senators reclaimed the lead, a stick back by Boerger tied the score at 9, only to see West’s Charlie Joe Howard hit a triple to give her team a 12-9 advantage after one.

The second quarter opened with Alexia Deaver draining a three-ball to increase the West lead to six points, where it would stay until the halftime break. The Lady Devils stayed within striking distance through the second stanza, getting baskets from Laney Ruckel and Tatum Grooms and then getting a big step back three from Hupp late in the half to trim the West lead to 23-17 at the break.

The intermission seemed to be just the tonic the Lady Devils needed as they turned their game up a notch in the third quarter and turned a deficit into a lead. A Harlee Brand three-pointer opened the third for North Adams and after baskets from Hupp and Boerger plus a Ruckel trey, the Lady Devils had retaken the lead at 27-26 with 6:20 left in the third period.

After West got a free throw from Maelynn Howell, the Lady Devils continued to roll, going on an 8-0 run that included a three-point play from Boerger and a Hupp three-ball that gave North Adams a double digit advantage at 37-27. The Lady Senators were able to slice into that deficit a bit by the third quarter’s end, but the Lady Devils still seemed to have control, leading 39-32.

“We talked at halftime and got them motivated and we came out and executed, which we hadn’t done in the first half,” said Coach Davis. “We came out the second half with some energy and took control of the game but just couldn’t hold on at the end. All you can do is put yourself in a position to win and we were right there.”

The NA lead jumped back to 10 when Jones hit a three-pointer to begin the final quarter, but West quickly cut that gap back to six on a three-pointer by Emma Sayre. North Adams answered with a Brand three to lead 45-36 with 5:13 to play, but the Lady Senators battled back yet again with a basket by Howell and two free throws by Sayre that made it 45-40. That action was followed up by a pair of Ruckel free throws from Ruckel and Howard drilling another three-pointer to pull West back to within four, but a three from Ruckel put North Adams up 50-43 at the fateful 2:40 mark.

Within the span of about 15 seconds, the Lady Senators went on a 7-0 run, a three-pointer and steal and score from Howard, then two Sayre free throws that in the blink of an eye, tied the game at 50 apiece with two minutes left. With 1:54 to play, Jones hit one of two from the stripe to put North Adams back up by one, but the Lady Devils did not score again as things got out of hand quickly for the #1 seed.

After a Lady Devils turnover, a jump ball situation gave the ball back to the Lady Devils with 17.1 seconds to go, but they could not get the ball inbounds and the pass was tied up for another held ball, this one going to the Lady Senators. West missed a layup and the scramble for the rebound ended in another held ball, this time the arrow to North Adams with 9.6 seconds on the clock. All that North Adams had to do was get the ball in, get fouled and hit the free throws, but that wasn’t the way that things went. With West in a tight man to man press, the Lady Devils’ inbounds pass was tipped away from Jones and scooped up by Sayre who drove towards the basket, split two North Adams defenders and hit an off-balance shot to give her team the 52-51 lead with 4.3 seconds left.

Coach Davis called a timeout to set up a possible length of the court lay for the win, but all they Lady Devils could muster was a half-court heave by Harlee Brand that momentarily looked on target, but clanged off the backboard and rim, signaling the end of the North Adams season in a shocking and heartbreaking one-point defeat.

The Lady Senators advanced to the Elite Eight regional final (where they lost to Wheelersburg 50-41) and in the win over North Adams they were led by 17 points from junior Emma Sayre. Senior Maelynn Howell was close behind with 15, while Charlie Jo Howard added 11 and Alexia Deaver 7.

In her final game with the Lady Devils, senior Keetyn Hupp led her team in scoring with 14 points with fellow senior Laney Ruckel closing her career with a 12-point effort. Katelynn Boerger and Harlee Brand each scored 9 as North Adams closed their season at 25-1, the most single season wins in school history for girls basketball, but it will likely be the fourth quarter collapse that haunts their memories for a good while.

“This one is going to hurt, but the season we put on might not ever happen again,” said Davis. “It might not ever happen again what they gave to our school and community. It’s been something to remember. What really hurts is being in the locker room for them for the last time as a group. These kids just had no quit and were such a blessing for me to coach”

The Lady Devils big farewell to three seniors in Hupp, Ruckel and Brea Stout but will return a nucleus of talent for the 2023-24 season that should be right near the top once again.

“We’ve got a good group coming back but it’s hard to lose our three seniors,” said Davis. “They brought different elements to our team and we will miss them. This whole group was so special, so much more than basketball. We wanted to win this game but it’s so much about how these girls act off the court with their community.”

Portsmouth West

12 11 9 20 —52

North Adams

9 8 22 12 —51

P. West (52): Howell 4 7-9 15, Rollins 1 0-0 2, Sayre 6 4-6 17, Deaver 1 4-6 7, Howard 4 0-0 11, Team 16 15-21 52.

N. Adams (51): Grooms 1 1-2 3, Boerger 4 1-3 9, Hupp 4 4-5 14, Ruckel 4 2-2 12, Brand 2 0-0 6, Jones 2 1-2 4, Team 17 9-14 51,

Three-Point Goals:

P. West (5)- Howard 3, Deaver 1, Sayre 1

N. Adams (8)- Hupp 2, Ruckel 2, Jones 2, Brand 2