North Adams’ Tatum Grooms goes up for a layup in the Lady Devils’ Foundation Game win at Georgetown on November 10, Grooms scored 11 in the 58-20 victory for the Lady Devils. (Photo by Tim Daulton)
Annual exhibition games go way of the Devils
A hustling Jayce Rothwell of North Adams goes airborne to attempt to track down a loose ball in the Devils’ 53-37 exhibition win at Georgetown on November 10. (Photo by Tim Daulton)
By Mark Carpenter
People’s Defender
The annual Foundation Games between North Adams and Georgetown came to the hardwood at the home of the G-Men on November 10 to benefit the Coaches Community Fund and give a large crowd of fans on both sides a sneak peek at their 2023-24 basketball squads in action. Though the contests do not count in any standing, it is always a great opportunity for the coaches to get their team into full-game situations. On this night, though, those situations were dominated by the teams from Seaman as it was clean sweep for the visitors, North Adams taking the girls game 58-20 and then claiming the boys affair by a final of 53-37.
Coach Rob Davis and his North Adams Lady Devils are coming off a 2022-23 campaign where they again appeared in the Division III regional tournament and though they once again are small in number, they are definitely not lacking in talent. On Friday night, the Lady Devils were in control from start to finish as they rolled to the 38-point victory.
The Lady G-Men got the game’s first bucket but that was followed up by an 10-0 North Adams run as they took the lead for good, fueled by a step-back three pointer from point guard Kenlie Jones. A later basket by Harlee Brand off a nice Jones assist put the Lady Devils up 13-5 after one.
If there was any doubt as to this exhibition’s outcome, the Lady Devils put it to rest as they scored the first 13 points of the second quarter. getting a steal and coast-to-coast basket “and one” from Katelynn Boerger along with back to back steals and layups from Jones and Mckenna Shelton. Buckets by Georgetown’s Josie McKibben and Emily Bertram broke the run but by the halftime break, it was North Adams comfortably in front 31-12.
The North Adams onslaught continued after the break as they opened period number three on a 7-2 run, getting two baskets from Tatum Grooms. Georgetown stopped that run with a bucket from Morgan Preston but the Lady Devils answered that with 10-2 spurt to end the quarter, five of those points from Brand to lead 47-19.
Kenlie Jones opened the final stanza with another three-pointer, followed by another Boerger three-point play to open up a 53-19 advantage. The final score of the game came on a stickback by Taylor Shelton that gave North Adams the final 59-20 margin.
As is usually the case, the Lady Devils had a balanced scoring attack with four players in double figures, led by Katelynn Boerger’s 14 points. Right behind was Kenlie Jones with 13, while Tatum Grooms and Harlee Brand added 11 and 10 respectively.
The Lady G-Men were topped by 6 points from Josie McKibben and 5 from Gabrielle Ernst.
The boys game was another match up of the “coaching cousins”, North Adams’ Nathan Copas and Georgetown’s Cory Copas. The contest was a tight one until the midway point of the third quarter when an 11-2 North Adams run broke things open and paved the way for a eventual 53-37 triumph for the visitors.
After a first quarter that ended deadlocked at 9 and a second quarter that closed with North Adams up 24-20, the two teams took the court for the second half and the Devils maintained their advantage behind buckets from Breestin Schweickart, Jayce Rothwell and a three-ball from Connor Young. In that span, the G-Men got consecutive scores from Aiden Werner to stay close but with the home team down 31-28, the momentum rapidly changed as the Devils closed the frame with that 11-2 run, getting three scores from Rothwell and a long three-pointer from Bransyn Copas and leading after three by double digits 42-32.
After Georgetown opened the fourth period with a basket by Ryland Hayslip, the Devils answered big with an old-fashioned three-point play from Carson Osborne and a three-point goal from the wing by Connor Young to extend their lead out to 48-34. Tacked on to that was an Osborne score off of a Georgetown turnover and a triple from the corner from Schweickart, another 11-2 run that wrapped up a 16-point victory.
The victorious Green Devils had a trio of players in double figures, led by 13 points from Connor Young. Jayce Rothwell scored 12 and Bransyn Copas 11, with Carson Osborne chipping in 8 and Breestin Schweickart 7.
The G-Men will get an opportunity for revenge in the last regular season outing of the 2023-24 season as the two teams will battle on February 13 at North Adams.
