By Mark Carpenter
People’s Defender
When Peebles varsity girls head coach Sidney Pell got her first look at her team’s 2023-24 schedule, the first three games may have set her back for just a moment. The Lady Indians were slated to open with three powerhouses of the Southern Hills Athletic Conference, Lynchburg, Fairfield and North Adams. On the bright side, all three games were at home and this morning, Coach Pell has to be pleased that at the end of that opening gauntlet, her squad stands at 2-1.
After a season-opening overtime loss to Lynchburg, the Lady Indians rebounded to get a 56-45 win over Fairfield and on Monday night hosted the biggest county rival, the North Adams Lady Devils, who came in at 1-0 with a win at Fayetteville and were the defending gold ball champions of the big school division of the SHAC.
There won’t be a gold ball for the Lady Devils this season. After falling behind by double digits and struggling offensively in the first half, the Peebles girls got things in order in the second half, outscoring their guests 29-17 to rally and then hold on at the end for an exciting 38-35 victory.
Neither team lit up the scoreboard early as North Adams took a 9-3 lead after one, getting five of those points from senior point guard Kenlie Jones. The only Peebles points of the opening frame came on an Abigail Smalley three-pointer, the first of her four for the night. The Lady Devils repeated their performance with a nine-point second quarter, this time getting five from junior Katelynn Boerger. After being held scoreless in the first period, Peebles’ Payton Johnson got on the board with three of four from the charity stripe in the second stanza, Smalley nailed another triple and at the intermission, North Adams held an 1809 advantage.
The momentum of the game began to shift after halftime, most of that due to Johnson scoring four buckets in the third quarter , The Lady Devils maintained their lead, however, behind a nine-point effort from senior Harlee Brand that included a pair of three-point goals and heading into the game’s final eight minutes, the visitors still led 31-23.
Over that final eight minutes, the Lady Devils went ice cold from the field, getting just one field goal from Karlie Kennedy and a pair of Brand free throws. The lady Indians finally caught up and took the lead, keyed by a pair of Smalley treys and six points by Johnson. North Adams had their chances late in the contest but couldn’t get anything to fall as Peebles held on to eke out the come-from-behind three-point triumph.
Of the winner’s 38 points, 29 of them came from two girls, Payton Johnson leading the way with 17 while Abigail Smalley’s quartet of three-pointers gave her 12 points. For North Adams, Harlee Brand was the only player in double figures, scoring 15, with Katelynn Boerger adding 9.
The Lady Indians (2-1, 2-1 SHAC) will be back in action on Thursday, December 7 when they travel to Manchester to battle the 3-2 Lady Hounds in SHAC play, and will be back home on Saturday night (December 9) to host Western Latham in a 6 p.m. tip off.
North Adams (1-1, 1-1 SHAC) will be on the road at South Webster in non-conference play on Thursday night and then come back on Monday, December 11 to host Portsmouth West, looking to avenge a heartbreaking defeat in last year’s Division III regional semi-finals.
