Green Devils three-peat as Classic Champions

By Mark Carpenter

People’s Defender

Looking to defend their back-to-back Holiday Classic championships, Coach Nathan Copas and his North Adams Green Devils took the floor at Manchester High School for the final game of the 2023 Classic, matching up just like the past two tourneys with Coach Josh Arey and his Peebles Indians, a match up that basketball fans in the county always look forward to and enjoy.

Before their December 29 title game meeting, Peebles and North Adams had tangled back on December 22 with the Green Devils cruising to a 73-39 victory, so the Indians were looking for a bit of revenge while the Devils were looking for the Classic three-peat. AS it turned out, it was the Devils who hoisted the trophy again as they overcame an early first quarter deficit to again post a 30+ point win over Peebles, placing three players in double figures led by tourney MVP Bransyn Copas with 26 and winning the title by a final score of 77-43.

“I told our boysin the locker room that it’s not every day you get to play for a championship so go out and play like champions,” said Coach Copas in his postgame radio spot. “don’t take the opportunity for grantrd and go out and play hard. You’re dealing with high school kids so you’re going to get a lack of focus at times like we did early but the key is to regain that focus and get back on track and do what we do. “

“There’s always room for improvement and we know there is more they can give and do. I just want them to give effort on both ends of the court and we’ve done that for the most part.”

As last Friday night’s contest began, things looked a bit tenuous for the eventual champs as Peebles busted out of the gates and scored on their first three possessions to go up 7-0, a three-pointer by Carson Reed, then baskets by CJ Oldfield and Gage Grooms. The stunned Devils finally got their machine in gear and responded with a 10-0 run of their own, that began with back to back threes from the smooth as silk Copas. The Indians answered right back with a second Reed triple putting them back in front only to see the Devils’ Connor Young go long distance to give North Adams the 13-12 advantage. With 3.3 seconds left in the opening stanza, a pair of free throws from Konnor Rogers left the Devils with a four-point lead, 17-13.

Any hopes that the Indians might pull off the upset were dashed when the Devils opened the second quarter with a huge 15-3 run. Everyone seemed to contribute as North Adams got scores from Carson Osborne, Breestin Schweickart, Jayce Rothwell and of course, another Copas three-ball to double up the Tribe at 32-16. Copas continued his long distance assault at the two-minute mark to make it 35-17, followed up by the old-fashioned three-point play from Osborne. The Indians answered with their own “and one” from Oldfield but by the time the half rolled around, Coach Arey’s squad was dealing with a 39-22 North Adams advantage.

The second half opened with Schweickart canning a pair from the stripe and Rothwell driving to the hoop for two and the Devils were up by 21. Peebles got a three-point play on a nice drive by Reed but North Adams again had the match card, this time an Osborne trey, followed by Copas again tickling the twines from deep and a 49-27 lead. The Devils continued their long distance artillery barrage throughout the third quarter, getting Young threes on back-to-back possessions and Copas again from beyond the arc and after all the smoke cleared, North Adams led 67-36 as the final period commenced.

Copas opened the final frame with his sixth three-pointer of the game and after Peebles got baskets from Grooms and Wyatt Smart, it was Schweickart stepping behind the arc and connection on the Devils’ 11th three-pointer of the game, a battle that’s hard to win. The final minutes ticked off on the clock as the North Adams faithful could begin celebrating their third consecutive Classic championship as the tourney comes to an end after this season.

The Tournament MVP was an obvious choice as the Devils’ Bransyn Copas tallied 50 points in the wins over Manchester and Peebles . In the title game, Copas was joined in double figures by Breestin Schweickart’s 13 points, with Schweickart also earning All-Tournament honors. Carson Osborne reached double figures with 12, while Jayce Rothwell and Connor Young added 9 apiece.

Peebles was led in the title game by 17 points from Carson reed, who was named to the All-Tournament Team along with teammate Garrett Shiveley, who put up 22 in the semi-final win over West Union, then added two more in the finals. Hayden Browning scored 7 for the Tribe in the finals, with CJ Oldfield chipping in 6.

The win improved North Adams to 5-3 on the year and was their third in a row as they still lead the big school division of the Southern Hills Athletic Conference with a 4-0 conference mark. They will be back in SHAC action on Friday, January 5 when they host Lynchburg on Hall of Fame Night.

The Indians dropped to 5-4 on the season and were in non-conference action on January 2 with a trip to Piketon and then return to conference play on January 5 when they will host a tough Eastern Brown squad.

Peebles

13 9 14 7 —43

North Adams

17 22 28 10 —77

Peebles (43): Shiveley 1 0-0 2, Sims 2 0-0 4, Reed 7 1-1 7, Oldfield 2 2-3 6, Grooms 2 0-0 4, Ryan 0 1-2 1, Browning 2 3-4 7, Smart 1 0-0 2, Team 17 7-10 43.

N. Adams (77): Rothwell 4 1-2 9, Hesler 1 0-0 2, Young 3 0-0 9, Copas 8 1-1 26, Rogers 0 2-2 2, Osborne 5 1-1 12, DeAtley 2 0-0 4, Schweickart 5 2-2 13, Team 28 7-6 77.

three-Point Goals:

Peebles (2)- Reed 2

N. Adams (11)- Young 3, Copas 6, Osborne 1, Schweickart 1