North Adams’ Katelynn Boerger draws a foul on this move to the basket in the Lady Devils’ win over Chesapeake at the 2024 Coach Young Classic. (Photo by Mark Carpenter)
North Adams girls go 11-3 with win over Chesapeake
North Adams’ Karlie Kennedy gets the handle on the ball in action from the Lady Devils Saturday win over Chesapeake; Kennedy hit a pair of three-pointers in the first quarter to spark the North Adams offense. (Photo by Mark Carpenter)
By Mark Carpenter
People’s Defender
After coming in at #3 in the first Division III Southeast District rankings, Coach Rob Davis and his North Adams Lady Devils were back on the hardwood, their own, as they hosted the Chesapeake Lady Panthers in one of the evening contests at the 2024 Coach Young Classic on January 13.
The Lady Devils came into the game on a four-game winning streak, perfect thus far in 2024, even with some of the inconsistencies they have dealt with all season. One of those issues has not always getting off to a fast start but that was not the case on Saturday as Coach Davis’s troops came out with boundless energy on both ends and built up a 17-point halftime lead. The second half, though, was not the same as that energy seemed to dissipate and though they never did lose their lead, they certainly didn’t look sharp in posting the eventual 39-28 victory.
“ The second half was just flat, turned the ball over and it was just one of those games” Coach Davis explained in his postgame radio interview. “It was an ugly win but it’s a win and we’ll take it. We let them hang around and make a ball game of it in the second half when we could have buried them earlier. “
“It’s just no like us to turn the ball over like that. Give Chesapeake credit defensively because they kept us out of our game.”
The Lady Devils came out firing on Saturday, with a pair of Karlie Kennedy three-pointers giving them a quick 8-2 lead. The North Adams defense seemed to be everywhere on the court, stifling the Chesapeake offense at every turn. When Harlee Brand drilled a three-ball from the corner and followed that up with an easy score when her defense forced a turnover, the host team sported a 13-4 lead after one quarter.
The Lady Devils kept the lead growing in the first two minutes of the second frame, a steal and score from Kenlie Jones, an easy bucket from Tatum Grooms when the Chesapeake defense fell asleep on an out-of-bounds play, and a three-point play when Katelynn Boerger rebounded her own miss, scored, was fouled and hit the free throw for a commanding 20-4 lead.
The Lady Panthers didn’t get on the second quarter board until the 4:36 mark on a stickback from Hannah Webb that also resulted in the old-fashioned three-point play, what turned out to be the only Chesapeake points of the frame. In the final minute of the half, North Adams got two more Boerger free throws and a bucket by Taylor Shelton to tale a 24-7 halftime advantage.
Though they continued to hold the double digit lead, the Lady Devils didn’t seem to have the same focus and energy after the break and fortunately for them the Chesapeake offense could’t get anything to fall. When Boerger converted another three-point play with 2:47 left in the third and followed that up with a score in the paint, the Lady Devils went up 33-9 and decided to put their machine in cruise control. The Lady Panthers grasped some momentum and finished the third period on a 7-0 run to cut the deficit to 33-16 with the final quarter at hand.
Though a steal and score by Jones began the final period, the Lady Panthers used a pair of three-pointers from Erin Hicks to fuel a 10-2 run and cut the North Adams lead to 37-26. Chesapeake had numerous chances to draw closer but two things worked against them, their inability to hit some clutch baskets and the clock that was slowly winding down on them. With 3:03 to play, the Lady Devils got an offensive board and score from Kennedy, their last points of the game. with 2:40 to play, the Lady Panthers got two free throws from Kate Ball but that was the final time that the scoreboard changed for either side. The Lady Devils managed to survive a lackluster second half and hang on for the 11-point win, stretching their winning streak to five and improving their overall mark to 11-3.
In the victory, the Lady devils placed just one girls in double figures, Katelynn Boerger with 14. The rest of the offense showed the usual balance, 8 points from Karlie Kennedy, 6 from Tatum Grooms and 5 from Harlee Brand.
The Lady Panthers were led by 14 points from Erin Hicks with Kate Ball adding 9.
Speaking on the meaning of the Coach Young Classic, Coach Davis relayed, “Coach Dave Young meant a lot to me, he gave me my first coaching job here. It’s a great event and the Young family has done so much for this community and Dave meant so much to me.”
North Adams will return to action and Southern Hills Athletic Conference play on Wednesday, January 17 when they will hot the West Union Lady Dragons. On Saturday, the Lady Devils will participate in the Winter Hoops Classic at Eastern Brown High School, facing a tough 3:40 p.m. match up with Cincinnati Country Day.
Chesapeake
4 3 9 12 —28
North Adams
13 11 9 6 —39
Chesapeake (28): Hicks 5 0-1 14, Isaacs 1 0-0 2, Ball 2 5-6 9, 1 1-1 3, Team 9 6-8 28.
N. Adams (39): Grooms 3 0-1 6, Kennedy 3 0-1 8, Boerger 5 4-6 14, Brand 2 0-0 5, Jones 2 0-2 4, T. Shelton 1 0-0 2, 16 4-10 39.
Three-Point Goals:
Chesapeake (4)- Hicks 4
N. Adams (3)- Kennedy 2, Brand 1
