North Adams junior Tatum Grooms scored 33 points in wins last week over Whiteoak and Fairfield. (Photo by Mark Carpenter)
By Mark Carpenter
People’s Defender
Setting up a Southern Hills Athletic Conference showdown on Monday night in Lynchburg, Coach Rob Davis and the North Adams Lady Devils picked up a pair of conference wins last week by a combined total of 67 points, easily handling Whiteoak 74-36 on January 22 and three days later manhandling Fairfield 59-30.
Whiteoak came into North Adams High School with high hopes of pulling off an upset but those hopes were dashed as the Lady Devils used a 19-6 second quarter to open up a 32-17 halftime advantage. From there, the rout was on as the home team poured in 42 second half points to cruise to an impressive 38-point win.
The victorious Lady Devils were paced by a trio of girls in double figures, led by Kenlie Jones with 20 and Tatum Grooms with 19. Katelynn Boerger added 10 points and 7 rebounds.
On Thursday, another team from Highland County made the trip to Seaman and the results for the Fairfield Lady Lions was much of the same. After a close first quarter that saw North Adams leading 10-7, the home side used a 13-0 second quarter run to open up a double digit lead and never looked back, leading 28-11 at the half and 50-21 after three, then closing out the 59-30 triumph.
Kenlie Jones again led North Adams scorers with 19 points, with Tatum Grooms adding 14. Katelynn Boerger scored 9 and Harlee Brand 7 as the Lady Devils improved to 14-4 on the season, 10-1 in the SHAC.
The race in the big school division of the SHAC is coming right down to the wire, with the winner of Monday’s North Adams-Lynchburg game taking sole possession of first place. Right behind are the Peebles Lady Indians with just two losses and a February 8 regular season ending match up with Lynchburg still on the schedule, leaving open the possibility of a three-way tie,
