North Adams junior Katelynn Boerger (5) draws the foul on a strong move to the bucket during the Lady Devils’ district semi-final win over River Valley. Boerger led the Lady Devils in the win with 18 points. (Photo by Mark Carpenter)
North Adams downs River Valley 54-36, moves to district finals
North Adams’ Tatum Grooms (3) draws the block call on this play in the Lady Devils’ 54-36 win over River Valley on February 24. Grooms scored 12 as she and her squad moved to the Division III district title game. (Photo by Mark Carpenter)
By Mark Carpenter
People’s Defender
Playing in district championship games is nothing new for Coach Rob Davis and his North Adams Lady Devils. After a 54-36 district semi-final win over River Valley on Saturday in Waverly, Coach Davis will lead one of his his squads to the district championship game for the 10th time in his 24 years at North Adams. The Lady Devils are just 2-7 in those title games to this point, but this Saturday they will be looking to add a third district trophy to the ever crowded NAHS trophy case.
After disposing of Piketon to win a Division III sectional title, the Lady Devils traveled to the Waverly Downtown Gym on February 24 to face the River Valley Lady Vikings for the right to advance to the district finals and defend their 2023 crown. River Valley was a tough match up for North Adams as the two teams were mirror images of each other and for the first half of the game, that proved to be true, for about six minutes. But as they often do to unsuspecting opponents, the Lady Devils found their groove and were unstoppable, riding the wave to an eventual 18-point win, downing the Lady Vikings by a final score of 54-36.
“We knew we’d have some size on them but also knew that they were very quick,” said Coach Davis in his C103 interview. “I thought we owned the boards in the first half and I think our mental toughness right now is the best it has been all year. We got behind early and I didn’t need to bail them out with a timeout.”
“All in all, that may have been the best first half we played all season. We had the intensity and physicality we needed and it was a team effort today.”
Nerves of playing in another district championship contest or whatever, the Lady Devils stumbled out of the gate on Saturday, plagues by uncharacteristic turnovers and they found themselves trailing 6-2 three minutes in. A three-point bomb from Harlee Brand got North Adams off the schneid and another three-ball from Kenlie Jones tied the game at 8 apiece. River Valley hit a try to go back in front but the first period ended with one of the patented North Adams runs, the Lady Devils going 9-0 over the final 2:30, getting another Jones triple, a steal and score from Tatum Grooms and a Taylor Shelton basket made it 17-11 Lady Devils after one.
The second quarter spelled the end for the Lady Vikings as they scored the quarter’s first two points and didn’t score again until after halftime. The Lady Devils took total control and finished the first half on a 14-0 run, getting three baskets in the paint from Katelynn Boerger and the final four from Grooms to send a shellshocked River Valley squad to the locker room staring at a 31-13 deficit.
The Lady Vikings did regain some composure and begin the third period with a modest 9-4 run but they did little overall to cut into the North Adams lead as Boerger continued her assault with three more buckets in the final two minutes of the stanza and after three it was still a comfortable lead for the Lady Devils at 43-27.
The Lady Vikings got an early fourth quarter three-pointer from Kallie Burger, but that was only sandwiched between baskets from Boerger and Grooms as the Lady Devils grabbed their biggest lead of the day at 52-30. The large contingent of North Adams fans could now sense an upcoming trip to another district championship and fittingly, the final points of the game came from Boerger and closed out the Lady Devils’ 19th win of the season.
North Adams junior Katelynn Boerger has had an outstanding second half of the season and that continued on Saturday as she led the winners with 18 points. Two of her teammates also hit double figures with Tatum Grooms and Kenlie Jones adding 12 apiece. Harlee Brand played her usual all-around hustle floor game and finished with 6 points.
River Valley was paced by 13 points from senior forward Emma Truance.
The now 19-5 Lady Devils prepare for a return trip to the Waverly Downtown Gym and a return trip to the Division III district title game. North Adams will face the South Point Pointers in a 1 p.m. tip off with a berth in the regional tournament “Sweet 16” on the line. Regional tournament games will be played at Logan High School.
“South Point has some size and they’re pretty athletic,” said Coach Davis. “We just have to use this week to prepare for that. We had great fan support as we always do and I’m sure they will be out for us Saturday. Hopefully we can cut down some more nets.”
River Valley
11 2 14 9 —36
North Adams
17 14 12 11 —54
River Valley (36): Mullins 2 0-0 4, Eblin 1 1-2 4, Edwards 2 0-0 5, Manley 2 0-0 4, Burger 2 1-4 6, Truance 6 0-0 13, Cooper 0 0-2 0, Team 15 2-8 36.
N. Adams (54): M. Shelton 0 1-2 1, Grooms 5 2-4 12, Kennedy 1 1-2 3, Boerger 8 2-4 18, Brand 2 1-2 6, Jones 5 0-0 12, T. Shelton 1 0-0 2, Team 21 7-14 54.
Three-Point Goals:
R. Valley (4)- Eblin 1, Edwards 1, Burger 1, Truance 1
N. Adams (3)- Jones 2, Brand 1
