The North Adams bench celebrates as the final seconds tick away on their 60-56 district semi-final win over Ironton on March 3. (Photo by Mark Carpenter)

The North Adams bench celebrates as the final seconds tick away on their 60-56 district semi-final win over Ironton on March 3. (Photo by Mark Carpenter)

<p>With 16.2 seconds to go in the game, North Adams’ Jayce Rothwell calmly nailed two free throws that turned out to be the game winners as the Devils moved back to the Division III district championship game with a 60-56 win over Ironton. Rothwell led the Devils on Sunday with 17 points. (Photo by Mark Carpenter)</p>

With 16.2 seconds to go in the game, North Adams’ Jayce Rothwell calmly nailed two free throws that turned out to be the game winners as the Devils moved back to the Division III district championship game with a 60-56 win over Ironton. Rothwell led the Devils on Sunday with 17 points. (Photo by Mark Carpenter)
<p>North Adams’ Breestin Schweickart goes to the rim for two of his 14 points in the Green Devils’ 60-56 district semi-final win over Ironton on March 3 at The Convo. (Photo by Mark Carpenter)</p>

North Adams’ Breestin Schweickart goes to the rim for two of his 14 points in the Green Devils’ 60-56 district semi-final win over Ironton on March 3 at The Convo. (Photo by Mark Carpenter)

By Mark Carpenter

People’s Defender

Survive and advance. That may be the most overused cliche in postseason sports, especially when it comes time each year for March Madness. For Coach Nathan Copas and his North Adams Green Devils, survive and advance became their mantra late last Sunday night at the Ohio University Convocation Center.

In a Division III district semi-final battle with the Ironton Tigers, the Green Devils looked like they were going to send the Tigers home with a double-digit beating, building up an 18-point halftime lead, only to see Ironton come roaring back in the second half to erase that deficit and eventually tie the game three times in the fourth quarter. But just in the nick of time, the Devils got the late breaks, and free throws in the game’s final 16 seconds from Jayce Rothwell and Carson Osborne made the difference as North Adams escaped with a 60-56 win to advance to a Division III district championship contest.

“We came out early and maybe rushed our shots a bit but we settled down and started hitting them and that gave us the separation at halftime,” Coach Copas told C103 Radio after the win. “The second half we were just not mentally focused or got too comfortable, whatever it is we have to play an entire four quarters. We didn’t do a good job of keeping them off the boards and we missed some free throws, but mad some when it counted.”

“You don’t get to this level without having a whole team that plays together and does the little things necessary to win. I thought Ironton played harder than us at times and the second half wasn’t good and we’ll have to have four good quarters the next time out.”

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