A trio of North Adams Lady Devils (Karlie Kennedy, McKenna Shelton and Tatum Grooms) hustle after a loose ball in action from their SHAC battle with Fayetteville on December 5. (Photo by Mark Carpenter)
Chaotic contest goes to Fayetteville 51-37
North Adams freshman Jacee Davis makes a drive to the basket through traffic in the fourth quarter of the Lady Devils’ 51-37 loss to Fayetteville. (Photo by Mark Carpenter)
North Adams’ Tatum Grooms (3) looks for a path to a shot attempt over a Fayetteville defender in the Lady Devils’ 51-37 home court loss on December 5. *Photo by Tim Daulton)
By Mark Carpenter
People’s Defender
Sometimes with sporting events it can be hard to find that one word that describes the action. For the Fayetteville-North Adams varsity girls basketball game in Seaman on December 5, that was definitely the case. Hectic, physical, foul-plagued, but perhaps the folks at C103 Radio found the right word, “Chaotic.” The action was definitely chaotic as two of the top teams in the Southern Hills Athletic Conference early season showdown, one which many think could even have gold ball implications with it being the only time the two teams will meet with Fayetteville in the small school division and North Adams in the big school.
In a game that saw the two sides combine to shoot 59 free throws and the winner have 22 turnovers, it was the Lady Rockets, behind 22 points from sophomore guard Christina Murphy, who pulled away in the fourth quarter to claim a huge road victory, downing the Lady Devils by a final count of 51-27.
The first quarter set the tone for the rest of the contest with the play being somewhat sloppy on both ends, the fouls adding up (especially on the North Adams side), points at a premium and the Fayetteville full-court pressure causing havoc for the home team. With the score even at four apiece, a three-pointer by North Adams’ Karlie Kennedy put the Lady Devils on top, but the last two buckets in the first stanza belonged to the Lady Rockets, along with an 8-7 advantage.
The Lady Devils’ leading returning scorer, senior Katelynn Boerger, has been battling an ankle injury but was ready for Thursday night’s action, only to spend most of there night wacthing the action from the sidelines because of foul trouble. The accumulating foul trouble forced North Adams coach Rob Davis to play mix and match with his bench, using combinations he probably never thought he would in this battle.
“We got in foul trouble early and we stayed in it all night,” said Coach Davis. “We battled and I was pleased with the kids who stepped in and gave us some good minutes. It was a good learning experience for them. We played hard all the way but we just have to take better care of the basketball. I want them to play with confidence and want the ball. We just can’t make key mistakes at key times.”
In the second quarter, a 7-0 Fayetteville run gave the visitors a 16-9 lead, one they would never relinquish. After the Lady Devils’ Ava Pistole scored on a putback, the first half ended with a Murphy bucket that put Fayetteville up 18-11.
Out of the halftime break, the action was fast and furious, though Boerger picking up her fourth foul did not bode well for the Lady Devils. The North Adams squad continued to hang, but could never get over the hump and retake the lead. A three-point play by Murphy put the Lady Rockets up 22-15 but a later basket by Emma Pistole pulled North Adams within 24-20.
Undaunted, Fayetteville scored the next two buckets plus adding an Aubrey Barber free throw to move up 29-20, their biggest lead to that point. The Lady Devils would rally as the third quarter would down, getting a three-pointer from freshman Jacee Davis to close the gap to 31-25 headed into the final period.
Just over a minute into the final stanza, a banked home three-pointer from North Adams freshman Jaida Harrison cut the Fayetteville lead to 34-29, but every time the Lady Devils seemed poised to make a steady run, the Lady Rockets had the answer, most of those answers coming from the free throw stripe, where they visited 15 times over the final eight minutes, successful on 11 of those attempts.
The parade to the foul line by the Lady Rockets kept the Lady Devils at bay and the home team’s cause wasn’t helped when Boerger picked up her fifth foul with 5:04 to play. When Kennedy was fouled attempting a three-point shot, she hit all three foul shots to pull her team within 38-34 with 4:27 left, but that was as close as the Lady Devils could get the rest of the way. Over that final 4:27, the Lady Rockets hit 10 free throws, doing exactly what they needed to hold off the home team and improve their record to 3-0 overall with a 51-37 victory.
The winners were led by Murphy’s 22 points, a total that included 10 of 14 from the free throw line. Junior Scarlett Crawford added 9 points with Aubrey Barber scoring 7. Overall, the Lady Rockets were 21 of 38 from the charity stripe.
North Adams dropped to 2-1 with tie loss and the Lady Devils were led in scoring by Karlie Kennedy’s 10 points, including a perfect 7 for 7 performance at the line. Katelynn Boerger scored 6 in her limited minutes with Emma Pistole and Jaida Harrison adding 5 each. The Lady Devils were 12 for 21 from the foul line.
The Lady Devils were back in action on Monday night, traveling to Minford to face the Lady Falcons in a non-conference contest. On Thursday and Saturday, Coach Davis’s squad will be back in SHAC action with two road games, at Peebles and at Eastern Brown.
BOX SCORE
Fayetteville
8 10 13 20—51
North Adams
7 4 14 12 —37
Fayetteville (51): Carlier 1 2-4 4, Barber 2 2-2 7, Rummel 2 0-2 4, Kleemeyer 1 2-6 4, Crawford 2 4-8 9, Murphy 6 10-14 22, Coffman 0 1-2 1, Team 14 21-38 51.
N. Adams (37): Shelton 0 4-8 4, Grooms 1 0-0 2, Kennedy 1 7-7 10, Boerger 3 0-0 6, Emma Pistole 2 1-4 5, Davis 1 0-2 3, Ava Pistole 1 0-0 2, Harrison 2 0-0 5, Team 11 12-21 37.
Three-Point Goals:
Fayetteville (2): Barber 1, Crawford 1
N. Adams (3)- Davis 1, Harrison 1, Kennedy 1
