High-flying senior Breestin Schweickart led North Adams with 24 points as they defeated Eastern Brown 61-41 on December 6 in Southern Hills Athletic Conference play. (Photo by Tim Daulton)
3-1 overall after loss to Fairland
North Adams’ Caleb DeAtley hangs on to the ball as he goes to the floor in action from the Devils’ 20-point victory on Friday night at Eastern Brown. DeAtley hauled down six rebounds in the win. (Photo by Tim Daulton)
By Mark Carpenter
People’s Defender
The 2024-25 boys basketball season has gotten off to a good start for first-year head coach Austin McCormick and the North Adams Green Devils, especially in Southern Hills Athletic Conference play, where they have won their first three outings.
After opening the season with a 62-17 romp over West Union, the Devils hosted Manchester on December 3 and on the strength of 15-1 and 15-0 runs, were able to handle the Hounds by a final score of 66-51. That set up a huge match up on Friday, December 6 as the Devils were on the road for the first time and playing in the hostile environment of Eastern High School, facing off with a very talented Warriors team that had been picked to win the big school division in the conference.
Other teams rarely if ever go into Eastern’s home territory and dominate, but that is what the Devils accomplished on Friday night. After leading just 10-9 after the opening period, the Devils exploded in a 17-5 second quarter and grabbed a 27-14 halftime lead. The North Adams defense continued to lock down in the third frame, outscoring the Warriors 17-9 to take a comfortable 21-point advantage into the fourth. Eastern found the range in the final eight minutes, outscoring their visitors 18-17, but it was way too little, too late as the Devils secured a huge early season conference win by a final score of 61-41.
The Friday night win was a big night for North Adams senior Breestin Schweickart, who sliced and diced the Eastern defense to the tune of a game-high 24 points. Another pair of Devils, seniors Connor Young and Konnor Rogers, also hit double figures with 10 and 12 points respectively. North Adams also drained seven shots from beyond the arc, while holding the Warriors to just 2 for 16 from long range.
“Eastern is a very good ball club and they will just get better as the year goes along,” coach McCormick told C103 Radio after the big win. “This is a great win for us but the job is not close to being finished, we have to keep working and playing hard. Our league is so competitive, you better bring your ‘A’ game every night. I thought we got out of control a few times but for the most part we made good decisions and got contributions from a lot of people.”
Eastern and North Adams will meet for a second time on January 17 in Seaman.
The only hiccup to the Devils’ season to this point came on Saturday night, when they hosted the Fairland Dragons. As so often happens after an emotional win, there is room for a letdown and that combined with Homecoming festivities and a pretty talented group of Dragons, all added up to a 48-35 loss for North Adams.
The Dragons came out breathing fire, hitting from long distance repeatedly and just never let the Devils get anything going on either end of the floor as they handed the home team their first loss of the season.
The Devils will have some time to recover, however, as they will be off now until December 17 when they will travel to Whiteoak, looking to keep their conference record unblemished. On Friday, December 20 North Adams will play host to county rival Peebles in another conference affair that should be a good one.
