North Adams’ Katelynn Boerger hauls in a rebound during action from the Lady Devils’ 50-42 win over Albany Alexander in last weekend’s Coach Young Classic. Boerger led all scorers with 16 points. (Photo by Mark Carpenter)

North Adams’ Katelynn Boerger hauls in a rebound during action from the Lady Devils’ 50-42 win over Albany Alexander in last weekend’s Coach Young Classic. Boerger led all scorers with 16 points. (Photo by Mark Carpenter)

<p>North Adams’ Karlie Kennedy (4) drives around an Alexander defender in action from her team’s eight-point win over Albany Alexander on Saturday. Kennedy scored 8 for the Lady Devils. (Photo by Mark Carpenter)</p>

North Adams’ Karlie Kennedy (4) drives around an Alexander defender in action from her team’s eight-point win over Albany Alexander on Saturday. Kennedy scored 8 for the Lady Devils. (Photo by Mark Carpenter)

<p>North Adams’ Tatum Grooms goes up for a shot over a backwards Alexander defender during the Lady Devils’ 50-42 victory in the January 18 Coach Young Classic. (Photo by Mark Carpenter)</p>

North Adams’ Tatum Grooms goes up for a shot over a backwards Alexander defender during the Lady Devils’ 50-42 victory in the January 18 Coach Young Classic. (Photo by Mark Carpenter)

By Mark Carpenter

People’s Defender

The seventh game of the day at the 2025 Coach Young Classic saw the North Adams Lady Devils, riding a four-game winning streak, pitted against the Albany Alexander Lady Spartans. Some of the wins this season for Coach Rob Davis and the North Adams girls can be described as “less than pretty” but wins nonetheless. In Saturday’s contest, the Lady Devils were sharp for three quarters but an ugly final eight minutes made the finals core much closer than it needed to be.

The lady Devils went into that fourth quarter with a 19-point advantage but allowed the Lady Spartans to slice that lead down to single digits, but were able to hang on to improve their record to 10-4 overall with a 50-42 triumph.

“We played so well the first half and I was so happy with the way we executed, for three quarters actually, ” Coach Davis explained in his postgame radio spot. “”Then that fourth quarter we seemed to panic and had a lot of unnecessary turnovers and not making good decisions. We just get in a hurry sometimes, but we stuck it out.”

The Lady Devils got off to an exceptional start in Saturday’s game, scoring the first eight points. A steal and score from Karlie Kennedy got things started, followed by a trio of Katelynn Boerger free throws and a three-point play from Emma Pistole. Alexander got on the board with a free throw at the 3:32 mark, but North Adams answered with a bucket in the paint from Boerger. After two buckets by the Lady Spartans, the Lady Devils’ Elizabeth Raines drained a jumper at the buzzer for a 12-5 advantage for the home side.

Alexander opened the second quarter scoring with a three-ball but the Lady Devils responded with a quick 5-0 run to take a 17-8 lead. After a bucket by the Lady Spartan’s Lily Ryder, the Lady Devils reeled off a 9-1 run, five of those coming from Boerger, and two transition scores from Kennedy sent the host team to the intermission with a 26-13 advantage.

It looked like the Lady Devils were ready to run away with this one when they began the second half on an 8-0 run, getting consecutive baskets inside from Boerger, followed by a Aly McCann three-pointer and a Kennedy free throw and the lead had ballooned to 34-13. Though the Lady Spartans got seven points from the charity stripe in the third quarter, a basket by Tatum Grooms and two from the line for Kennedy left the Lady Devils comfortably in front by 19 as the third period ended, or at least it looked that way.

The Lady Spartans came to life as the final stanza began, scoring seven straight, beginning with a Kaylee Hudnall three-pointer. A putback by Pistole kept the Lady Devils up 44-32 but again the visitors took advantage of some sloppy play by the home team to mount a 9-2 run and all of a sudden with three minutes to play, the North Adams lead was down to 46-38 and all the momentum was with the Lady Spartans.

The one thing going for the Lady Devils as they slumped was the clock which was down to 1:58 when Pistole scored again to push the lead back to double digits. A pair of Kennedy free throws at the 1:41 mark kept the lead stable and though those were the final North Adams tallies of the evening, Alexander could only manage three free tosses for the remainder of the clock and it expired with North Adams improving to 10-4 on the season with the 50-42 victory.

The triumphant Lady Devils were led in scoring by 16 points from senior Katelynn Boerger. Sophomore Emma Pistole also hit double figured with 10, while Karlie Kennedy added and Tatum Grooms 7 for the victors.

Alexander put two scorers in double figures, Kaylee Hudnall with 14 and Lily Ryder with 12.

“Katelynn played well tonight and finished around the bucket,” said Coach Davis. “Everybody got in the game in the first quarter and it seemed like everybody had a foul. Everybody knows their roles and held the first until we got our starters back in, it was a good team win. It’s good for our kids to play with this crowd and atmosphere.”

The Lady Devils stand 7-1 in the Southern Hills Athletic Conference’s big school division, one game ahead of the Eastern Lady Warriors (the two will meet at NAHS on January 30). This week, the North Adams girls will travel to Fairfield on Thursday night in conference action and then be playing in the Eastern Brown Winter Hoops Classic on Saturday at 6:15 p.m.

Alexander

5 8 7 22 —42

North Adams

12 14 13 11 —50

Alexander (42): Hudnall 14, Brookins 2, Allison 2, Hubbard 4, Moore 4, Dean 5, Ryder 12

N. Adams (50): Shelton 2, Boerger 16, Kennedy 8, E. Pistole 10, Grooms 7, Raines 2, McCann 3, Harrison 2