North Adams’ Emma Pistole puts up a shot from close range in the Lady Devils’ 42-29 win over Eastern brown on January 30. Pistole scored 12 points in the victory. (Photo by Mark Carpenter)

North Adams’ Emma Pistole puts up a shot from close range in the Lady Devils’ 42-29 win over Eastern brown on January 30. Pistole scored 12 points in the victory. (Photo by Mark Carpenter)

<p>North Adams’ Karlie Kennedy gets a shot attempt up over Eastern’s Lilly Yuppa in the Lady Devils’s conference clinching win on January 30, a win in which Kennedy contributed 10 points. (Photo by Mark Carpenter)</p>

North Adams’ Karlie Kennedy gets a shot attempt up over Eastern’s Lilly Yuppa in the Lady Devils’s conference clinching win on January 30, a win in which Kennedy contributed 10 points. (Photo by Mark Carpenter)

By Mark Carpenter

People’s Defender

For the third consecutive season, the North Adams Lady Devils stand alone atop the standing of the big school division of the Southern Hills Athletic Conference. With a 42-29 home win over rival Eastern Brown on January 30, Coach Rob Davis and his squad wrapped up the 12th conference championship in Coach Davis’s tenure and helped the team build some momentum for the postseason.

The win over Coach Kevin Pickerill’s Lady Warriors didn’t come easy, but they never do. The Lady Devils led by just two at halftime before pulling away in the second half to claim the division-clinching victory.

“This league is pretty balanced all the way through and every game is a tough one,” said Coach Davis after the “W”. “We closed out on shooters well and overall played pretty good defense. We missed a lot of open people on offense but we executed some stuff when we needed to and didn’t force things. We had some kids feeling sick so we didn’t go as deep as we normally do.”

After both teams turned the ball over on their opening possessions, Eastern got on the board first on baskets by Vivian Grimes and Alyssa Johnston. North Adams got two free tosses from Tatum Grooms but the Lady Warriors went up 6-2 on another bucket by Grimes. That basket was followed by a 5-2 North Adams spurt that featured a putback from Emma Pistole and a basket from Karlie Kennedy. A layup late in the first period from Johnston gave the visitors a 10-7 advantage after one.

The Eastern lead swelled to 12-7 after a basket in the second stanza from Tabby Schumacher before the Lady Devils came alive and reeled off a 10-0 run that gave them the lead for the first time. The run began with a free throw by Katelynn Boerger who followed that up with an offensive board and score. A Kennedy three-pointer followed by consecutive scores by Emma Pistole put the home team in front 17-12.

The Lady Warriors bounced right back to tie the score with a 5-0 run fueled by a three-ball from Olivia Uhl but a basket by Boerger in the final seconds of the half sent North Adams to the break with a slim 19-17 advantage.

The second quarter surge by the home team continued as the third quarter began as the Lady Devils held Eastern scoreless for nearly six minutes. During that span, North Adams reeled off nine in a row to stretch their lead out to double figures, getting a three-pointer from Aly McCann on their first possession and a later basket from Boerger in transition. Eastern’s first points of the third quarter came at the 2:35 mark and they got consecutive scores from Schumacher and Sophia Uhl to cut their deficit to 28-21. An Eastern turnover resulted in another hoop from Boerger and when the Lady Warriors’ Sophia Uhl got the last score of the quarter, the final eight minutes began with North Adams holding a 30-23 lead.

Patience is a virtue and the Lady Devils showed just that on their first possession by holding the ball for a minute and a half, then getting a basket from Emma Pistole. After an Eastern score, North Adams tallied the game’s next five to take a comfortable 37-25 lead with 1:54 remaining. The final points for the victors came from Kennedy and Grooms at the charity stripe as the Lady Devils made it a SHAC three-peat as big school champions with the 42-29 final score.

North Adams placed a trio of players in double figures, led by Katelynn Boerger’s 13 points. Boerger went 6 for 9 from the field and also hauled in 7 rebounds. Emma Pistole added 12 points and 7 boards with Karlie Kennedy continuing her fine senior campaign with 10 points and 4 rebounds.

“Emma has really stepped up for us,” said Coach Davis. “She has strong hands and still brings the ball down too much, but if she gets around the bucket she can score. In this run we’ve been on she has really improved her play. We played four games last week and three this week, but we won six of them.”

Eastern Brown (14-7, 8-4) was led in scoring by 8 points from Sophia Uhl and 6 from Tabby Schumacher.

The Lady Devils improved to 14-5 on the season, 10-1 in conference play. Their regular season concludes this week with three games, home with Lynchburg on Monday, home with West Union for Senior Night on Thursday and then a Saturday trip to Ironton for a makeup non-conference test.

Eastern Brown

10 7 6 6 —29

North Adams

7 12 11 12— 42

E. Brown (29): Grimes 2 0-2 4, Olivia Uhl 2 0-1 5, Yuppa 0 2-4 2, Johnston 2 0-0 4, Sophia Uhl 4 0-2 8, Schumacher 3 0-0 6,Team 13 2-9 29.

N. Adams (42): Shelton 0 0-2 0, Grooms 0 4-4 4, Kennedy 3 3-6 10, Boerger 6 1-4 13, Emma Pistole 6 0-2 12, McCann 1 0-0 3, Team 16 8-18 42.

Three-Point Goals:

E. Brown (1)- Olivia Uhl 1

N. Adams (2)- McCann 1, Kennedy 1