Devils put up 91, on to district semis

By Mark Carpenter

People’s Defender

When it is hitting on all cylinders, the North Adams Green Devils offense is literally unstoppable. In their last two outing, the Green Devils have hit all cylinders and then some. After scoring 91 points in their regular season finale, a win at Paint Valley, the Devils repeated that performance last Friday night in their postseason opener. Riding the wave of of four players in double figures, including a massive 32-point performance from senior Breestin Schweickart, #2 seeded North Adams rolled to a victory on their home floor in their Division VI district quarterfinal, downing the Federal Hocking Lancers by a final count of 91-69.

“I was really happy with our effort tonight, especially early,” North Adams head coach Austin McCormick commented on his postgame radio spot. “We came out with intensity and energy, which is what we had been talking about all week. The energy fell off a little in the second quarter and there are some things we have to shore up defensively. We moved the ball well on offense and battled on the boards which is always a key for us.”

“We just have to keep a killer instinct on defense and try to keep the game at our pace. we want to play fast but we just have to do it smart. I thought Konnor Rogers did an excellent job on defense tonight, he just makes gritty plays. He has matured and improved so much.”

“Federal Hocking is much better than a five-win team,” McCormick continued. “This was a good win for us tonight.”

The Devils put up a third of their points in the opening quarter as they exploded out of the gate with a 30-point effort. A three-pointer from the red-hot Connor Young opened the scoring in a wire-to-wire triumph as the home team jumped out to a 12-4 advantage, with Young delivering another long ball in that span. After two Federal Hocking free throws, the Devils went on a 12-2 run, fueled by three baskets from Schweickart plus a pair of steals and easy buckets from the quick hands of Carson Osborne.

The Lancers’ Wren Ballew hit a three-pointer but the Devils’ Jesse Kennedy matched that to keep the lead at 27-11. A coast to coast score and a later free throw by Jayce Rothwell left North Adams on top 30-16 after one.

The scoring pace for the home side slowed down in the second period, though their lead never slipped below double digits. Konnor Rogers opened the second stanza with a triple on the first North Adams possession, but the Lancers showed some spark as they trimmed the gap to 45-34 by the half and looked to have the momentum slowly shifting to their side as the two teams went to the break.

If Federal Hocking and their fans had thoughts of pulling off a miracle second half, they died soon after the third quarter began. The reinvigorated Green Devils opened the second half with a 10-1 run out of the gate, six of those points coming from Schweickart. Again the Lancers showed some life, going on an 8-2 run of their own, getting three-balls from Ballew and Cam Joy to cut the deficit to 57-43. Later in the period, with the lead sliced to 59-47, the Devils awoke again, closing the third quarter on a 11-2 run to push the margin back out to 70-49.

The final eight minutes for the home team were just a matter of controlling the clock and keeping the Lancers at bay. The visitors did continue to excel from beyond the arc, getting a trio of fourth quarter triples, but the Devils matched that with long distance dial-ups from Young, Kennedy and Osborne. The final three-pointer, coming from Kennedy, turned out to be the final points in what turned out to be a decisive North Adams victory, one that sent them back to the district semifinals, one more step in their quest for a three-peat as district champions.

It was Breestin Schweickart’s season-high of 32 points with 15 two-point baskets, most all from close range, that paced the North Adams scoring attack. On a night where the Devils shot 57% from the field and hit 8 of 20 from beyond the three-point arc, three more players hit double figures- Connor Young with 18, Jayce Rothwell with 13 and Carson Osborne with 11. Young also led the squad with 6 rebounds while point guard Rothwell dished out an impressive 12 assists. An unselfish team at its best, the Devils had 26 assists on 38 made field goals.

“We have a lot of good scores which makes us hard to defend, especially with Jayce as the distributor,” said Coach McCormick. “We want to get the ball in the paint and attack the basket with his athletic ability which he did well tonight. When we keep pressure on the rim, we are even tougher to defend.”

Federal Hocking was topped in scoring by Cam Joy’s 18 points with Wren Ballew adding 17 and Boston Waltz 15.

The win upped the Devils’ season mark to 18-5 and sent them into a February 26 trip to Jackson High School for a Division VI district semifinal battle with #10 seed Rock Hill. That game is set for a 6 p.m. tip off and could possibly set up a very interesting district championship game on Sunday at the Convo. If Peebles wins their semifinal game on Wednesday, it will be the Indians and the Green Devils facing off with that district championship on the line. The Convo would be rockin’!

Federal Hocking

16 18 15 20— 69

North Adams

30 15 25 21—91

F. Hocking (69): Gray 2 0-0 5, Haynes 3 0-0 8, Waltz 6 3-3 15, Ballew 6 2-4 17, Joy 6 5-6 18, Cottall 1 2-2 4, Rodenhaver 1 0-0 2, Team 25 12-15 69.

N. Adams (91): Rothwell 6 1-2 13, Young 7 0-0 18, Kennedy 2 0-0 6, Rogers 2 0-0 5, Osborne 5 0-0 11, Moore 0 1-2 1, Schweickart 15 2-4 32, Davis 1 3-4 5, Team 38 7-12 91.

Three-Point Goals:

F. Hocking (7)- Gray 1, Haynes 2, Ballew 3, Joy 1

N. Adams (8)- Young 4, Kennedy 2, Rogers 1, Osborne 1