North Adams freshman Tenzlee Burns fired in a season-high 31 points in the Lady Devils’ 65-62 overtime victory over Batavia on January 28. (Photo by Mark Carpenter)
North Adams looks to clinch big school title
Freshman Sophia Barlow (5) came up big for North Adams in their overtime win over Batavia, scoring 9 points to aid the Lady Devils cause. (Photo by Mark Carpenter)
By Mark Carpenter
People’s Defender
The girls basketball season is winding down and Coach Rob Davis and his North Adams Lady Devils find themselves in familiar territory- contending for first place in the big school division of the Southern Hills Athletic Conference. As of Monday, the Lady Devils were 9-2 in conference play, one game ahead of the 8-3 Eastern Lady Warriors. If both teams hold serve on Monday night, they will meet on Thursday with some form of the big school top spot on the line.
There are a number of scenarios which could be played out by Monday night’s results, which were not available at press time. If both teams win (North Adams vs. Fairfield, Eastern vs. Ripley), then the Lady Warriors will need a win Thursday to tie for the big school title. If Eastern lost on Monday night and North Adams won, then the Lady Devils clinched the crown before Thursday’s cation. If North Adams loses Monday night and Eastern wins, the outright title will be on the line Thursday when the two teams meet at Eastern.
Before any of that, however, the Lady Devils played two games last week, winning both to improve their overall season mark to 12-4. After weathering the brutal early week snowstorm, the North Adams girls managed to get a game in on Wednesday night, hosting the Batavia Lady Bulldogs in non-conference action. Behind 31 points from freshman phenom Tenzlee Burns, the Lady Devils prevailed 65-62 in an overtime thriller. The next evening the Lady Devils were back on their home court, hosting the Ripley Lady Jays in conference play and pulling out a 45-36 victory.
In the Batavia game, it became obvious early that these were two evenly matched teams who would play things tight from start to finish. North Adams broke out to a 5-2 advantage, only to see the Lady Dogs go up 10-9 on a basket by senior Lucy Thompson. The two teams swapped buckets for the rest of the first period, Batavia going up by two on a three-pointer by Senior Ellie Poynter, but a two-point jumper by Burns tied the score at 15 after one.
Batavia opened quarter number two on a 11-4 run, getting another three-ball from Poynter plus an old-fashioned three-point play by Jada Shepherd. A third triple from the red-hot Poynter sent the visitors to the halftime break with a 29-21 advantage.
Playing from behind, the Lady Devils began to claw their way back in the third quarter, opening the frame with baskets from Burns and Emma Pistole to cut the Batavia lead in half. With the Lady Bulldogs later up 33-25, the freshman Burns decided to take charge, scoring on a coast-to-coast drive, a free throw and then the basket “and one”, six straight to pull her team within two. After a Batavia basket, North Adams’ speedy guard Jaida Harrison went coast-ti-coast for her own score, Sophia Barlow hit a pair of free tosses and Burns nailed a step-back three at the buzzer, giving all the momentum and a 38-36 lead to the home team.
The fourth quarter was intense on both ends, Batavia going back in front on consecutive scores from Thompson. Later in the action, a pair of free throws from Averie Layman gave the Lady Bulldogs a slim 46-44 advantage but a long three from Burns put the Lady Devils back in front. When Barlow banked one home from about 12 feet out. North Adams led 49-46 with 1:18 to play, but a late trey from Poynter tied the game at 51. The Lady Bulldogs ended up with the final shot of regulation, but Layman’s attempt was blocked, sending the contest into overtime.
in the extra period, the Lady Devils took a 58-57 lead after back to back three-pointers from Burns and Jacee Davis. Batavia scored to go back in front but a three-point play from Emma Pistole put the home team in the lead for good. Burns sealed the deal at the charity stripe, hitting four freebies in the final 39 seconds as North Adams held on for the 65-52 victory.
“This was just a really big win for us,” said Coach Davis.
though her varsity career has only lasted 16 games to this point, Tenzlee Burns stole the show for North Adams, tallying a season-high 31 points, a total that included a quartet of three-point baskets. Emma Pistole was solid as usual, adding 16 points in the win with freshman Sophia Barlow chipping in 9.
Batavia was paced by 24 points from junior Averie, going a perfect 10 for 10 from the free throw line. Two more Lady Bulldogs hit double figures, Lucy Thompson with 14 and Ellie Poynter 13 (with four three-point goals).
Box Score
Batavia
15 14 7 15 11 —62
North Adams
15 6 17 13 14 —65
Batavia (62): Lowe 1 0-0 2, Poynter 4 1-4 13, Thompson 6 2-2 14, Myers 1 0-0 2, Layman 7 10-10 24, Shepherd 1 1-2 3, Bell 3 0-0 6, Team 22 14-20 62.
N. Adams (65): Emma Pistole 7 2-3 16, Davis 1 0-0 3, Barlow 3 3-4 9, Burns 10 7-11 31, Ava Pistole 2 0-0 4, Harrison 1 0-0 2, Team 24 12-18 65.
Three-Point Goals:
Batavia (4)- Poynter 4
N. Adams (5)- Burns 4, Davis 1
The following night, the Lady Devils were back in conference play, hosting the Ripley Lady Jays. Ripley put the clamps on Burns, holding her to just 5 points, but did not have an answer for Emma Pistole, who led the team in the 45-36 win with her season-high of 28 points, scoring 11 field goals and going 6 for 6 from the foul line. That win improved the Lady Devils to 9-2 in SHAC play, setting up this decisive final week of regular season action.
