By Mark Carpenter
People’s Defender
For Coach Austin McCormick and his North Adams Green Devils, the regular season did not end exactly the way they hoped. The Green Devils dropped their final four regular season games at a time when coaches are hoping to build momentum heading into the postseason. After defeating New Hope Christian on January 31, the Devils lost consecutive games to Wheelersburg, Eastern Brown and Unioto before facing a conference make-up game at Fairfield on February 17.
Every team in the Southern Hills Athletic Conference dreads the trip to Fairfield, a tough venue plus a very talented, well-coached team each year. That is definitely the case this season as Coach Quentin William’s Lions is again a tough opponent to deal with, a great combination, size, shooting and solid fundamental defense.
On this Tuesday night, fans got what they expected with two competitive teams battling for 32 minutes. The game began with the Lions taking advantage of their biggest advantage, 6”5’ center Quentin McIntosh, who scored six of the game’s first 10 points, helping Fairfield to an 8-2 advantage. North Adams did not score until a basket by Thaddeus Moore with 4:33 left in the opening frame, ans a three-pointer by the Lions’ Brody Smith gave the home side an 11-4 advantage after one.
After their cold first quarter, the Devils began to find the range in the second stanza, a pair of three-pointers from Jesse Kennedy cutting the Fairfield lead to one two baskets from the suddenly hot Kennedy capped a 9-0 run and gave North Adams a 18-15 lead. It was the Lions, however, who ended the first half on a high note, back-to-back-triples from Griffin Friend giving the Lions the 21-18 halftime lead.
After the intermission the three-point parade continued, one from Kennedy and one from Friend, as the Lions continued to cling to a slim lead. That situation changed after a 12-2 Fairfield run gave the home side a double digit advantage, 33-23. The Devils scratched out a couple of scores to draw closer but a three-ball from the Lions’ Zach Ahsaruk left the Devils still staring at a 38-29 deficit.
The game of runs continued, however, as the Green Devils closed the third quarter with seven straight, a driving score from Preston Call, another Kennedy trey and a bucket by Moore that left North Adams trailing just 40-36.
As the fourth quarter began, the Lions ran off eight straight to again go back up by double digits, but the runs continued with six by the Devils, three-pointers from Moore and Colin Tolle, that sliced the Fairfield lead in half. A later 5-0 run by the visitors included another three-ball from Moore cut the Fairfield lead to 51-47 as the uphill climb for the Devils continued, but with only 27 seconds left, time was the North Adams enemy. The Lions sealed the win with a couple of free throws and escaped with the conference victory, 53-49, the fourth consecutive defeat for the Devils.
The winners (15-6, 10-3) were led by 21 points from Brody Smith with Griffin Friend adding 16. Quentin McIntosh scored 8 and hauled down 10 rebounds.
For North Adams, Jesse Kennedy led the way with 33, Thaddeus Moore also hitting double figures with 16. Carson Davis topped the team with 7 rebounds.
For the Devils, the three-time defending district champions, it’s a new season now as they can leave the end of the regular season in the rear view mirror and focus on the postseason. They had plenty of time to re-energize and refocus as they will open Division VI district tournament play on Friday, February 27 as the #6 seed, hosting #11 seed Southeastern, The winner will move to the district semifinals at the Waverly Downtown Arena at 8 p.m. on March 3.
The Devils completed their regular season at 12-9 overall, 7-6 in conference play.
Box Score
North Adams
4 14 18 13 —49
Fairfield
11 10 19 13 —53
N. Adams (49): Kennedy 9 9-1 22, Moore 7 0-0 16, Davis 3 0-0 6, Call 1 0-0 2, Tolle 1 0-0 3, Team 21 0-1n 49.
fairfield (53): Ahsaruk 1 0-0 3, Friend 6 1-1 16, McIntosh 4 0-2 8, Rice 2 1-1 5, Smith 9 1-5 21, Team 22 3-9 53.
Three-Point Goals:
N. Adams (7)- Kennedy 4, Moore 2, Tolle 1
Fairfield (6)- Ahsaruk 1, Friend 3,
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