SIZE MATTERS

By Mark Carpenter

People’s Defender

Size matters. At least it does a lot of times on the basketball floor. One of those times was the evening of March 3 at the Waverly Downtown Gym. In a Division VI district semifinal contest, Coach Austin McCormick and the North Adams Green Devils faced off with the Portsmouth West Senators. The Senators came in at 16-6 with the Green Devils at 13-9, with Portsmouth West ready to fire up their 1-3-1 zone with a very wide wingspan provided by some very tall athletes.

Coach McCormick had the unenviable task of having to come into the 2025-26 season of having to replace his entire starting lineup from the previous season, one where his team captured a third consecutive district championship. If the Devils were to make it a four-peat, they would have to get past the much taller Senators. That height disadvantage turned out to be one of the major factors in the outcome of this district semi as the Devils struggled from the get-go, forced to run most of their offense from outside the arc. Though North Adams stayed within striking distance for most of the game, the Senators’ power proved to be too much as they ended the Green Devils’ season, handing North Adams a 54-39 defeat.

“ Their size was just a mismatch for us, but it’s not just size, it’s athleticism,” said Coach McCormick in his postgame radio interview. “That’s a deadly combination for a solid basketball team. I thought we came out flat and then adjusted, but just feel shot against a good team. It was just tough to prepare for their length on defense.”

The Senators drew first blood in this battle in a big way, scoring the first 10 points, getting three-point goals from Corbin Miller and Logan McIntire. The Devils didn’t score until a basket by Carson Davis at the 3:40 mark but that bucket seemed to wake up the green and gold as they rallied from behind the three-point arc, getting two triples from Preston Call and another from Jesse Kennedy to suddenly pull within 12-11 after an 11-2 run. West regrouped to post the final two baskets of the period to lead 16-11 after one.

In the second quarter, the devils got a three-pointer from Thaddeus Moore, a steal and score from Dalton Pence and a rare inside bucket from Davis to stay within 24-18. The Senators ended the first half on a 5-0 run to take a double digit lead into halftime.

The halftime adjustment that the Green Devils made to handle the Senators’ defense were effective but they couldn’t put enough together to make the total comeback. North Adams got a Kennedy three-ball on their first possession, then scores on their next three possessions to stay within 33-27. West answered with a 6-0 run to push their lead out to 12 and after two free throws from Davis, the Senators finished the third stanza with a three-pointer and two-pointer from Owen Richards and the final quarter began with the Devils facing a 44-29 deficit.

Just as they had the third quarter, the Devils opened the fourth with a three-ball, this one from Moore, but the Senators had answers for every North Adam score, stretching their lead to 51-36 with just 2:57 to play. The final points of the North Adam,s season came on another three-pointer from Moore but in the end it was the Senators who advanced to the district finals with their 54-39 triumph.

In their final outing, the Devils placed one player in double figure, sophomore Carson Davis with 10 points while adding 8 rebounds. Thaddeus Moore scores 9, all on three-point goals, with Jesse Kennedy and Preston Call each adding 6, again all from beyond the arc. North Adams shot just 23% from the field and turned the ball over 14 times, neither recipes for victory.

“We knew we would have to shoot a lot of threes going in,” said Coach McCormick. ” Carson Davis has had a tremendous season and he plays bigger then he is against these kinds of teams. Sometimes we forget that he is only a sophomore.”

Senior Will Kegley led the Senators with 18 points and they went on to win a Division VI district championship five days later, routing Lucasville Valley, 56-27.

The district loss was the final game in the green and gold for a quartet of North Adams seniors- Kaleb Eldridge, Preston Call, Dalton Pence and Colin Tolle.

“These seniors are just a great group of kids,” added coach McCormick. “I’ve had the privilege of seeing them grow up, not only as basketball players but as individuals. We want guys to have a “dog” mentality that makes North Adams basketball and these guys helped continue to build our culture.”

BOX SCORE

North Adams

11 7 11 10 —39

Portsmouth West

16 13 15 10 —54

N. Adams (39): Kennedy 2 0-0 6, Moore 3 0-0 6, Pence 1 2-2 4, Davis 4 2-2 10, Tolle 2 0-0 4, Call 2 0-0 6, Team 14 4-4 39.

P. West (54): Miller 4 0-0 9, Kegley 7 4-6 18, Quiracso 1 0-0 2, Adkins 1 0-0 2, Richards 2 0-0 5, McIntire 5 2-6 13, Middleton 2 1-2 5, Team 22 7-14 54.

Three-Point Goals:

N. Adams (7)- Kennedy 2, Call 2, Moore 3

P. West (3)- Miller 1, Richards 1, McIntire 1