Southern Ohio Sports Authority is presented by OhioHealth.
LYNCHBURG — Midway through Monday’s third quarter, North Adams coach Rob Davis had somewhat of a critical decision to make.
He could either stick with a zone defense that allowed Lynchburg-Clay to shoot despite some struggles, or switch to man-to-man and see what happened.
His assistant coaches told him to take the gamble and switch, and the Green Devils’ roll of the dice paid off in a big way.
Trailing by eight points in the third, North Adams (15-1, 11-1 SHAC) made a comeback while its defense frustrated the Mustangs in the final 10 minutes, leading to a hard-fought 51-45 victory in SHAC action.
CREDIT: Tim Daulton
“I challenged our girls at halftime because we were playing way too soft and I told them, ‘We have to give it right back to them,’” Davis said. “If we were going to win the game, we had to match Lynchburg’s physicality. For some reason, we weren’t attacking the bucket in the first half, but that changed in the second half and the girls took on the challenge of coming on the road in a tough place to play and win. I couldn’t be more proud of them.”
More importantly than the win, the Green Devils clinched a share of yet another SHAC championship — thanks in part to the efforts of Katelynn Boerger and Harlee Brand.
Boerger’s offense and effort for second-chance opportunities kept North Adams afloat throughout the game. She finished with a team-high 19 points and nine rebounds.
Meanwhile, Brand’s defense set the tone throughout the second half. Her ability to score was a key part in the Green Devils’ comeback. She ended with 15 points.
“Boerger had a great game and Brand started attacking the bucket, which is what we’d been telling her to do all night,” Davis said. “They showed great leadership, as did our whole team. We got great contributions from Tatum Grooms, McKenna Shelton and Karlie Kennedy. They did a great job defensively getting steals, rebounds and creating some chaos.”
Jade Massey splashed an opening triple for the Mustangs (14-5, 10-2 SHAC), and they followed that with a pair of steals that turned into buckets for Addison West, quickly going ahead 7-2.
Boerger, however, took it upon herself to bring the Green Devils back. She scored a pair of buckets and drilled a triple to help them trim the first quarter lead to 13-11.
After NA split a pair of free throws, the Mustangs aimed to create distance and used a healthy dose of Massey to do so. She combatted early shooting struggles by dishing a pair of assists to Madison McMullen, and then drilled a trey as part of an 8-0 run to push the lead to 21-12.
Yet, the Green Devils answered with buckets from Boerger, Brand and Karlie Kennedy, cutting the halftime deficit to 21-18.
The Mustangs came out firing in the second half, and West was leading the charge.
After dealing with some foul trouble in the second quarter, she went right back to work and scored seven quick points. LC started the third a perfect 6-of-6 shooting, including a pair of 3’s that extended the lead to 36-28.
However, this was the moment where the Green Devils made the aforementioned switch.
They began to fluster the Mustangs’ offense by either going over the top of screens, slipping under them or having active hands to deflect the ball in the passing lanes.
Meanwhile, Brand and Boerger led an 8-0 run to tie the game before West hit two free throws to keep the Mustangs ahead at 38-36.
“We switched to man defense since we were losing their shooters in the zone and they were getting too many open looks,” Davis said. “It matched up really well and we rebounded the ball really well. That all comes down to toughness and the want to win. I didn’t know we held them scoreless for nearly 10 minutes, so that definitely helped as well.”
With momentum on the Green Devils’ side, Brand and Boerger opened the fourth with a bucket each, putting NA ahead 40-38 — the team’s first lead of the game since 2-0 and one it wouldn’t relinquish.
West broke the Mustangs’ scoreless drought with back-to-back buckets, but in the end, free throws and timely steals from North Adams’ Tatum Grooms sealed the envelope on a win.
Boerger and Brand led North Adams offensively while Lynchburg’s West finished with a game-high 28 points and six rebounds. Massey added nine points and four assists for the Mustangs.
After a non-league loss to South Gallia on Wednesday, North Adams returns to action on Saturday at home, hosting Minford.
Meanwhile, after a win over West Union on Thursday, Lynchburg-Clay also returns to action on Saturday at Fayetteville.
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