Southern Ohio Sports Authority is presented by OhioHealth.
ATHENS — Put simply, North Adams seems to have Minford’s postseason number.
The Falcons and Devils have squared off yearly in the regular season. And, in each of the last two seasons, Minford has taken care of business in those matchups.
But when it comes to the district tournament, North Adams is the one team the Falcons haven’t been able to solve.
With four players in double-digit scoring figures, led by 20 points and seven assists from District Player of the Year Bransyn Copas, the Green Devils (21-4) knocked off the Falcons by a 70-61 final in a Division III district final on Saturday — repeating as district champions for the first time in school history.
CREDIT: Erica Fike/SOSA
“Coming into the game, I felt that we were the better team. We played Minford during the regular season and they put it to us, but we only shot 21 percent,” North Adams coach Nathan Copas said. “We talked before the game about controlling the things that we can control like our energy and effort. We made some bonehead plays, but we always responded and never let Minford make a run. I couldn’t more proud our guys to bring back another district to North Adams”
North Adams came out firing as Carson Osbourne hit a pair of 3’s, alongside another from Bresstin Schweickart. That, combined with multiple buckets inside from Jayce Rothwell, had the Green Devils ahead 16-9 midway through the first quarter.
Minford’s Bennett Kayser, however, got a bucket to fall, plus the foul, underneath to cut the deficit to 16-12 at the end of the quarter.
Kayser opened the second with a rebound and putback, but North Adams answered back with a score from Osbourne and a triple from Schweickart, extending the lead to 21-14.
Myles Montgomery scored six of the Falcons’ next seven points, bringing the deficit down to two points, but the Green Devils ended the half with a triple from Rothwell and a bucket from Copas to maintain a 28-23 lead at the break.
“I know that Bransyn gets a lot of attention, but I always say that we’re not a good individual team. We’re a good team, period,” Nathan Copas said. “We have guys who just play the game the right way and from the opening tip when we ran our play understanding the mismatch we had, it was time to get the party started.”
In the third, North Adams attacked the inside as Copas, Rothwell and Schweickart opened the second half with layups for a 6-0 run, extending the lead to 34-23.
That trio continued to pile on as Rothwell scored twice before Copas knocked a deep triple, giving NA its largest lead of the night at 41-28.
In total, the Green Devils shot 10-of-13 from the field in the third and won the quarter by a 22-17 margin, taking a 50-40 lead into the final eight minutes.
“These guys just love to play the game and their chemistry is really good. When you look at us warming up, we probably don’t pass the eye test since we’re all a bunch of 6-foot guys,” Nathan Copas said. “But that’s never been a negative for us that we don’t have much size. We don’t play the victim, we just got out and battle for 32 and lay the chips fall where they may.”
Schweickart and Montgomery exchanged triples to open the fourth before Copas scored on a floater in the lane, keeping NA ahead 55-43.
Minford (19-5) attempted to mount a late rally, but the Devils’ spacing, crisp passing and free throw shooting was too much to overcome as they punched a ticket back to the Sweet 16.
“We try our best to keep a body on their guys to keep them grounded instead of jumping through the air,” Nathan Copas said. “You have to be aware of where Myles and Bennett are, and Jackson (Shoemaker) is a load underneath so you have to give help off of their role players. You’re playing the odds and hoping their role players aren’t producing when you play Minford. Maybe it’s a mental block they have with us, but I like to think it has more to do with that way we approach them.”
Following Copas’ final numbers, Rothwell added 19 points and three assists. Schweickart had 18 points and nine rebounds, and Osbourne finished the night with 13 points and five boards.
For Minford, Kayser finished with 21 points and 10 rebounds, and Montgomery added 21 points.
While Minford’s season comes to an end, North Adams advances to a Division III regional semifinal at 8 p.m., Wednesday at Ohio University’s Convocation Center.
The Devils will meet with Harvest Prep, who defeated Africentric to win a Central District championship and advance.
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