Southern Ohio Sports Authority is presented by OhioHealth.
SEAMAN — For the first time in school history, coming into Thursday night, North Adams was on the verge of an undefeated regular season.
CREDIT: Brock Netter/SOSA
But first, the Devils had to beat the 18-win Eastern Brown Warriors.
North Adams (22-0, 13-0 SHAC) found a way to their 22nd consecutive victory the same way that they had won their previous 21 contests — with teamwork and defense.
Holding the Warriors to nearly 20 points below season average, the Green Devils capped an undefeated regular season with a 45-33 victory.
“It’s amazing,” North Adams senior Laney Ruckel said. “Obviously, all the other years, we just want to win. That’s our main goal. Us seniors wanted to win [a title] the worst. It’s our last year. I think everyone else just adds onto that. They push us as well.”
Not only was it NA’s first-ever perfect regular season, but Thursday’s win also closed the books on the program’s first-ever perfect Southern Hills Athletic Conference season. It additionally broke the streak of six-straight conference titles for Eastern Brown.
North Adams deployed a balanced offensive attack, while unleashing Laney Ruckel to stalk Eastern Brown’s Rylee Leonard all over the court on defense. Between Ruckel and a box-and-1 defense that the Green Devils used, they were able to slow Leonard and hold her to just seven points on the night.
“She’s a great player, a great shooter and can drive to the basket,” Ruckel said of Leonard. “She’s just an all-around good player. So really, you have to focus on being up enough so she can’t pull [a shot] and back enough so she can’t pass it. Everybody else helped amazingly. Everybody did a great job to stop her.”
On the offensive end, North Adams was sparked by early 3-pointers from Keetyn Hupp and Kenlie Jones, before a tough post move from Katelynn Boerger gave them a 14-9 lead after the first quarter.
With Ruckel shadowing Leonard around the court, the Warriors got some offensive punch from seniors Sarah Clark and McKinzie Dotson, keeping Eastern within striking distance before tying the game at 16-16.
However, North Adams wrangled momentum with a 7-2 run to end the first half as Makenna Shelton splashed a buzzer-beater to put her team ahead 23-18 at halftime.
Coming out of the dressing room, Eastern stormed into contention as Emmalee Belmont and Dotson each connected on jump shots to narrow the gap. But the Warriors never drew even or took the lead back, as Hupp and Boerger scored on back-to-back trips to extend the lead back out to 29-23.
“I went early in the day and shot because I knew it was going to be packed tonight,” Hupp said. “I just knew I had to get those shots up. I think getting in a rhythm and just the whole atmosphere just helped me [score].”
Late in the quarter, Leonard scored a basket on the interior to cut the lead to three, but North Adams closed the quarter with a cutting basket from Hupp to control a 33-28 lead heading to the fourth.
With eight minutes standing between the Green Devils and a perfect season, junior Harlee Brand made her biggest impact of the game to make sure the win was secured.
Brand, who finished with a double-double of 10 points and 10 rebounds, scored the opening five points of the fourth before nailing a dagger corner 3 with just over two minutes to play, giving North Adams an 11-point lead and sparking the celebration throughout the capacity crowd.
North Adams now turns its attention towards the tournament. The Devils have earned the top seed in Division III and will await the winner of West Union and Ironton on Feb. 18. Meanwhile, Eastern Brown has earned a No. 4 seed and will host the winner of Southeastern and Northwest the same evening.
“This feels great. It’s great to do it for our coaches, our community and for ourselves,” Hupp said. “It’s a team effort. We live for this game [against Eastern Brown], especially on Senior Night. Our crowd was amazing tonight.”
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