John Bruce, Staff Writer
Southern Ohio Sports Authority is presented by OhioHealth.
MINFORD — In a marquee matchup between two of the top point guards in Southeastern Ohio, Minford deployed outstanding balance in scoring to pull out a victory over North Adams on Saturday night.
CREDIT: Derrick Webb/SOSA
The battle between Minford’s Myles Montgomery and North Adams’ Bransyn Copas was as advertised, but the Falcons (9-1) had all five starters reach double-digit scoring figures to earn a 58-43 win.
Right out of the gate, Copas and Montgomery guarded each other, adding even more to the intrigue of the matchup. Copas used his outstanding quickness to hit a stepback 3 to open the scoring while Montgomery hit back-to-back mid-range jumpers.
“I knew I needed to come out and attack early,” Montgomery said. “We know we can’t just come out and shoot 3’s right off the bat. We need to attack [the basket] early. So I started getting to the rim, getting my mid-range game going and the shots started falling.”
Next, Copas drove the lane and dished off to Dillon Reagan, who converted the layup through contact for a three-point play. Montgomery then gave the Falcons the lead for the first — and last — time by making a step-back jumper before slashing to the rim for a layup and a perfect 4-for-4 start from the field for the sophomore.
That’s when the rest of the Falcons began to get into the action as senior Adam Crank canned a corner 3 before Bennett Kayser connected from fifteen feet out.
Copas buried another 3 and the Green Devils (9-2) got one from Carson Osborne as well, cutting the Falcons’ lead to 17-14 late in the opening quarter. With the clock winding down, it appeared to all in attendance that Montgomery would be taking the last shot of the quarter. But once the Green Devils sent a double team at Montgomery, he found Joe Hannah at the top of the key for a last second triple and a 20-14 Minford lead after a quarter.
To begin the second, Montgomery buried a 3 from about 26 feet out to extend the Falcons’ lead, bringing the Falcon faithful to their feet in the process.
North Adams then began to attempt to do what they could to get the ball out of Montgomery’s hands. But that just gave Montgomery’s teammates the chance to show that Minford is more than just a one-man show.
“It’s a positive of having a really good point guard,” Kayser said. “We know when he gets off to a hot start that teams will start to double-team him and send more [defenders] at him. We just have to find the open guys in the open gaps and hit shots. We know that if Myles starts missing, we’ll be there to pick it up.”
Kayser scored on another mid-range jumper, Hannah scored at the rim, and Jackson Shoemaker dominated the offensive glass for a layup to push the lead larger.
BY THE NUMBERS
If you just looked strictly at the numbers, it was obvious how the Falcons won the game. With five players in double figures and shooting 54.5% from the field, Minford was balanced and efficient in the contest. Defensively, they held the Green Devils to only 32.1% from the field, with only two players in double figures. The Falcons did turn the ball over 14 times versus only eight for North Adams. but the fact that Minford also shot 50% from 3-point range made up for that deficiency.
One of the bigger plays of the half came from a somewhat unlikely source in junior Jeffrey Pica.
Pica took advantage of the Montgomery double team, drove baseline and then connected with Crank in the corner with a picture perfect drift pass to give the Falcons an 18-point lead in the second quarter.
The Green Devils weren’t done, however, as Jayce Rothwell scored the final six points of the half, giving North Adams some much-needed momentum going into the locker room — even if they were still trailing, 32-20.
North Adams coach Nathan Copas made another big change to their defensive strategy in the third by trapping virtually everywhere in the half-court. The strategy seemed to frazzle the Falcons, forcing six turnovers in the quarter alone, leading to runout layups from Rothwell and Copas.
With the Green Devils making a run, Minford coach Josh Shoemaker made his own defensive switch, calling on Pica to guard Copas. Pica used his lateral quickness and strength advantage to wear down the lightning quick Copas and keep him out of the paint.
With Montgomery being freed up defensively, he was able to find the range with his second triple of the night and a 44-32 Minford lead after three quarters.
Early in the fourth, North Adams made the final run of the night with Rothwell scoring inside before Copas connected with Kamden Buttelwerth for a wing 3 to cut the deficit to 44-37.
That run would be for naught as Hannah hit his second 3 before Crank scored on back-to-back layups to force a NA timeout with 4:59 to play.
Over the final five minutes of action, Hannah, Shoemaker and Kayser seemingly took turns pulling down layups and then scoring on the opposite end.
“We know, with our size, we should be one of the best rebounding teams in the SOC or even in the region,” Kayser said. “Myles is a great scorer and a great shooter. But when his shots aren’t falling, we better back him up.”
Hannah and Shoemaker closed out the night’s scoring, putting all five starters for the Falcons in double-digit scoring figures.
Copas led the Green Devils in scoring with 17 points while Rothwell added 12 of his own.
Montgomery paced the Falcons with 16 points while Crank, Hannah, Kayser and Shoemaker all finished the night with 10 points each.
The Falcons are back in action on Tuesday in a big one, hosting Wheelersburg in SOC play. Meanwhile, North Adams will attempt to get back on track the same evening, hosting Logan Elm.
“We just have to take a lot of pride in our defensive game plan,” Kayser said. “We want to get a lot of rebounds and we know that if we get offensive boards, we can put it back up. After last year’s playoff loss, we want [Wheelersburg].”
BOX SCORE
North Adams: 14-8-19-11 — 43
Minford: 20-12-12-14 — 58
North Adams scoring: Copas 17, Rothwell 12, Buttelweth 5, Osborne 5, Reagan 4.
Minford scoring: Montgomery 16, Crank 10, Hannah 10, Kayser 10, Shoemaker 10, Pica 2.
SPONSORED BY GLOCKNER FAMILY OF DEALERSHIPS
