ATHENS — Entering the fourth quarter tied 33-33, the North Adams Green Devils went on to outscore the Minford Falcons 21-13 in the final frame — earning a 54-46 win over the top-seeded Falcons in the Division III, Southeast No. 1 district final at the Convocation Center in Athens.

Minford coach Josh Shoemaker said the result occurred because of the Falcons’ struggles from the field and on the glass.

As a team, the Falcons shot 15-of-42 (35.7-percent) from the field and 5-of-22 from three (22.7-percent), while North Adams finished 22-of-52 from the field (42.3-percent).

The Green Devils also out-rebounded Minford 31-29.

“We didn’t shoot it well. I thought they did a good job getting pressure on us, and when we did have open looks we couldn’t knock them down,” Shoemaker said, after the game. “Thought they did a good job of boxing us out, didn’t get offensive rebounds like we want to. Second half we take a lead then have some costly turnovers and they have a run where they hit some big shots.”

Another statistic that didn’t go Minford’s way was the turnover differential. North Adams committed just three turnovers over the game’s 32 minutes, while the Falcons turned the ball over nine times.

“They only had three turnovers and I think we had around 10, that’s six-seven extra possessions,” Shoemaker said. “And we didn’t finish. Points in the paint I think they had us by 10+, that’s their good drives and us getting in the paint and not finishing.”

North Adams was led in scoring by junior Bransyn Copas’ game-high 20 points.

Minford put three scorers in double-figures, led by sophomore Myles Montgomery’s 12 points, sophomore Jackson Shoemaker’s 11 points, and senior Joe Hannah’s 10 points.

Sunday’s district final was the final game for four Falcon seniors, including Hannah, Adam Crank, Bailey White, and Noah Martin.

“Want to thank our four seniors for their great season and contributions to the program,” Shoemaker said. “Hopefully they can match how good of people those four are, they’re top-notch with their attitude and effort.”

Minford will return three-of-five starters and sixth-man Jeffrey Pica entering next year.

“We told them that we hope it hurts. It’s tough, it’s always tough seeing your season come to an end,” Shoemaker said. “We’ve got to take this hurt to motivate us in the summer and looking to get back for next year.”

North Adams advances to the Division III, Region 11 semifinals where they’ll face South Point on Wednesday, March 8th at the Convocation Center.

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BOX SCORE

North Adams 5 17 11 21 — 54

Minford 11 10 12 13 — 46

North Adams (20-5): Jayce Rothwell 3 0-2 6, Cody Hesler 2 0-0 2, Bransyn Copas 7 4-6 20, Kamden Buttelworth 0 1-2 1, Carson Osborne 6 0-0 13, Brestin Schweikart 3 0-2 7, Dillan Reagan 2 1-2 5; TOTALS 22 6-14 54; TOTALS: 22 6-14 54; Three-point field goals: 4 (Bransyn Copas 2, Carson Osborne, Brestin Schweikart 1 apiece)

Minford (22-2): Bennett Kayser 3 1-2 7, Adam Crank 2 0-0 5, Myles Montgomery 4 2-4 12, Jeffrey Pica 0 0-0 0, Bailey White 0 1-1 1, Noah Martin 0 0-0 0, Jackson Shoemaker 3 3-5 11, Joe Hannah 3 4-5 10; TOTALS: 15 11-17 46; Three-point field goals: 5 (Myles Montgomery, Jackson Shoemaker 2 apiece, Adam Crank 1 apiece)

Reach Jacob Smith at (740) 370-0713 ext. 1930, by email at [email protected], or on Twitter @JacobSmithPDT © 2023 Portsmouth Daily Times, all rights reserved