Mark Carpenter/The People’s Defender
North Adams’ Brittany Stout (left) and Manchester’s Haylee Adams battle for possession of a loose ball during action Monday night at North Adams High School. Stout hit a pair of three-pointers in the first half on her way to 9 points as the Lady Devils captured a 61-46 victory.
Big night from Fite leads Lady Devils past Manchester 61-46
For the second time this season, it was the North Adams Lady Devils facing off with the Manchester Lady Greyhounds in an all-county girls basketball contest. The first meeting was all North Adams in the 2012 McDonald's Classic but this time was a little tighter with the Lady Devils using a big night from senior Emily Fite to pull away in the second half and down the Lady Hounds by a final of 61-46.
Fite finished the night with a monster stat line that included 28 points and 16 rebounds as she helped her team hold off a scrappy Manchester squad looking for an upset in a game that did not count in the standings of the Southern Hills Athletic Conference.
"It was ugly and we didn't put a lot of pressure on them or rotate well," said North Adams coach Rob Davis after the win. "We missed a lot of easy shots and made a lot of mistakes but we picked it up a bit in the second half and hit some shots when we needed them."
"Manchester has a nice team and if they had finished some layups, this would have been a nail biter all the way through."
The Lady Hounds started fast getting baskets from Rainelle Casey and Hannah Rideout on their first two possessions, but the Lady Devils rebounded with an 8-0 run, capped off by a Brittany Stout three, to grab a 10-6 advantage. With 1:10 left in the first quarter, Manchester was able to retake the lead at 14-13 when Morgan Johnson made a steal and took it all the way for a score. A stick back Fite and a bucket by Rylee Copas put North Adams back up by three, but Casey got a put back just before the horn and the first eight minutes ended on a high note for the Lady Hounds, who trailed just 17-16.
Fite began the second period with flourish, getting a pair of offensive rebound baskets, both off her own misses. Manchester answered with a Casey hoop and two Rideout free throw and a tight second stanza was underway. The Lady Devils made the first headway, with another Stout trey giving them a 25-20 lead.
Back came the Hounds with two buckets by Haylee Adams as the action became very fast-paced on both sides and North Adams held on to a slim lead. A basket by Kayla Baker gave the home team a 30-26 lead but just as quickly, a fired-up Manchester bunch got a pair of Casey scores to tie the game. The "into the locker room" momentum went the way of the Lady Devils as Mikayla Jodrey got one to go from the inside and then the first half ended with Fite banking in a three-pointer at the buzzer to give her team a 35-30 advantage.
It was a first half of missed opportunities for the Lady Hounds as time after time, they handled the North Adams pressure, only to misfire on easy shots on their offensive end. Manchester shot just 35% for the game.
The Lady Devils began to pull away in the third quarter, a quarter which became "turnover city" as the play was rather ugly on both ends of the court. A three-point goal by Rylee Copas opened up a 42-33 margin for North Adams and they were never seriously threatened from that point forward. The Lady Devils closed the third period on a 7-1 run that included another Copas three, and led after three, 51-36.
All the home team had to do in the final eight minutes was maintain the status quo and they did that, even after an 8-0 Manchester run sliced the lead to 53-44 with 5:55 to go. North Adams answered with two Fite baskets in the paint and a bucket by Brittany Stout closed out a 61-46 victory that improved the Lady Devils to 12-3 on the year.
Fite's double double led North Adams, with Rylee Copas adding 14 points, Brittany Stout 9, and Mikayla Jodrey 6 for the winners. Jodrey also was tough on the glass, hauling in 13 boards in the game.
For Manchester, now 7-7 on the season, two girls reached double figures with Rainelle Casey leading the way again with 21 points and 8 rebounds. Hannah Rideout scored 13 and grabbed 7 boards. Haylee Adams scored 6 and dished out 5 assists, while Tess Burns scored 4 and used her quick hands to garner 8 steals on the defensive side.
MANCHESTER
16 14 6 10 -46
NORTH ADAMS
17 18 16 10 -61
Manchester (46): Burns 1 2-6 4, Adams 2 2-3 6, Johnson 1 0-0 2, Rideout 4 5-6 13, Casey 10 1-3 21, Team 18 10-18 46.
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