With the postseason tournament approaching, it has been a very successful season thus far for head coach Shannon Staggs and his seventh grade girls squad from North Adams. The seventh grade Lady Devils finished their regular season with a 12-1 record and went undefeated in the Southern Hills Athletic Conference with a 7-0 mark.
“I am very proud of these kids for the way they finished the regular season and have been mentally tough all season long,” said Coach Staggs. “In my 11 years of coaching junior high boys and girls, this is my first championship.”
The Lady Devils completed their regular season on a high note, grabbing wins over Minford, Fayetteville, and Lynchburg. The Minford win came on Jan. 25 as the Lady Devils prevailed 36-27, led by 16 points from Wylie Shipley and 12 from Delaney Harper.
“This was a good non-conference road win for our team,” said Staggs. “Minford had only two losses, both to Wheelersburg, who gave us our only loss of the year.”
On Jan. 28, the Lady Devils were back in SHAC action, defeating the Fayetteville Lady Rockets 41-26, again paced by Shipey, who scored 14 points. Karissa Buttelwerth added 9, Harper 8, and Braylie Jones 5 to the winning effort. The Lady Devils began the game on a 12-0 run and never looked back.
“This was a game where all our kids got a lot of good minutes,” said Staggs. “Fayetteville is a team we have a ton of respect for and they are very well coached.”
The regular season finale for the Lady Devils came on Jan. 30, again on the road, as they rolled past Lynchburg 49-29 to clinch the SHAC regular season championship. Three Lady Devils hit double figures, Shipley with 16, Jones with 11, and Harper with 11. The game was tight into the final quarter until Coach Staggs set up the full court press during a timeout and his team took off on a 15-0 run.
With the number one seed in the upcoming SHAC tournament, the Lady Devils will be in action on Tuesday, Feb. 9 at Whiteoak High School, where they will be facing the winner of the Eastern-Fayetteville game in the semi-finals. If they survive any upset bids in the semis, the Lady Devils will move to the tourney’s title game on Feb. 13 on their home floor at North Adams, tipping off at 7 p.m.
The roster for the seventh grade Lady Devils includes Alyssa Mays, Karissa Buttelwerth, Jaden Smith, Sydney Collett, Braylie Jones, Brooklyn Tolle, Brianna Robinson, Wylie Shipley, Faith Howell, Marah Call, Jadah Swineagar, and Delaney Harper.
