By Mark Carpenter
People’s Defender
For the North Adams Green Devils, the Sweet 16 roadblock has still not been removed. For the third consecutive season, the Devils captured a district championship and found themselves back in the Sweet 16, this time in Division VI in the new OHSAA divisional breakdown. In the past two tries at a move to the Elite Eight, North Adams was thwarted by South Point and Columbus Harvest Prep, and last Wednesday night they faced another formidable opponent in the Monroe Central Seminoles.
Unfortunately for the Green Devils, this latest Sweet 16 battle was not played on their friendly confines of the Convocation Center at Ohio University but instead on the unfamiliar terrain of the hardwood at Ohio Dominican University on March 5. Whether it was the unfamiliar surroundings or the fact that the Seminoles were super talented, it was the end of the road once again in the Sweet 16 as the Devils never led at any point in the contest and suffered a heartbreaking 66-52 defeat to close out their 2024-25 campaign.
“Monroe Central was just physical one through five and Tucker Howell may have been the best player we have gone up against all year,” said North Adams head Austin McCormick in his postgame spot on C103. “We just didn’t do a very good job defensively tonight with our traps and we thought after seeing them on film that they might struggle with that facet of the game. We didn’t contain them well but I’m so proud of our guys for fighting from start to finish. This group, 1 through 13, have grown so much this season and they showed it with their effort tonight.”
“Monroe Central was so hard to prepare for and were so tough to defend and we knew it would be tough for us on the offensive boards.”
Two possessions into the game, the Seminoles had a 4-0 lead and they never gave that up. The first North Adams points of the Sweet 16 came on a drive and left-handed layup from Konnor Rogers but Monroe Central answered with a three-pointer from Cooper Howell that was matched from beyond the arc by the Devils’ Carson Osborne. The Seminoles then reeled off six straight to take a double digit advantage at 15-5. North Adams battled back with the three-ball, long distance connections from Rogers and Jayce Rothwell to draw within 17-11. A baseline jumper from Connor Young followed up by a leaner in the lane from Osborne left the Devils trailing just 19-15 after one quarter of action.
The second period began with an 8-2 run by Monroe Central that included a three-pointer from sharpshooter Caedyn Silva, before a drive, scoop and score from Rothwell made it 27-19. The Noles countered with another Silva trey, matched by a long ball from Osborne as the Devils stayed within striking distance, trailing 30-22, but the first half ended with a layup at the buzzer from Monroe Central’s Chance Allen gave his team a double digit lead again at 32-22.
The North Adams hopes rose again when Young opened the third quarter with a triple but too many empty possessions would eventually cost the Devils dearly, though they stayed close in the third, making it 40-30 on another Rogers three. The Devils’ leading scorer, senior Breestin Schweickart, was held scoreless by the Seminole defense in the first half, but finally got on the board with an old-fashioned three-point play at the 2:53 mark but Central answered in a big way, a thunderous dunk from Tucker Howell for a 44-33 lead.
That slam began a 6-0 run that pushed the Seminole advantage out to 15 points. A steal and score from Schweickart closed out the third stanza but only cut the Monroe Central margin to 48-35.
The story of the game’s final eight minutes was the Devils giving every effort to rally from behind but the Seminoles having an answer for every attack. A 6-2 start to the final quarter by Monroe Central put North Adams in a 54-37 hole before a nice back door cut and score from Rothwell and two Schweickart free throws kept the slim North Adams hopes alive. The Devils got another three-ball, this one from Young, but the Seminoles had an answer, another loud Tucker Howell dunk. North Adams kept firing away, getting another trey from Rogers that made it 62-50, but time was the enemy of the Adams County squad. As the seconds wound down in the final quarter, Coach McCormick emptied his bench and gave his senior starters their last hurrah and the final points of the Devils’ season came from another senior, a layup by Caleb DeAtley that left the final score at 66-52.
North Adams finished yet another memorable season with an overall record of 20-6, going undefeated for the gold ball trophy in the Southern Hills Athletic Conference and getting that district title three-peat. In their final outing, they were led in scoring by two players in double figures, Carson Osborne with 13 and Konnor Rogers with 11. Jayce Rothwell and Breestin Schweickart each scored 9 with Connor Young adding 8. The Devils shot an uncharacteristic 39% from the field in the loss and turned the ball over 14 times, another unusual statistic.
The Seminoles moved on to the Elite Eight where they defeated Beaver Eastern to punch their ticket to the Division VI Final Four. In the Sweet 16 win, Monroe Central was paced in scoring by 25 points from Tucker Howell, with Caedyn Silva adding 15 and Chance Allen 12.
The Sweet 16 loss was the final high school game for a group of North Adams seniors who have left their mark in a big way on the Devils’ program- Jayce Rothwell, Connor Young, Konnor Rogers, Carson Osborne, Breestin Schweickart and Caleb DeAtley.
“There have been so may great memories with this group,” said Coach McCormick. “This senior group has won three districts, two gold balls and the legacy that they will leave and they have left their jerseys in a better place. Losing six seniors our JV team basically becomes our varsity team and they are a group that will work their tails off. Next year we will look a little different but we will be a team that plays hard until the end of every game. I’m looking forward to it.”
“Just to be able to see these seniors grow has been a privilege. I’ve known them since first grade and the special bond they have amongst themselves is second to none. They all bought into their roles and played their tails off and they all have great leadership abilities. I’m proud of all they accomplished and love every one of them.”
Monroe Central
19 13 16 18—66
North Adams
15 7 13 17— 52
M. Central (66): C. Howell 3 1-4 8, Whitacre 1 0-0 2, Allen 5 2-4 12, Silva 6 1-2 15, T. Howell 12 1-2 25, Farnsworth 2 0-0 4, Team 29 5-12 66.
N. Adams (52): Rothwell 4 0-2 9, Young 3 0-0 8, Rogers 4 0-0 11, Osborne 5 0-0 13, Schweickart 3 3-3 9, DeAtley 1 0-0 2, Team 20 3-5 52.
Three-Point Goals:
M. Central (3)- C. Howell 1, Silva 2
N. Adams (9)- Rothwell 1, Young 2, Rogers 3, Osborne 3