Minford 58 North Adams 43 a final

[pfloyd]

Minford 58
North Adams 43 a final

... saw the matchup on paper when I was trying to decide where to go Saturday night to see a good game - this one was a no brainer! Minford my #1 and North Adams my #7 in a non-conference rumble down Rte 139 ... of course I was going to be there!!! ... when I was penciling in the rosters on my napkin stat sheets I started smiling when I was thinking of the head-to-head matchup between 2 of the best PG's in Southern Ohio - #10 Myles Montgomery (Minford) and #10 Bransyn Copas (North Adams) ... as good as the pg's are, in my mind, this matchup was going to be won by the surrounding players in the lineup ...

... as this one tipped off the PG matchup was on display as Myles Montgomery opened the game going 5/5 from the field (10 pts) , all on drives into that 5 ft arc around the rim while his counterpart Bransyn Copas did his damage from beyond the 3 point line as the lightening quick guard freed himself for a pair of three pointers and a shot at the rim (8pts) ... with the 2 guards going at it, the match up I was looking even closer at - the remaining cast of characters for each team- as these matchups were in my mind where the game outcome was going to hinge ... for North Adams Carson Osborne added a triple from deep, while inside the paint Dillon Reagan had a bucket on the block & 1 (3 points) ... the Falcons had touches for everyone as Montgomery drew attention with his penetration he also dished the rock adding 3 dimes to his napkin stat line - Adam Crank did what Adam Crank does - drained a 3 ball from the corner (3 pts)/ 6-7 senior Joe Hannah found the bottom of the net from the left wing behind the 3 point line (3pts) , while 6-5 sophomore Bennett Kayser got to the rim for 4pts ... in the quarter Mongomery 10/Copas 8 ... Team Falcons 10/Team Green Devils 6 ... Minford 20 North Adams 14 end of 1 ... quarter number two played out as the napkin stat sheet conclusions bared out in the opening period - that MHS is not just the Myles Montgomery show - the Falcons of Coach Shoemaker/Coach Montgomery are one of ,if not the most complete TEAM at both ends of the floor in SEO ... all 5 starters added to the scoring column in the 2nd - Montgomery drained a trey from somewhere around Rubyville (3pts/13 for the half), by the end of the 2nd all 5 starters had contributed Kayser 2 more on the inside /Crank his 2nd 3 pointer from the corner (3pts)/ Hannah 2 points on a baseline drive & Jackson Shoemaker his first 2 points of the game on a putback bucket in the the paint ... Jayce Rothwell for NA had been quiet in the opening quarter & held scoreless -in the 2nd HE was the only offense that the Green Devils could find as Rothwell picked up 3 buckets at the rim, 2 transition baskets and an offensive drive into the paint (6pts) , Copas added 2/2 from the FT line for NA ... from the Cheap Seats it was becoming clear which team had in this game the better supporting cast/ TEAM ... Minford has the TEAM makeup to not only score the ball from all 5 positions but the "build" in player personnel to play with anyone defensively (6-4 Shoemaker in the post is as strong of a player as you will find in the paint - physically ... 6-7 sr Hannah is 6-7 with hops and a wingspan of a 7 footer/ on the opposite side is sophomore Bennett Kayser 6-5 with Hannah length and still growing ... sr Adam Crank is the ultimate 5th man ... 5-10ish , strong with the ball, guards on the perimeter, strong enough to battle on the boards and something many teams with "that guy" who plays solid D doesn't have in the 5th man - Crank will bury you from 3 point land, when the rest of the team is being played even up - he gives you automatic offense from beyond the arc - Crank knows where he lives - beyond the arc , either corner , he will/does give you 2,3,4 three pointers made every game depending on how the defense plays him ... throw in the 6th man - Jeffery Pica - a true 6th man who gives 100% when he is on the court, doing whatever is needed- defense vs a pg the likes of Copas, defense in the paint vs a strong/taller post player - he does it... crash the boards for rebounds - check, he does that too ... Minford - complete TEAM ... Minford 32 North Adams 22 at the half ... North Adams IS an Elite 8 team , sitting at #7 in the rankings this past week, Coach Copas's troops play hard, with Copas the younger running the show vs anyone but a team with the makeup at all positions as Minford - they will compete and win the majority of their games ... vs a team which can matchup, play D like Minford - overcoming the 10 point deficit in this one wasn't going to happen - DOESN'T mean NA didn't make it a game! ... at one point in the 3rd the NA defense turned Minford over 6 times with their jump trap on the perimeter - it was effective in getting the Devils within 7pts - an NA missed shot, with a turnover added in ... 7 points was as close as this one was getting ... Rothwell with 2pts in the 3rd, Copas 2, off the bench for NA Kamden Buttleworth added a long range 3 ball (3pts) and Carson Osborne with the only transition bucket of the game for NA to round out the NA scoring ... for Minford, 6 turnovers in the quarter, for most teams this alone would have allowed their opponent to "get back in the game" but the good teams find an answer - the answer was in the normal "what the Falcons do" - they see the floor as a TEAM as well as anyone - heads up, see the floor, find the open guy ... in the 3rd , the Falcons found the open man enough to hold off the NA pressure and increase the lead ... Montgomery/Hannah each with a triple, Shoemaker doing what he does better than most - rebound on the offensive end AND make the opposition pay ... getting 2 putback & 1's in the 3rd (6 pts) ... Minford 44 North Adams 32 end of 3 ... the final period, North Adams defensively forced 4 MHS turnovers, got their 2nd best offensive quarter output of the game with 11 pts ... Copas with his 3rd triple of the game (5 pts), Rothwell 4 pts with a drive and a transition bucket, Buttleworth a midrange jumper (2pts) and Reagan 1/2 from the FT line ... still not enough to make a dent in the Falcon lead as they were held at bay by everyone "not named Montgomery" - the Falcon surrounding cast of characters accounted for all 14 points in the period - Kayser 4/Crank 4 on a pair of transition baskets/ Shoemaker 4 / Hannah 2 pts ... in the end the more complete TEAM got the W in this one ... the PG battle - pointwise was a wash Montgomery 16/Copas 17 ... supporting cast Minford 42 North Adams 26 ... Minford 58 North Adams 43 a final

... Pfloyd's official "UN-official" Napkin Stats - North Adams

Scoring ... Bransyn Copas 17, Jayce Rothwell 12, Kamden Buttleworth 5, Carson Osborne 5, Dillon Reagan 4
3 Pointers ... 5/20 ... Bransyn Copas 3, Kamden Buttleworth 1, Carson Osborne 1
FTs ... 4/6
TOs ... 10
PnP ... 7 fgs/ 14 points in the paint
PnT ... 4 fgs/ 8 points in transition
Pbk ... 0

... Pfloyd's official "UN-official" Napkin Stats - Minford

Scoring ... Myles Montgomery 16, Jackson Shoemaker 12, Benett Kayser 10, Adam Crank 10, Joe Hannah 10
3 Pointers ... 6/12 ... Adam Crank 2, Joe Hannah 2, Myles Montgomery 2
FTs ... 4/8
TOs ... 14
PnP ... 13 fgs/ 26 points in the paint
PnT ... 3 fgs/ 6 points in transition
Pbk ... 3 fgs/ 6 points on putback buckets

... if you look at the napkin stat lines Minford is one of the complete TEAMS if not the most complete TEAM in SEO ... 50% from behind the arc, 3 different players with more than one triple ... Points in the Paint 26 pts/Points off of defensive effort/transition offense 6 pts/ offensive boards 3fgs/6 points off of offensive boards ... all 5 starters scored double figures ... add to that Myles Montgomery who can give you 20+ ppg also dishes the rock at 6+ dimes per game ... M&M spearheads the offense but sets the tempo of the defense as well - holding NA under 50 is not a small task, holding Bransyn Copas to 17 points - excellent TEAM effort ...

[pfloyd]

... great crowds last night for a Saturday night non-conference game! the North Adams faithful travel well with the Green Devils ... always good to talk with Coach Montgomery before his JV Falcons took the court for their 41-35 win over NA's JV ... I also made the walk across the court to shake hands with NOW Coach Austin McCormick of North Adams! I had the pleasure of following Austin & his NA teams when he was the outstanding starting post player for the Green Devils ... I introduced myself - he did remember pfloyd LOL ... Coach McCormick is now a middle school Social Studies teacher at West Union and Freshman/JV coach for North Adams ... Coach Mc looks to be a a good one!!! as he does it all - coaches/teaches the game/motivates his team courtside ... best of luck Austin! - pfloyd ... I would also like to thank one of the Minford faithful who came all the way across court to the Cheap Seats at halftime to introduce himself - thank you- as NOT a poster on SEOPS but a long time reader - he said he enjoys reading my "stuff" - for THAT I'm grateful and appreciative ...

[VetteMan]

... great crowds last night for a Saturday night non-conference game! the North Adams faithful travel well with the Green Devils ... always good to talk with Coach Montgomery before his JV Falcons took the court for their 41-35 win over NA's JV ... I also made the walk across the court to shake hands with NOW Coach Austin McCormick of North Adams! I had the pleasure of following Austin & his NA teams when he was the outstanding starting post player for the Green Devils ... I introduced myself - he did remember pfloyd LOL ... Coach McCormick is now a middle school Social Studies teacher at West Union and Freshman/JV coach for North Adams ... Coach Mc looks to be a a good one!!! as he does it all - coaches/teaches the game/motivates his team courtside ... best of luck Austin! - pfloyd ... I would also like to thank one of the Minford faithful who came all the way across court to the Cheap Seats at halftime to introduce himself - thank you- as NOT a poster on SEOPS but a long time reader - he said he enjoys reading my "stuff" - for THAT I'm grateful and appreciative ...

Pfloyd, 2 very good teams, very good report.

[danicalifornia]

Never felt like a close game or a blowout. Like I said last night, I’d like to see these two meet again at The Convo.

Watching Montgomery and Copas guard each other at times made me smile. Always good when the best guard each other, shows how competitive they are.

[pfloyd]

Minford hosts Wheelersburg Tuesday night in a BIG SOC matchup ... too bad it's during the week or I would make my way back down Rte 139 for this one ... Looking at Paint Valley @ Zane Trace ...

[junedawg14]

Great write up Pfloyd! Had I known who you were I would have came over and said thanks also! I really enjoying reading your posts.

Here's a little fun fact for you about the Falcons. Hannah and Kayser are 1st cousins, which is why they share the height and length! lol It's a great time for our family right now getting to watch these two play together! And even though those two are blood, the entire team is like a family. No trouble makers on the team, no egos, everyone has bought in on playing together and doing their job, which makes for a really enjoyable season!

[art_vandelay]

Great write up Pfloyd! Had I known who you were I would have came over and said thanks also! I really enjoying reading your posts.

Here's a little fun fact for you about the Falcons. Hannah and Kayser are 1st cousins, which is why they share the height and length! lol It's a great time for our family right now getting to watch these two play together! And even though those two are blood, the entire team is like a family. No trouble makers on the team, no egos, everyone has bought in on playing together and doing their job, which makes for a really enjoyable season!

Did not know that about Hannah and Kayser...but obviously makes sense with the height and athleticism of both! But agreed about the locker room culture on this Minford team. Those kids have played together a bunch and enjoy playing as a team. It helps when your best player just keeps his mouth shut and plays for 32 minutes, and that's the result you get. Compare it to what's been going on at Webster early in the season and you can see what happens when 2 talented squads play, but one has true leaders on the court as well.

The elephant in the room for Minford is being able to win at the Convo. This is the year they need to breakthrough and do it. They are going to really miss Hannah and Crank next year, so their tourney window is wide open right now.*