Minford vs North Adams

[HERO]

Hopefully it’s a good game

Really good guard play by both teams

Minfords size could cause problems, however NA rebounded well against Valley

Minford by 7

[Bozo]

Minford 15+

[bbjunky81]

North Adams COULD win, but it would surprise me.

Minford got over the proverbial hump by winning their first district game in nearly 30 years.... now that pressure is off and it's just time to compete. I watched them during the season and while North Adams didn't play the greatest, Minford was undeniably the better team.

Convo always presents different problems for teams, though. Can Minford or North Adams shoot it well from the outside there? Who knows. But if not, Minford has more size to score around the rim which is always a key to success at the Convo.

I'll go with:

Minford 61
North Adams 47

[Ironman92]

North Adams sharpshooters over the years have shot well at the Convo….but I’m not sure Minford just doesn’t continue flexing their muscles.

Minford 58
North Adams 41

[coop]

Falcons are rolling, and theyre playing good enough to make a run to the FF.

Falcons by 12.

[Bucketz]

Can someone post a pic of the program/roster for both squads?

[knowledge]

Good luck to the Falcons, what a fun group of kids to watch, I remember most of these boys playing on the youth circuit and the potential they had, glad to see if coming to fruition. I remember as a young young kid how much fun it was following the run in the mid 90s, I hope this team can duplicate that success.

[trojandave]

Saw both teams against my Trojans. NA beat us 72-70 at NA, while Minford won 33-32 in a 2 quarter game at PHS (game called in the 3rd quarter).

One of the keys I think is how each team plays the other team's PG's. Both are very good, Montgomery for the Falcons and Copas for the Green Devils. If either has an off night, that could be the difference in the game. Portsmouth did a better job defending Montgomery than Copas.

I'm favoring Minford, but North Adams just beat Valley, so the Green Devils are in tournament form. The Falcons front line of 6-7, 6-5, and 6-4 will be hard to handle for NA.

[MeanJoeGreene]

These 2 teams met at the convo back in 2008. North Adams won but it was a highly competitive game. I seem to recall another Copas from the North Adams team that year was just unstoppable in that matchup.

[Scotty Hobart]

Saw both teams against my Trojans. NA beat us 72-70 at NA, while Minford won 33-32 in a 2 quarter game at PHS (game called in the 3rd quarter).

One of the keys I think is how each team plays the other team's PG's. Both are very good, Montgomery for the Falcons and Copas for the Green Devils. If either has an off night, that could be the difference in the game. Portsmouth did a better job defending Montgomery than Copas.

I'm favoring Minford, but North Adams just beat Valley, so the Green Devils are in tournament form. The Falcons front line of 6-7, 6-5, and 6-4 will be hard to handle for NA.

I saw an argument on another thread about whether those front line players were effective or not. I believe someone referred to them as mere “statues.” Would you agree or disagree with that sentiment?

[trojandave]

Scotty Hobart: I saw Minford play twice, vs. Portsmouth and South Webster, and the players in question were certainly not statues. They are mobile, and can score in a variety of ways. They just don't park themselves around the paint and wait for Montgomery to get them the ball. Kaiser (6-5 SO) in particular had a good game vs. the Trojans, while PHS did a great job defending Montgomery. Jackson Shoemaker (6-4 SO) hit an early 3 against Portsmouth.

[Scotty Hobart]

Scotty Hobart: I saw Minford play twice, vs. Portsmouth and South Webster, and the players in question were certainly not statues. They are mobile, and can score in a variety of ways. They just don't park themselves around the paint and wait for Montgomery to get them the ball. Kaiser (6-5 SO) in particular had a good game vs. the Trojans, while PHS did a great job defending Montgomery. Jackson Shoemaker (6-4 SO) hit an early 3 against Portsmouth.

Thank you for the feedback. Sounds like a couple of nice players. No wonder Minford is so good.

[syyoung]

Everybody in Minford's starting lineup can score, and score well. I don't know how many times it happened this season, but on multiple occasions all 5 members of the starting lineup scored in double figures. Montgomery is surrounded with talent at every position. All 3 bigs between Hannah, Kayser and Shoemaker can knock down threes and all are very solid defensive players. The first time teams play isn't necessarily indicative of what will happen in round 2, case in point Minford needed OT to beat Wheelersburg the first matchup this year but won by more than 40 in the second matchup. North Adams never really looked in the game against Minford at Minford back in January though. Minford built an early lead and kept adding to it over the course of the game. They never really put it out of reach as they have with many teams as it lingered around 15 point score differential. North Adams I thought played well that night also, and Copas outscored Montgomery on that night and had a great night. But all around, I thought Minford had a huge advantage and I see the size of Minford creating major problems with North Adams again this week. NA is a very fast team, but Minford likes to run too. It would take an off night by several players in my mind for this upset to happen. But as everybody knows, on any given night, anything can happen. I'm taking Minford with a statement win in this one by 18.

[Scotty Hobart]

Everybody in Minford's starting lineup can score, and score well. I don't know how many times it happened this season, but on multiple occasions all 5 members of the starting lineup scored in double figures. Montgomery is surrounded with talent at every position. All 3 bigs between Hannah, Kayser and Shoemaker can knock down threes and all are very solid defensive players. The first time teams play isn't necessarily indicative of what will happen in round 2, case in point Minford needed OT to beat Wheelersburg the first matchup this year but won by more than 40 in the second matchup. North Adams never really looked in the game against Minford at Minford back in January though. Minford built an early lead and kept adding to it over the course of the game. They never really put it out of reach as they have with many teams as it lingered around 15 point score differential. North Adams I thought played well that night also, and Copas outscored Montgomery on that night and had a great night. But all around, I thought Minford had a huge advantage and I see the size of Minford creating major problems with North Adams again this week. NA is a very fast team, but Minford likes to run too. It would take an off night by several players in my mind for this upset to happen. But as everybody knows, on any given night, anything can happen. I'm taking Minford with a statement win in this one by 18.

Interesting. What I read on the other thread it made it out like Montgomery was all they had and that he didn’t need any help. Didn’t seem likely though.

[Ironman92]

These 2 teams met at the convo back in 2008. North Adams won but it was a highly competitive game. I seem to recall another Copas from the North Adams team that year was just unstoppable in that matchup.

Cory? Maybe Drew?…they could all shoot

[MeanJoeGreene]

These 2 teams met at the convo back in 2008. North Adams won but it was a highly competitive game. I seem to recall another Copas from the North Adams team that year was just unstoppable in that matchup.

Cory? Maybe Drew?…they could all shoot

I believe it was Drew "Cowboy" Copas.

[FIDO]

Get it done, Muletown Falcons

[SOCFalconFan]

Everybody in Minford's starting lineup can score, and score well. I don't know how many times it happened this season, but on multiple occasions all 5 members of the starting lineup scored in double figures. Montgomery is surrounded with talent at every position. All 3 bigs between Hannah, Kayser and Shoemaker can knock down threes and all are very solid defensive players. The first time teams play isn't necessarily indicative of what will happen in round 2, case in point Minford needed OT to beat Wheelersburg the first matchup this year but won by more than 40 in the second matchup. North Adams never really looked in the game against Minford at Minford back in January though. Minford built an early lead and kept adding to it over the course of the game. They never really put it out of reach as they have with many teams as it lingered around 15 point score differential. North Adams I thought played well that night also, and Copas outscored Montgomery on that night and had a great night. But all around, I thought Minford had a huge advantage and I see the size of Minford creating major problems with North Adams again this week. NA is a very fast team, but Minford likes to run too. It would take an off night by several players in my mind for this upset to happen. But as everybody knows, on any given night, anything can happen. I'm taking Minford with a statement win in this one by 18.

Interesting. What I read on the other thread it made it out like Montgomery was all they had and that he didn’t need any help. Didn’t seem likely though.

Montgomery is definitely not all they have. Kayser is 1B to his 1A and possibly will be the better player as soon as next year. Hannah is a capable scorer from inside and out who rebounds and blocks shots, Shoemaker is a bull inside who can also step out and hit threes (including three big ones in the fourth quarter against Valley in crunch time earlier this year), and Crank is a steady guard who can hit the corner three at a high clip if you ignore him.

Montgomery and Copas played even in the game earlier this season (maybe Copas was a little better) and I didn’t come out feeling threatened by NA. That was the only time I saw them so I have no idea if that’s representative of their team. But if it is this should be a comfortable win for Minford.

[smurray]

Everybody in Minford's starting lineup can score, and score well. I don't know how many times it happened this season, but on multiple occasions all 5 members of the starting lineup scored in double figures. Montgomery is surrounded with talent at every position. All 3 bigs between Hannah, Kayser and Shoemaker can knock down threes and all are very solid defensive players. The first time teams play isn't necessarily indicative of what will happen in round 2, case in point Minford needed OT to beat Wheelersburg the first matchup this year but won by more than 40 in the second matchup. North Adams never really looked in the game against Minford at Minford back in January though. Minford built an early lead and kept adding to it over the course of the game. They never really put it out of reach as they have with many teams as it lingered around 15 point score differential. North Adams I thought played well that night also, and Copas outscored Montgomery on that night and had a great night. But all around, I thought Minford had a huge advantage and I see the size of Minford creating major problems with North Adams again this week. NA is a very fast team, but Minford likes to run too. It would take an off night by several players in my mind for this upset to happen. But as everybody knows, on any given night, anything can happen. I'm taking Minford with a statement win in this one by 18.

Interesting. What I read on the other thread it made it out like Montgomery was all they had and that he didn’t need any help. Didn’t seem likely though.

No Statues on that team, LOL.

[Jason Vorhees]

North Adams is quick, scrappy, and can shoot very well at times. Copas is a top 5 guard for the area.

Minford’s starting 5 is really good. Montgomery is probably the best Guard in the area currently. 5 out of their top 6 players have very good range shooting the ball. They’re long and athletic, and can be physical if they want or need to be. One thing that I noticed is against Lynchburg-Clay is they’re up by 20-25 and their coach (Shoemaker) calls a timeout, and their intensity picks up even more after that. That’s pure focus and wanting to finish the game. To me that’s a sign of a really good team that wants to be great.

For the game, I really feel like defensively Minford’s going to get after it. I wouldn’t be surprised if this is a very close game at halftime and Minford starts pulling away in the second half. It’ll be interesting to see how both teams adjust to a bigger floor and the backdrop for shooting the ball.