Vikings JV Girls Basketball Only Victors at Watauga Wednesday

In Wednesday’s JV girls rematch at Lentz-Eggers Gym in Boone between Avery and Watauga, the Lady Vikings gained a measure of revenge for a home loss from Monday, defeating the Lady Pioneers by a 45-29 final score.

The rivals played a tight first seven minutes of action. A three-point basket by Logan Johnson as time expired gave Avery the slim 12-10 lead after the first quarter. Both teams tallied nine points in the second frame as the Big Red preserved a 21-19 edge at halftime.

As the second half ensued, the Lady Vikings asserted themselves, particularly on the defensive side of the basketball. Limiting the Watauga club to only ten points in the entire second half, Avery snagged a 35-26 lead after three periods, and used a 10-3 run to close the contest for the win.

“The girls played inspired tonight,” Coach Daniels said after the win. “We realized some things on defense that we can and cannot do against Watauga, so we ran a 2-3 zone against them which worked well. The girls ran the defense well and kept them from getting good looks at the basket.”

Bentley again lit up the Watauga defense for a total of 23 points in the game, 14 of which came in the second half, along with seven steals and three rebounds. “Mercedes played a smart game. She was able to pick off several of their lazy passes and go the other way for layups,” Coach Daniels added.

Seven other players scored in the game, highlighted by Shayna Vance’s six points and five from Johnson. Mary Chesnut Smith had nine rebounds and five steals in the victory. The Lady Vikings also committed a season-low eight turnovers for the game and was 17 of 24 from the free throw stripe.

In Wednesday’s JV boys rematch in Boone the Vikings continued to play tough basketball against the rival Pioneers, trailing by only four points after one period of play. Watauga, much like the previous encounter, used an offensive burst to sprint out to an 18-point halftime lead.

Avery struggled shooting from the floor in the second quarter, as the Watauga defense held the Vikings to only four second quarter points in trailing 35-17 at intermission.

The Vikings played inspired basketball coming out of the locker room, however, as Avery outscored Watauga 15-9 in the third period to cut the deficit to 44-32 with seven minutes to play.

As the fourth and final period ensued, Avery managed to continue its run, further cutting the Watauga lead as far as 51-44 with just over two minutes remaining in the game. Watauga successfully played keep away with the Vikings in the waning minutes, however, and converted 8 of 14 free throws down the stretch to defeat the Vikings by a final score of 61-48.

Alex Villanueva paced the Big Red with 17 points, 13 coming in the second half, while Spencer Blackburn added 11 points. Austin Lyons and Benji Stewart scored four points apiece.

“We played with intensity again, but we appeared more relaxed. We were more patient and did a better job attacking with the pass. We were making a run and the kids were playing hard,” Coach Oaks remarked. “We mixed it up defensively with more pressure and a chaotic type of defense which seemed to help. We also knocked down some baskets that built our confidence. What broke our back was where Coach (Matt) Wiseman of Watauga took a timeout and called a set play where they came out and did a great job to get a three-point shot. But I really believe we can build on the intensity that we saw and with how we knocked our shots down.”

The Avery Lady Vikings next took the court against the Lady Pioneers, falling by the final score of 64-56. Avery used the hot hand of Samantha Shook to jump to a double-digit lead in the first quarter. The senior netted 11 points in the quarter, including a trio of three-point shots to help the Big Red to a 21-14 lead after eight minutes of action.

Defenses stepped up in the second quarter, as the 35 points combined by the teams in the first period was followed by only a combined 13 points from the two clubs in the second stanza. Senior guard Allison Vance netted five of the Vikings’ seven points in the period as led on the road by eight points at 28-20 at halftime.

The Watauga offense got in gear in the second half of play, turning up the intensity for 44 points over the final two periods. Katelynn Eudy scored six points in the third quarter to help Avery keep pace, but Watauga took advantage of its opportunity when senior rebounding machine Katie Ellis was saddled with a fourth personal foul early in the third.

The Lady Pioneer frontcourt duo of Nicole Tesh and Katharine Mayhew scored 16 total points and crashed the boards with greater success than in the previous half. The surge cut the Avery lead to only a single point at 44-43 going into the fourth quarter.

As the final period played out, the lead seesawed back and forth. Avery held a slim 52-51 lead with just over three minutes left when Watauga heated up for a 13-4 scoring run to close out the game, including an 8 for 10 stretch from the charity stripe.

With the Pioneers holding a slim two-point lead with 36 seconds left to play, a frightful moment occurred when Viking teammates Allison Vance and Katie Ellis scrambled for a loose ball. The two viciously collided heads diving on the Lentz-Eggers Gym floor. Both players stayed down for a few moments, with Vance suffering a bloody nose and Ellis experiencing concussion-like symptoms. Both players walked off the floor but did not return to the contest, and the Pioneers went on to its fourth straight victory over Avery over a two-season span.

Vance led the Avery scoring attack with 14 points and four assists. Shook added 11 points and five steals, with nine points and 11 rebounds by Katie Ellis and 13 points with six rebounds by Katelynn Eudy.

For Watauga Nicole Tesh scored a game-high 17 points, with 15 points from Katharine Mayhew.

In Wednesday’s night cap in Boone, Watauga varsity boys did not give the Vikings the opportunity to grab the early advantage it did on Monday night. Pioneer guard Murphy Fancher scored the first two buckets of the game to set the tone for the home team. At the same time, however, the Vikings did a better job early with containing the Pioneers. Watauga was unable to unleash its transition game through most of the first quarter.

The Vikings kept the game close for much of the first eight minutes, trailing by three at 12-9 with a couple of minutes remaining in the opening period. Watauga used a late scoring run to give itself breathing room and lead 18-11 after the first quarter.

Avery managed only 11 points in the second quarter of play, while the Pioneers got its transition game on track in the half’s final four minutes. The club continued to ride the strong play of center Jeff Newell to a 37-22 halftime lead.

The center Newell had 16 first-half points to lead all scorers, while Luke Pittman and Colton Blackburn had five each to lead Avery.

Watauga continued to score in the second half but could not race out to the 30-point lead that it did on Monday night. With the exception of the late second quarter and opening minutes of the third period, the Viking defense curtailed the transition game. The team could not mount a serious threat offensively on the Watauga defense, however.

Avery tried to stay within shouting distance behind the shooting of sophomore Dustin Clarke who drained three 3-point baskets in the stanza and four in all for the game.

The Pioneers took a 60-37 lead into the final quarter, however, and did not look back in the 22-point win.

“We stayed with Watauga better in this game, but we got a little tired and when we went to our bench, they were able to get their transition game going again,” Coach Manis explained following the Wednesday contest. “It seemed like we got behind by a few points and hurried ourselves, which led us to rush our shots and fall back into the transition pace that Watauga wants to run. We panicked a little and felt we had to score quickly. The guys played much harder than Monday and I’m really proud to see that. They boxed out better in this game although Watauga made a lot of their first shots. They’re a good shooting team.”

Clarke led Avery with 16 points and four rebounds, with 14 points from Joey Potter. Luke Pittman added seven points and five rebounds. The Vikings play Patton tonight at Viking Gym, with JV girls action starting at 4 p.m. The JV and varsity girls were winners in Morganton a week ago, while the boys fell short in their contests.

Avery will be playing tonight without the services of two of its key players, as Hayley Pyatte is out due to illness and Katie Ellis is out due to headaches suffered during her collision with Allison Vance on Wednesday.