'Landers Overcome Washburn

The Washburn Pirates came into Sonny Smith Gymnasium on Saturday looking to upset the Cloudland Highlanders. For a while, it looked they might just do that. The Highlanders struggled early, allowing Washburn to lead by as much as 13, before taking the victory over the Pirates 80-39.
The Pirates opened the game on a 13-0 run before the Highlanders could even get on the board. Logan Morgan hit a two for the ‘Landers with 1:39 remaining in the first quarter to end the Washburn run. Cloudland ended the quarter on a 5-0 run as they trailed Washburn 15-7 at the end of the first quarter. Cloudland continued their comeback in the second quarter as they outscored the Pirates 23-10 behind the efforts of Jordan Hughes. Hughes lit up the scoreboard as he scored nine of his game high 17 points. A Matthew Potter 3-pointer gave the ‘Landers their first lead of the night. Potter sunk two free throws right before the half to give the ‘Landers a 30-25 lead at the break.
“I didn’t think we came out ready to play,” Cloudland head coach Ned Smith said. “We were not focused, and the concentration wasn’t there. We weren’t doing the things we needed to do to win.”
However, it was a different story in the second half for the ‘Landers as they exploded offensively. The teams traded shots as the third quarter opened before the Highlanders went on an 18-0 run to put the game out of reach. The ‘Landers kept the pressure on the Pirates in the fourth as they outscored the Pirates 45-14 in the half.
“The second half we came out and got after it,” Smith said. “We played some defense, and we got some shots from up top to get us going. I think that we need to play to four quarters. We have to come ready to play every night.”
Cloudland had four players reach double figures as Hughes led the ‘Landers with 17 points, four steals, and three rebounds. Lucas Clawson had 15 points and six rebounds. Logan Morgan had 14 points, while Potter added 12 points. Randall Johnson pitched in eight points, and Brett Stockton had six points, nine rebounds, and three blocks.
The Pirates were led by Jacob Capps’ 12 points and Lucas Brooks’ 10 points.
The ‘Landers will face Hampton next Tuesday at 6:00pm at Chuckey-Doak High School with a sub-state berth at stake.
-----------------
Washburn (39)
Hixon 8, Capps 12, Beard 2, S. Thompson 2, Taylor 1, Brookes 10, Burt 4
Cloudland (80)
Hughes 17, Stockton 6, Johnson 8, Clawson 15, Gouge 2, Morgan 14, Sluder 2, Potter 12, Clark 4

Score by Quarter
Washburn- 15 10 11 3-39
Cloudland- 7 23 35 15-80

3-pt FG- Cloudland- 7(Hughes 2, Morgan 2, Clawson 1, Johnson 1, Potter 1) Washburn 2(Capps 2)
Technicals-None

FINALLY!!!!! Vikings Top Mountaineers in OT to Win WHC Tournament

The third time was the charm as the Avery Lady Vikings outlasted the Mitchell Lady Mountaineers 63-59 in overtime to capture the Western Highlands Conference Tournament Championship.

Laura Lacey was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player with 25 points 6 rebounds and 2 steals. Lacey scored 12 points in the second half and overtime, including the final free throw to clinch the win.

For sixth-year head coach Missy Lyons, it is her first win over the Lady Mountaineers, who trailed by as many as nine points in the second half before forcing overtime. Laken Norris scored a game-high 27 points in a losing effort, with 20 points and 12 rebounds from Samantha Blevins.

For the Lady Vikings, Kimberley Gragg tallied a double-double with 11 points and 12 rebounds, with 13 points from Hayley Pyatte. For a full recap and photos from Avery's championship, as well as the Lady Vikings' tournament draw for next week's NCHSAA 1A state basketball playoffs, stay tuned to the blog over the weekend.

Score by Quarters:

A- 9 20 9 16 5 - 59

M- 15 13 16 10 9 - 63

Individual Scoring: A (63) - Jennings 6, Shook 2, Ellis 1, A. Vance 5, Lacey 25, Gragg 11, Pyatte 13 M (59) - Ayers 2, Norris 27, McKinney 2, Thompson 2, Blevins 20, Peterson 6

Ladies All-WHC Tournament Team:

Brooks Walz (Hendersonville), Kourtney Burchfield (Owen), Christina Ponder (Madison), Kayla Byrd (Polk), Aly Parker (Mt. Heritage), Hayley Pyatte (Avery), Katie Ellis (Avery), Laken Norris (Mitchell), Samantha Blevins (Mitchell)

Tournament MVP - Laura Lacey (Avery)

Men's All-Tournament Team (pending outcome of final game b/w Owen and Mt. Heritage)

Kyle Cable (Avery), Thomas Buchanan (Mitchell), Josh Twitty (Polk), Stephen Clay (Hendersonville), Ryan Henderson (Madison), Cole Huskins (Mountain Heritage), Daniel Miller (Mountain Heritage), Ian McVay (Owen), Nate Torrance (Owen)

Tournament M.V.P - Joe Halverson (Owen)

Avery Journal-Times LIVE from.... the WHC tournament!

We're live and online from the Western Highlands Conference basketball tournament, where the JV girls have finished the perfect regular and postseason in conference play with a 55-39 victory over the Mitchell Lady Mountaineers.

Avery finishes with a 12-0 conference mark, losing only two games to Ashe County during the year. The win marks Avery's third consecutive conference tournament title and second straight undefeated conference season.

Mountain Heritage and Hendersonville is squaring off in the JV boys championship, with the much-anticipated Mitchell-Avery showdown coming up to kick off the Varsity portion of the night.

Pair of Wrestlers to Compete at This Weekend's State Championships

Two Avery wrestlers travel to LJVM Coliseum in Winston-Salem this Friday and Saturday to compete at the North Carolina High School Athletic Association State Wrestling Championships. Senior John Hensley won the Western Regional at 130 pounds and will be competing on Friday night, as will junior Jordan English, who captured fourth place at the 140 pound weight class.


UPDATE: Jonathan Hensley won his first match in the 130 pound weight class to advance to 2nd round action. In the 140 pound class, junior Jordan English was defeated in his first two matches to close out an outstanding season. Hensley will wrestle in the second round of competition later this evening.

Lady Vikings In WHC Tournament Championship

Avery advanced to the finals of the Western Highlands Conference ladies basketball tournament, pasting the Polk County Lady Wolverines 72-49. Avery led 20-8 after one quarter and held a commanding 39-19 lead at intermission. Laura Lacey led Avery with another double-digit scoring effort.

The Lady Vikings will play the winner of tonight's Mountain Heritage/Mitchell contest. The Vikings won both regular season games against the Lady Cougars, but lost both regular season matchups with regular season champion Mitchell.

JV UPDATE: The Avery Lady Vikings JV squad was victorious 65-37 over Polk County in the tournament semifinals on Wednesday evening, and will take on Mitchell on Friday afternoon at 4:00 p.m. The JV boys final will take place after the JV girls contest, with the varsity girls tournament championship scheduled for around 7 p.m. and the varsity boys final following the girls game.

Lady Vikings Advance to WHC Semis

The #2 seeded Avery Lady Vikings had no trouble in dispatching of #7 Hendersonville Lady Bearcats 68-28 in the first quarterfinal game of the Western Highlands Conference basketball tournament at Mitchell High School.

Laura Lacey led the Vikings with 15 points, four assists, and three steals in the win. Avery held the Lady Bearcats scoreless in the first quarter en route to a 9-0 lead after one period. In fact, Avery held Hendersonville scoreless as part of a 20-0 run from the opening tip until the 5:10 mark of the second quarter. A Lucy Massagee layup finally broke the ice for Hendersonville, but Avery had already asserted itself too greatly for the Lady Bearcats to overcome.

The Vikings led 27-6 at halftime and lit up the Bearcats for 29 third quarter points en route to a 56-21 lead after three periods. A total of 11 Vikings scored as every player on the team played extended minutes in the rout.

Avery shot 49% from the field, but did commit 24 turnovers in the win. Avery will take on #3 seed Polk County in the first ladies semifinal at 4 p.m. at Mitchell. Mountain Heritage will tangle with host Mitchell in the other semifinal at 7 p.m.

In boys tournament action, #2 Mountain Heritage will take on #3 Madison, with #4 Owen challenging top seeded Hendersonville.

FINAL GAME STATS:
Scoring:

Avery 9 18 29 12 - 68

H'Ville 0 6 15 7 - 28

Individual Scoring:

Avery (68)- Singleton 7, Jennings 7, Peters 4, Shook 4, Buchanan 4, Ellis 8, Vance 3, Lacey 15, Gragg 4, Pyatte 10, McFee 2

Hendersonville (28)- Walz 14, Westmoreland 7, Lilly 2, Massagee 2, Hubert 2, Ward 1

Three Pointers: A - Singleton 2, Lacey, Jennings H - Walz 2.

Cloudland at the District Championship

Half: The Cloudland Highlanders trail University High 32-21 at the break.
2:56 remaining: Cloudland LEADS 57-53
FINAL: Cloudland WINS 72-61 after trailing by 11 at the half. We will have a recap of both games up later this week.

All-Conference: Jordan Hughes, Randall Johnson, Brett Stockton

All-Tournament: Randall Johnson, Jordan Hughes
MVP: Brett Stcokton

Note: Another big Crowd at Chuckey Doak to watch this contest. Both teams will be at home this weekend as they will host the first round of the Regional Tournament. The girls game is Friday night at 7:00 p.m. and the boys will play Saturday at 7:00.

Western Highlands Tournaments Underway This Week

The Western Highlands Conference boys tournament tipped off with opening round action on Monday.

In the first game of the afternoon the Avery Vikings (#7 seed) took on the #2 seed Mountain Heritage, a team they played to a tight 81-73 loss in Burnsville less than a week ago. The same scenario failed to play out for the Big Red on Monday as Cole Huskins' 16 points led four Cougars in double-figures as Mountain Heritage cruised to a 68-45 win to close out the Avery season with a disappointing 3-23 record.

In the second game of the evening, tournament host and #6 seed Mitchell took on the 3rd seeded Madison Patriots. The tandem of Ryan Henderson and Ramsey Elsayad helped the Patriots race out to a 31-12 halftime lead en route to a decisive 76-43 win. Henderson netted 31 points for the Patriots with 18 from Elsayad. Mitchell was led by Thomas Buchanan with 21 points. Heritage and Madison will square off in the tourney semis.

In the night cap, the best game of the night saw the #4 seed Owen Warhorses hold off #5 seed Polk County 57-55. Josh Twitty hit a 3-pointer to cut the Owen lead to one in the final minute, but clutch free throws down the stretch helped the Warhorses hold off the Wolverines as Twitty’s half-court shot fell short with time expiring.
The fourth-seeded Warhorses were led by Ian McVay’s game-high 22 points. Twitty led No. 5 seed Polk with 20.

Owen takes on top seed Hendersonville in the other semifinal contest.

Ladies action tips off at Mitchell this afternoon as #2 seed Avery will take on #7 seed Hendersonville. Coach Missy Lyons' squad swept the season series in convincing fashion with a pair of blowout victories.

The second game of the afternoon pits #3 seed Polk County against #6 seed Owen, while the final contest of the evening matches #4 seed Mountain Heritage against #5 seed Madison. Tourney host and top seed Mitchell has an opening round bye and will face the winner of the Heritage/Madison game.

Junior varsity Western Highlands Conference Tournament action continues as well this week with opening round and semifinal action at Viking Gym. Teams advancing to the finals in the boys and girls tournaments will meet in the first two contests of Championship Friday held at Mitchell High School.

Lady 'Landers at the District Championship

8:05: Halftime: The Lady 'Landers lead by one at the break, 25-24, as a fast tempo and physical game has been played so far. Brooke Johnson is leading the way for Cloudland with nine points, and Jordan Miller has added six. Hampton will have the ball to start the second half.

FINAL: The Lady 'Landers have claimed the District Championship as they defeated Hampton 59-40. They will host a game at Roan Mountain on Friday. Sydnie Buchanan led the way for the Lady 'Landers as she scored 12 points and five rebounds, Johnson added 11, and Tolley had 14 points.

ALL CONFERENCE- Rebekah Tolley, Jordi Miller, Sydnie Buchanan, Shellie McKinney
CONFERENCE CO-MVP-Brooke Johnson

ALL TOURNEY- Brittany Reece, Sydnie Buchanan, Rebekah Tolley,
TOURNEY MVP- Brooke Johnson
Note: There is a large contingent of Cloudland fans to cheer on the Lady 'Landers. If you couldn't be here tonight, I would recommend you make the trip tomorrow night. It will be a great game.

Basketball Tourney Info

The Avery Journal-Times Sports Blog will be your home on the 'net for tournament information for both the Highlanders and Vikings this postseason. This is a look at how things have shook out this weekend for the District tournament for the 'Landers.


Highlanders
District Tournment: The Cloudland Highlanders postseason will start Saturday at Chuckey-Doak. (If you need directions, you can email me @ averysports@yahoo.com). The Lady 'Landers are the one seed and will face the winner of tonight's North Greene and University High game. That contest is slated for 4:00 pm. The boys are the #3 seed and will face conference rival Hampton at 8:30 pm. There is some confusion on when the next games will be played, but we will update you as soon as we get a clear answer. Remember to check the Avery Journal-Times and the sports blog for updates and postseason schedules, and we look forward to seeing you at the Doak!

2/18: Both Highlander teams advanced to the District Championships. The girls will face Hampton tonight at 7:30 (at Chuckey-Doak), while the boys will square off against University High at 7:30 tomorrow night (at Chuckey-Doak. With the wins on Saturday, both teams will be hosting a first round regional game. The Girls will play on Friday night at 7:00, while the boys will play at the same time on Saturday. I will have an update later this week. -Matt

Check out Jim314.com for all of the Tennessee Basketball Brackets and Coacht.com for other postseason coverage.