Carolina at Duke- The Showdown

To get everyone pumped up more about the Carolina-Duke game, I thought I would share a video from ESPN that I found on Youtube. Enjoy!

2A Basketball Playoff Update - Mitchell Girls Eliminated by East Davidson

The final Western Highlands Conference team alive in playoff action, the Mitchell Lady Mountaineers, were defeated tonight by East Davidson by a final of 63-55. Laken Norris scored 18 points for the Lady Mountaineers, while WHC Player of the Year Samantha Blevins added 16 and Corie Peterson added 13 points. Anna Freeman led East Davidson with 27 points. East Davidson will advance to take on Salisbury in the Regional Final on Saturday.

Lady Vikings Soccer Improves to 2-0

(JEFFERSON) The Avery Lady Vikings soccer team remained undefeated with a 2-1 come-from-behind victory over Ashe County in Jefferson Thursday evening.

Ashe County scored in the latter stages of the opening half on a clear but cool evening to lead 1-0 at halftime. After making adjustments at the half, Avery came out more determined and active on the offensive half of the field, putting pressure on an Ashe squad. Around the 65th minute of the match, Avery freshman Mary Chesnut Smith slipped a shot to the right of the Huskies keeper for the equalizer to tie up the match.

With 8:20 remaining in the match, a Brianna Strange shot deflected off the Ashe keeper. Freshman Melinda Eggers alertly was on the spot to blast the rebound into the back of the net for the eventual game winning goal.

"We talked at halftime about not backing down against the bigger, more experienced girls from Ashe," head coach Tom Evaul said after the win. "We told the girls to not back down in the second half and to take the game to them. We made a couple of changes and changed our frontline to a 3-3 instead of a 2-4 which gave us a little more offense, and that seemed to work for us. We've asked Mary Chesnut to take shots for us when they are available to her, and she took a shot which worked well. We're really proud of the girls' effort tonight."

Although Avery is a relatively young squad with around 8 freshman players, the club shows experience and savvy which belies its age. Meanwhile, a number of returning players provide leadership which as the season continues will gel the Lady Vikings into a dangerous team on the pitch.

"I remember when the sisters of Melinda, Mary Chesnut, and Emily (Banner) were playing. In no way do I mean to upset those former players who may read this, but this group of freshmen is by far the best group of freshmen we've had come in as far as knowledge of the ball, knowledge of the field, the way they play the field, passing the ball," Coach Evaul commented. "I'm just really pleased with this group of freshmen. Our younger girls who are inexperienced have done a really good job considering they really haven't played. The past two games have helped us a lot but we still have a ways to go, but we'll also be mixing in the basketball players who we'll soon have joining us full-time and I believe we'll be ahead of schedule in terms of where we want to be as a team."

NOTE: The Avery home match against Owen originally scheduled for this Monday has been changed to a road game, as the team will instead now travel to Swannanoa for their conference opener next week.

Avery Journal Times Live from...Regional Semifinal

7:45: Greetings! The Avery Journal-Times is in Winston-Salem to cover the Lady Vikings showdown with Chatham Central. Due to lack of wireless internet at the game site, Jamie will be unable to blog from Winston. However, I will be updating and blogging during this game from Avery County. We have worked out a system where I will be able to blog and will have updated information here as soon as it comes in to me from Jamie. If you have any questions, feel free to contact me at averysports@yahoo.com

The Lady Vikings are scheduled to tip off at 8:30pm. The game before pitted Bishop McGuinness and Robbinsville. Bishop is leading at the half 42-18 as they have shot an impressive 51% (19 of 37) from the floor. Robbinsville shot 25% (5 of 20) in the half. Brittany Cox is leading the way for Bishop with 11 pts. while Brandy Deddo has 12 pts. and 10 rebounds for Robbinsville. Check back for more details from this game and the updates on the Avery-Chatham Central Contest!

The contest by the Numbers:
24 - number of points Chatham Central defeated East Surry to reach Wednesday's contest.
25.3 - the average # of points Avery has defeated opponents by in its first three rounds of playoff competition.
30 - rebounds for the combination of Gragg and Ellis in Friday's Sectional final victory.
57- combined point total for triple-threat tandem of Bolton (25), Courie (14) and Varkey (18) in the Lady Bears' Friday night sectional win over East Surry.
79.6 - points per game generated by the Avery offense over the past three contests.

8:02: End of the third quarter Bishop is continuing to control the contest as they lead 58-24 at the end of the third quarter.

8:30: Bishop has taken the victory as they cruised past Robbinsville 69-35. Bishop was led by Erin Thompson's 16 points and Brittany Cox's 13 points. Bishop shot 28 of 55 (50%) while Robbinsville shot 12 of 43 (28%). Robbinsville was led by Brandy Deddo's 12 points and 11 rebounds. UP NEXT: The Lady Vikings take on Chatham Central!

AVERY vs. CHATHAM CENTRAL
9:00: The first quarter is in the books and the Avery Lady Vikings are leading Chatham Central 12-8. They are just now heading into the second quarter and will keep you updated as the game rolls along.
9:20: Chatham Central used a 19-6 run in the second quarter to erase a five point Avery lead, and Chatham Central leads 31-23 at the half. Avery is led by Kim Gragg who has 9 points and 8 rebounds so far. Becca Fulton has 18 of Chatham's 31 points. We will have some offical numbers in a minute from Winston-Salem.
9:25: Some offical stats. Avery shot 8 of 35 (23%) from the floor, while Chatham Central shot 13 of 29 (45%). Joy Jennings is Avery's second leading scorer as she has 7 points. Sapna Varkey has 9 pts. and 5 rebounds for Chatham. A huge stat for the Lady Vikings are Chatham Central has outscored Avery in the paint 14-6. We will keep you updated during the second half.
9:45: Chatham opened the second half on a 14-4 run to lead by as many as 20. Avery's Samantha Shook hit a 3-pointer to close the gap to 14 points and the Lady Vikings trail 52-38 going into the fourth quarter.
10:00: Avery trails 60-45 with 4:11 remaining in the fourth quarter.
10:15: The Lady Vikings fell 68-53 in a hard fought battle. We will have offical stats and some more info from Winston-Salem in just a few minutes.
10:30: The Avery Lady Vikings were led by Kim Gragg's 17 points, Joy Jennings 13 points, and Hayley Pyatte's 11 points. They cut the Chatham Central led to 63-53 late in the contest, but Chatham was able to shoot free throws down the stretch. Chatham was led by Becca Bolton's season high 33 points, and Sapne Varkey had 21 points.
10:45: That is a wrap for my blogging tonight. Jamie will have a recap of the game in next week's print paper and also on here later this week. I hope you enjoyed our coverage and hope you keep checking back. -Matt
Congratulations to the Avery Lady Vikings for an excellent season.

BLOG EXCLUSIVE: Breakdown of Wednesday's Regional Semifinal: Avery v. Chatham Central

In football-esque style, I thought it might be of interest to preview Wednesday's Regional Semifinal contest. Hopefully these notes will be informative and insightful.

On Wednesday night Avery (23-7) travels to Winston-Salem to take on the Chatham Central Lady Bears (26-2). The game marks Avery's first trip to the 1A Girls Western Regional, while Chatham Central has been regional champions on three occasions (1986, 1999, and 2000). Avery defeated Swain and Hiwassee Dam in Sectional Semis and Final contests to reach Regionals, while Chatham defeated East Surry and River Mill to earn a berth to Wednesday's showdown.

Scouting the Lady Bears:

The Chatham Central Lady Bears are members of the Yadkin Valley 1A Conference and are located at Bear Creek, just southeast of Siler City. The team is coached by Gerald Binkley and team colors are red and white. The team finished as co-champions in the YVC and are paced by a trio of players in Becca Bolton (17.1 ppg, 9.4 rpg, 5.5 apg), Sienna Courie (11.0 ppg, 6.3 rpg), and Sapna Varkey (10.3 ppg, 4.2 apg).

Chatham Central will use a mixture of defenses, but the coach explained at Monday's press luncheon that the team has relied greatly upon a zone defense the past 3-4 years.

The Low Down:

Avery's task will not be a simple one in upending the Lady Bears on Wednesday, but this team would not have it any other way. The Lady Vikings are well coached and boast five players that average over 8 points per contest, with Kimberley Gragg averaging double figures in both scoring and rebounding.

For Avery to win Wednesday, they must play sharply for much of the contest. The team missed a number of easy shots (admittedly due to nerves) to open the Hiwassee Dam contest, a feat which they will need to avoid repeating against the Lady Bears.

Chatham Central has faced pressure defenses from Thomasville, a conference foe which they played three times this season. However, the Lady Bears will likely not have faced a team with the depth, team speed, and defensive discipline that this year's Avery team possesses. Avery's defense MUST generate turnovers and easy scoring opportunities to earn a spot in Saturday's regional final. Expect senior leaders Gragg, Laura Lacey, and Joy Jennings to each continue playing key roles as they have throughout this year's playoff run.

By the Numbers:

24 - number of points Chatham Central defeated East Surry to reach Wednesday's contest.

25.3 - the average # of points Avery has defeated opponents by in its first three rounds of playoff competition.

30 - rebounds for the combination of Gragg and Ellis in Friday's Sectional final victory.

57- combined point total for triple-threat tandem of Bolton (25), Courie (14) and Varkey (18) in the Lady Bears' Friday night sectional win over East Surry.

79.6 - points per game generated by the Avery offense over the past three contests.

A full recap and details of Wednesday's Regional Semifinal will be posted shortly following Wednesday night's contest.

Lady Vikings take on Lady Bears of Chatham Central in Regional Semis, Special Broadcast to Air on WECR-AM

The Avery Lady Vikings will be playing the Lady Bears of Chatham Central High School on Wednesday night at 8:30 pm in the second of 2 regional semifinals held at Atkins High School in Winston-Salem. The first contest will pit the Robbinsville Black Knights and the 2-time defending state champion Bishop McGuinness Lady Villains at 7 p.m.

Chatham Central enters Wednesday's contest with a 26-2 record overall and were co-champions of the Yadkin Valley 1A conference.

In other news, WECR-AM 1130 will be airing a special entitled "Viking Pride", a 15-minute show previewing this week's regional semifinals, hosted by Yours Truly, with coaches interviews conducted at today's Coaches Press Conference and Luncheon held at Lawrence Joel Veteran's Memorial Coliseum in Winston-Salem.

Keep checking in with the blog for full coverage of this week's Western Regionals!