Avery/TJCA basketball On Schedule; Earlier tipoff time

The varsity basketball games in Rutherford County this evening between Avery and Thomas Jefferson Classical Academy are still scheduled.

Both Avery teams were victorious in the squads' first meeting in Newland a couple of weeks ago. The victory was the first and only win of the season thus far for the varsity boys team, and the varsity girls enter tonight's game with a record of 6-4 overall, and 1-0 in Western Highlands Conference play.

Tonight's action is VARSITY GAMES only, so the start time has been moved up to 5 p.m. for the girls tipoff, with boys action following.

AJ-T Sports LIVE from... the 2008 Chick-Fil-A Bowl!

Matt Laws will be live on-site from the Georgia Dome in Atlanta for tonight's Chick-Fil-A Bowl game between LSU and Georgia Tech.

Avery County native Paul Johnson, head coach of the Yellow Jackets, brings his team into the postseason in just his first season at the helm of the Ramblin' Wreck and faces the defending National Champion Bayou Bengals of LSU.

Live Real-Time statistics can be found during the bowl action at: http://www.chick-fil-abowl.com/ .

We hope to have various multimedia (photos, quotes, etc.) either during or shortly following this evening's contest.

Best of luck to Coach Johnson this evening!

UPDATE: A 28-point second quarter was too much for Georgia Tech to overcome as the LSU Tigers defeated the Yellow Jackets 38-3 at the Georgia Dome on New Year's Eve night. Charles Scott had 65 yards on 15 carries and three rushing touchdowns in the game.

Nine different receivers caught passes from LSU quarterback Jordan Jefferson in the game.
"We would have liked to have won. We would have liked to have played better, but we didn't," Georgia Tech head coach Paul Johnson said after the game. "It was a disappointing ending to the season. We got outplayed, we got outcoached. It was a good beating."

The biggest special teams plays all fell in LSU's favor. LSU recovered an onside kick and a Georgia Tech fumbled punt return and made a fourth-down stop on the Yellow Jackets' fake punt attempt from Georgia Tech's own 22-yard line.

"We have some pretty nifty special teams guys," LSU coach Les Miles said. "We felt like we needed to maybe steal some possessions and keep the ball away from their offense."

LSU turned the fumbled punt and stop on the fake punt into quick touchdowns while outscoring Georgia Tech 28-0 in the second quarter. "We started the game by kicking the ball out of bounds and it got worse from there on special teams," Johnson remarked. "I think this is the worst special teams game I can remember."

Georgia Tech (9-4) was denied its first 10-win season since 1998, but the team and its coach is optimistic on the close of this campaign and looking ahead to 2009.

"We would have liked to have won. We would have liked to have played better, but we didn't," Coach Johnson added. "I don't think this affects our team moving forward. The 2008 season's over. I look forward to 2009."

Avery Basketball Competes at BB&T Cherryville Christmas Classic

The Avery Lady Vikings defeated host Cherryville 75-41 in the third place game Tuesday afternoon at Nixon Gymnasium during the BB&T Christmas Classic.

Avery started slowly against the Lady Ironmen, trailing early on by as many as seven points, but the squad rallied to trail by only a single point at 30-29 at halftime.

The Big Red outscored Cherryville 46-11 over the final two quarters, leading by a 51-37 score after three periods and outscoring Cherryville with a 24-4 run to close the game.

Samantha Shook led the way with 15 points, with 14 from Katie Ellis, 12 from Elyse Perry, and eight points apiece from Allison Vance and Mercedes Bentley.

Tuesday's win came one day after a disappointing 61-49 loss to Hampton in the semis. Avery started the game on a 16-3 scoring run, but Hampton, the eventual tourney champ, roared back to take a two-point lead at 28-26 at halftime. A 17-6 scoring margin in the third quarter staked the Lady Bulldogs to a 45-32 advantage en route to the victory.

Lauren Avery led the Lady Vikings in the game with 12 points, with 11 points from Samantha Shook, 10 from Allison Vance, and four points from Hayley Pyatte, who appeared in the first game after being out due to illness.

Avery captured a thrilling 49-45 win in opening round action on Saturday. Avery was led by 16 points from Allison Vance, including a perfect 4 of 4 from the free throw line in the final 30 seconds of the contest to seal the victory.

The game was a physical affair throughout. Avery held a seven-point lead midway through the third period, but Rosman rallied to take a short-lived two-point lead.

Allison Vance and Katie Ellis were named to the All-Tournament Team for the Lady Vikings.

In boys action the Avery boys fell to host and eventual tournament champion Cherryville by the final score of 97-54. Erik Crank had 21 points for Cherryville.

The Vikings played better on Monday but fell by a 60-46 final score to South Point. The contest was tied at halftime, but a strong third period by South Point helped propel them to victory. Dustin Clarke led the Big Red with 24 points in the loss.

On Monday morning Avery played close with Hampton in the seventh-place game, but the Bulldogs stretched a three-point lead into a 34-24 halftime advantage. Avery outscored the Bulldogs 15-14 in the third to cut the lead to 48-39 and drew as near as seven points, but Hampton was too strong in the end as the Bulldogs took the 63-48 victory.

Dustin Clarke and Jared Ward were selected to the All-Tournament Team following the contest.

Avery travels to Mooresboro to take on Thomas Jefferson Classical Academy on Friday afternoon in varsity only contests. Action tips off with the girls contest starting at 6 p.m.

AJ-T Sports Live From... HOLMES CONVOCATION CENTER

We're live from Boone for this evening's non-conference basketball matchup between Milligan College and Appalachian State. ASU returns home with a 4-4 mark, and a 2-0 record in conference play. Milligan is 8-4 overall on the season.

7:10 PM - ASU takes an early 12-4 lead at the 16:42 mark of the first half. Ryann Abraham has already made two buckets to lead the team with five points in the early going. App scores another '3' by Abraham to give the Mountaineers a 15-4 lead with a timeout at the 14:50 mark of the first half.

7:20 PM -- App holds a commanding 24-8 advantage at the 11:53 mark of the first half. Donald Sims has a pair of treys to go with 8 points from Ryann Abraham. Milligan went scoreless for over three minutes as the ASU defense was stern. Open shots for the Buffaloes would not fall either, leading to the early deficit. More to come...

7:30 PM -- 7:46 remains in the first half, and the Mountaineers have stretched its lead to 39-12. The Buffaloes have no answer for the muscle of the ASU inside game, as the Black and Gold frontcourt is able to create second chance opportunities. ASU has already drained eight 3-pointers in the first 12 minutes of action, with four from Donald Sims.

7:45 PM -- Appalachian has built a 51-18 lead at the under four minute media timeout. Eight different Mountaineers have scored in the half, with Abraham's 13 leading the way.

7:55 PM -- It's halftime at Holmes and the Mountianeers have been in control from the get-go, leading 61-19 at intermission.

First half player point totals:

Donald Sims: 17 points - (including a perfect 5 of 5 from behind the 3-point arc)
Ryann Abraham: 13 points
Quinche Dowdell: 2 points
Jeremi Booth: 5 points
Josh Hunter: 8 points, 8 rebounds
Isaac Butts: 5 points, 8 rebounds
Eduardo Bermudez: 7 points
Kellen Brand: 2 points
Andre Williamson: 2 points

Every player dressed out for the ASU squad has seen action on the floor, as the Mountaineers shot 17 for 28 (60.7%) from the field in the half and was 17 of 19 from the free throw line.

Milligan was held to only 6 of 32 from the field (18.8%), and did not score in the final 3:51 of the first half. Tyler Estepp led the way for the Buffaloes with six points in the opening stanza. Second half action coming up!

8:25 PM - under 12 minutes left in the second half and the Mountaineers lead it 79-32. A number of the Mountaineer reserves are getting extensive floor time.

8:40 PM - Tonight's game may reach uncharted territory as the Mountaineers lead 99-37 with 5:12 remaining in the game. ASU has officially drained 13- three-point baskets in the game thus far as part of a scoring barrage. The record for three-pointers made in a game is 17, and ASU unofficially has 15 with 3:40 left and leading 105-39.

8:55 PM - Five Mountaineers reach double-figures in tonight's win. Final score from the Black Hole: Appalachian 112, Milligan 47.

UPDATE: Click Here for the full box score from Appalachian's win over Milligan. Appalachian recorded its third-largest point total is school history in the win.

Appalachian travels to Austin for a contest against the #7 ranked Texas Longhorns before returning home to take on Elon next week.