Avery basketball has played a pair of opponents thus far this week, hosting the Madison Patriots on Tuesday night and traveling to Jefferson on Wednesday to take on the Ashe County Huskies.Both the Lady Vikings junior varsity and varsity teams were winners at Viking Gym on Tuesday. Mercedes Bentley scored a game-high 21 points as the junior varsity upended the Madison squad by a 51-33 final score. Brooke Buchanan and Logan Johnson each added six in the win.
The varsity Lady Vikings dismantled the visiting Madison girls 78-57. Katie Ellis scored 17 points with nine rebounds and four steals for Avery, with Allison Vance and Samantha Shook reaching double-figures in the scoring column with 11 and 10 points, respectively.
Avery's junior varsity boys lost a heartbreaker to Madison by a final score of 43-41. Avery trailed by as many as 12 points midway through the fourth quarter, but a frantic run paced by three 3-pointers by Viking Mark Polsgrove erased the margin. Polsgrove's third trifecta knotted the score at 41 with five seconds remaining. Madison had just enough time to drive downcourt and Robby Shelton took the ball to the hoop and scored inside as the buzzer sounded for the Patriot win. Polsgrove scored 12 for Avery, with nine points from Trevor Shields, eight from Alex Villanueva, and six points from Spencer Blackburn.
Avery's varsity boys fell in defeat to Madison by a final score of 88-66. Madison led after a high-scoring opening period by a 22-17 advantage, but the Patriots pulled away midway through the second quarter, lighting up the scoreboard for a total of 34 second-quarter points while the Vikings scored a respectable 21. Madison's lead extended to 56=38 at halftime. Dustin Clarke paced the Vikings with 23 first half points to lead all scorers while Kody Hughes contributed with nine points.
Madison took a 74-50 lead after three quarters of play en route to the 22-point triumph. Clarke finished the night for the Vikings with 26 points, while Kody Hughes was the only other Viking in double-figures with 14 points. A total of four Madison players scored double-figures in the Western Highlands Conference contest.
Wednesday's afternoon and evening of basketball was an unhappy on for the Avery clubs, as the Ashe County Huskies swept all four games in Jefferson. The Avery JV girls team tipped off the day's contest which was a game of scoring runs. Ashe blitzed the Lady Vikings for 20 first-quarter points to take a double-digit lead at 20-8 after one quarter of play. Avery responded and regrouped, especially on the defensive end. Avery held Ashe to only five points in the second quarter and rallied behind ten first half points by Mercedes Bentley. Avery took the lead from Ashe at 26-25 at intermission.
The Lady Huskies did not fold, though. A 19-5 scoring spurt over the entirety of the third period staked Ashe County to the lead at 44-31 after three stanzas. Avery was unable to mount another charge to contend for the victory, however, as Ashe triumphed by a final score of 57-44. Bentley finished the game with 20 points for the Lady Vikings, but no other player scored more than four in the loss.
Avery's junior varsity boys trailed Ashe by an 19-11 score at halftime, as the Vikings played a slower pace and its defense made life difficult for the fast-paced attack of the Huskies. Ashe began the third quarter with a 7-0 run in the first two minutes of the third quarter to stretch its lead to 26-11. The Vikings failed to score a point for the first five and a half minutes of the period, while Ashe built its lead to over 20 points and went on to the 53-38 win.
In varsity action the Avery Lady Vikings appeared in firm control of the game with Ashe County through much of the first half. The Huskies were without their leading scorer Kim McNeil who led Ashe in scoring when the two squads met Avery's first game of the season.
The first half was a low scoring matchup as Avery led 10-7 after one quarter and 20-18 at halftime. Katie Ellis led the Lady Vikings with seven points in the first half. Ashe County showed great poise coming out of the locker room, as well as better offensive execution. An 8-0 Ashe scoring run in the first 72 seconds of the half gave the Lady Huskies the lead for good at 26-20.
Ashe was paced by Mallory Clay, who scored 13 of her 16 points for the game during the third quarter scoring run that put the Huskies up 39-30 after three quarters.
Avery had a difficult time hanging on to the basketball throughout the contest, which led to a number of Ashe scoring changes. The Lady Vikings turned it over 21 times in the game, five of which came early in the second half to jump start the Ashe offensive transition game.
The Lady Vikings would not give up as they used their own 13-7 scoring run early in the fourth quarter to cut the lead to 46-43. Two Megan Tennant free throws cut the deficit to 46-45, but that would be as close as Avery would get. Ashe built its lead back late to 53-47 and won by a 55-50 final score.
Ellis led Avery with 15 points, to go with 10 rebounds, two steals, and a pair of blocks. Shook tallied eight of her ten points in the second half.
Box Score:
Avery 10 10 10 20 — 50
Ashe 7 11 23 14 — 55
Avery (9-6 record overall): Ellis 15, Shook 10, Avery 8, Perry 2, Vance 8, Tennant 3, Eudy 2, Wiseman 2
Ashe (13-1 record overall): Clay 16, Elliott 13, Barker 12, Hanes 6, Yearick 6, McVey 2
In the varsity boys contest Avery fell to Ashe County 70-50 in a night of milestones for the Huskies. Ashe County head coach Marc Payne was honored for getting his 500th victory last Friday night in a win over North Wilkes. Early in the second quarter, Tommy Spagnolo registered his 1,000th career point and the contest was stopped temporarily to recognize his achievement.Avery was not phased by the pomp and circumstance of the evening, however. The Big Red played even with the Huskies in the first quarter, leading on multiple occasions before closing the quarter tied at 15 points each.
The bane of Avery's squad and head coach Bo Manis has been the team's performances in the second quarter of games this season. That trend continued Wednesday as the Huskies outscored Avery 21-12 in the period to take a 36-27 halftime advantage. Dustin Clarke led the Vikings with 11 first-half points, with seven points from Cole Blackburn and six from Kody Hughes. All three players would end the night in double-figures scoring for Avery.
Avery tried to cut into the Husky lead in the third quarter, but the guard play of Grayson Wells and Daniel Waln was strong, scoring a combined seven points in the quarter and controlling game tempo. Ashe led 52-38 after three quarters of action. Spagnolo, who had only five first-half points, asserted himself in the final eight minutes by scoring nine points in the final stanza. Ashe's Tatum Lemly, who registered 16 first-half points to lead his club, scored four of his six second-half points in the quarter en route to outscoring the Vikings 18-12 over the final eight minutes.
Clarke led the Vikings with 18 points, five rebounds, four steals, and three assists. Cole Blackburn added 12 points and nine rebounds, with 11 points and seven rebounds from Kody Hughes. Waln scored 11 points with 10 assists for the Huskies to go with Tatum Lemly's 24 points to lead all scorers.
Box Score:
Avery 15 12 11 12 — 50
Ashe 15 21 16 18 — 70
Avery (2-13 record overall): Hughes 9, Pittman 3, Clarke 18, Ward 2, Porter 6, Blackburn 12
Ashe County (11-2 record overall): Waln 11, Wells 7, Holman 8, Lemly 24, Spagnolo 14, Absher 3, Clay 1, Nichols 2
The Vikings return to the hardwood on Friday night with an evening of conference basketball action in Burnsville against Mountain Heritage.
Ashe 15 21 16 18 — 70
Avery (2-13 record overall): Hughes 9, Pittman 3, Clarke 18, Ward 2, Porter 6, Blackburn 12
Ashe County (11-2 record overall): Waln 11, Wells 7, Holman 8, Lemly 24, Spagnolo 14, Absher 3, Clay 1, Nichols 2
The Vikings return to the hardwood on Friday night with an evening of conference basketball action in Burnsville against Mountain Heritage.
