Border rivals Avery and Mitchell squared off in basketball action at Viking Gym on Thursday night in a rescheduled night of action due to bad weather.Both Avery junior varsity teams were winners in hoops action. The JV girls won a 49-33 contest against the Lady Mountaineers. Mercedes Bentley led the Avery attack with 29 points, with six points, five rebounds, and three steals from Shayna Vance and five points from Logan Johnson.
The JV boys team won by a final score of 48-41. Alex Villanueva scored 15 points in the Big Red victory, with that same point total tallied by Spencer Blackburn. Taylor Potter chipped in with five points and Dustin Clark added four points.
In varsity girls action, the Mitchell Lady Mountaineers took a 15-point lead over Avery, then withstood a furious Avery rally to hold on for a 65-61 win. Lauren Avery scored 16 points with six rebounds in the loss for the Lady Vikings, with 16 points and 12 rebounds from Katie Ellis. Samantha Shook added 13 points and five rebounds, with 10 points, six assists, three rebounds and three steals by Allison Vance. Autumn Thompson and Laken Norris each scored 19 points for Mitchell.
The final game of the night saw the Mitchell Mountaineers varsity boys defeat Avery by a final score of 80-61. Avery led 14-13 after one quarter, but a 20-7 scoring differential in favor of Mitchell gave the Mountaineers 33-21 lead at intermission.
Mitchell led by the same 12-point margin at 52-40 after three quarters, then outscored Avery 28-21 over the final eight minutes for the win.
Dustin Clarke led the Avery attack with 29 points, nine rebounds, four steals, and three assists. Jared Ward added 14 points, with eight from Joey Potter.
Three Mitchell players scored in double-figures, led by 27 points from Austin Burleson, 11 points from Corey Greene, and 10 off the bench from Logan Jensen.
Avery travels to Madison on Friday night to take on the Patriots before hosting Polk County on Monday, February 9th and Mountain Heritage on Tuesday, February 10th.
