The Avery junior varsity basketball teams traveled to Madison High School this evening for the semifinal round of the Western Highlands Conference Tournament.Avery's boys junior varsity squad took to the floor to take on the Mountain Heritage Cougars and played with poise and control. The Big Red was in command for a vast majority of the contest, leading after one period by a score of 7-4 and led by a half dozen at 18-12 at halftime.
Head coach Reggie Oakes' squad played with discipline as it led 24-20 after three quarters, but the Cougars defense managed to keep the top-seeded Heritage team in the contest long enough for the offense to get untracked. A Heritage 9-0 run over the first 3:00 of the fourth quarter allowed the Cougars to tie the Vikings at 24-24 with 4:50 to go, then eventually took the lead over the Big Red on the scoreboard with 4:30 left in the contest.
The Cougars preserved its lead for the remainder of the game by playing stingy defense throughout the evening, a defense that prevented Avery from running away with the contest in the early portion of the semifinal, then forced a number of turnovers from the Vikings and prevented them from mounting a comeback. Heritage held on in the game's waning minutes to emerge victorious by the final score of 37-28. Mountain Heritage will square off in the JV boys championship game against Mitchell, who defeated Hendersonville 64-49 in the other JV boys semifinal matchup from Wednesday.
Although the JV boys did not advance to Friday's tourney final, the team has played with loads of determination and heart, improving by great strides over the course of the season and have much to be proud of. Congratulations to the Avery Vikings junior varsity boys basketball squad for a tremendous season!
Avery's Lady Vikings took the floor following the boys and were victorious over Polk County by the final score of 49-27 to advance to Friday afternoon's tournament championship game in Newland.
Sophomore forward Mary Chesnut Smith led all Avery scorers with 12 points in the win. Mercedes Bentley added ten points, Lacey Barrier started for Savannah Dellinger who was out due to illness and tallied nine points. Emily Pritchard added six, with points each from Logan and Shayna, and two points from Monica Estep to round out the Lady Vikings offensive attack.
Avery's junior varsity girls team has won thirteen consecutive conference contests on the season and will look to extend its streak of conference tournament championships on Friday afternoon at 4 p.m. in Viking Gym. The Lady Vikings will take on Madison, who defeated Mountain Heritage 48-39 in Marshall on Wednesday.
Special Thanks to Serena Smith for information used in compiling this post.
Head coach Reggie Oakes' squad played with discipline as it led 24-20 after three quarters, but the Cougars defense managed to keep the top-seeded Heritage team in the contest long enough for the offense to get untracked. A Heritage 9-0 run over the first 3:00 of the fourth quarter allowed the Cougars to tie the Vikings at 24-24 with 4:50 to go, then eventually took the lead over the Big Red on the scoreboard with 4:30 left in the contest.
The Cougars preserved its lead for the remainder of the game by playing stingy defense throughout the evening, a defense that prevented Avery from running away with the contest in the early portion of the semifinal, then forced a number of turnovers from the Vikings and prevented them from mounting a comeback. Heritage held on in the game's waning minutes to emerge victorious by the final score of 37-28. Mountain Heritage will square off in the JV boys championship game against Mitchell, who defeated Hendersonville 64-49 in the other JV boys semifinal matchup from Wednesday.
Although the JV boys did not advance to Friday's tourney final, the team has played with loads of determination and heart, improving by great strides over the course of the season and have much to be proud of. Congratulations to the Avery Vikings junior varsity boys basketball squad for a tremendous season!
Avery's Lady Vikings took the floor following the boys and were victorious over Polk County by the final score of 49-27 to advance to Friday afternoon's tournament championship game in Newland.
Sophomore forward Mary Chesnut Smith led all Avery scorers with 12 points in the win. Mercedes Bentley added ten points, Lacey Barrier started for Savannah Dellinger who was out due to illness and tallied nine points. Emily Pritchard added six, with points each from Logan and Shayna, and two points from Monica Estep to round out the Lady Vikings offensive attack.
Avery's junior varsity girls team has won thirteen consecutive conference contests on the season and will look to extend its streak of conference tournament championships on Friday afternoon at 4 p.m. in Viking Gym. The Lady Vikings will take on Madison, who defeated Mountain Heritage 48-39 in Marshall on Wednesday.
Special Thanks to Serena Smith for information used in compiling this post.
