The Avery men's varsity basketball team made the opening round game of the Western Highlands Conference Tournament at Mountain Heritage interesting Monday night, but the taller and more experienced Cougars team withstood a great effort by the Vikings to advance to the tournament semifinals with a 66-56 win in Burnsville.Monday night's version of the Vikings looked nothing like the team that was blown out by over 40 points the last time the team stepped foot on the Cougars' home floor. Avery moved the basketball around and out-hustled Heritage through the first quarter of play. Sophomore Colton Blackburn scored seven points in the first period to help Avery to a 15-9 lead after one period of action.
The Cougars grabbed their first lead of the game midway through the second quarter as part of an 11-1 scoring run that propelled them to a 32-24 lead with 1:50 left before halftime and eventual 38-31 halftime advantage.
Avery cut the lead to as little as three points at 44-41 with 4:52 left in the third quarter, but Heritage regrouped to score five straight points and extend its advantage back to eight. A basket by the Big Red in the final ten seconds of the period drew the Vikings within six at 49-43 after three quarters.
Mountain Heritage won the battle on the boards in the second half to extend possessions and create second and third shot opportunities. Steven Wilson and John Cannon were the primary recipients, using their height advantage to pull in 20 rebounds between them for the evening. Seven different Heritage players scored in the final stanza, with five points off the bench from Drew Letterman.
Avery looked to rally with the shooting of Dustin Clarke. The sophomore guard scored 13 of his game-high 23 points in the second half, but Avery could not muster the final run needed to overtake the Cougars.
Kody Hughes was the only other Avery player in double figures with 12 points. Cole Blackburn added nine, while Chase Watson scored six off the bench. The Vikings conclude the tournament with three wins on the season, and with only one senior on the roster and a strong junior varsity roster, the future looks bright for the Big Red to make great strides in 2009-10.
Mountain Heritage advances to play Mitchell, a 74-48 winner over Owen on Monday, in a semifinal matchup at Avery High School on Thursday evening. Fourth-seeded Hendersonville upended #5 seed Polk County by a 75-53 final score to advance to take on top-seeded Madison in the other conference men's tourney semifinal on Thursday night at Avery.
