On Friday night in Big Red Country, the Lady Vikings welcomed the 24-2 Robbinsville Lady Knights as Avery hosted a sectional final for the third straight season.Robbinsville defeated Highlands 77-35 to advance to the meeting with the Big Red. The two teams played to a standstill through two quarters, but the defensive pressure and the strategy of the Lady Knights paid dividends in a 64-46 win over the Lady Vikings to end the Avery season.
Both teams played the first eight minutes attempting to establish pace and style. Robbinsville drained three 3-point baskets in the quarter, while the Big Red relied on the scoring of starters Katie Ellis and Lauren Avery. The duo poured in ten of Avery’s 12 first-quarter points to take a one-point lead by quarter’s end.
The Lady Knights looked to leading scorer, 5’9” freshman guard Allison Beasley, to provide the offensive punch. Beasley hit a pair of three-pointers over the Lady Vikings zone defense and scored 11 points in all in the second stanza.
Avery countered with a balanced attack, as six different Lady Vikings scored points. Ellis scored a pair of baskets in the period, while teammate Sara Wiseman contributed with a pair of baskets off the bench. The pair, as well as teammate Katelynn Eudy was a strong presence in the paint, harassing Robbinsville shots and grabbing rebounds on both ends of the floor. The teams were tied at 28-28 at the end of the first half of play.
Avery made five more shots than Robbinsville for the half, but the five 3-point baskets allowed the Lady Knights to knot the score at intermission.
As the second half of play ensued, Robbinsville utilized a tight defense, continuously double-teaming Avery frontcourt players in the post while pressuring the backcourt to prevent easy passes and open shot opportunities.
The frontcourt duo of Ellis and Eudy accounted for all 18 of Avery’s second half points. Avery’s last lead of the ballgame came at the 3:43 mark of the third quarter as an Ellis inside basket put the Lady Vikings ahead 40-39.
In the second half, the Lady Vikings relied on its man-to-man defense to eliminate the perimeter shots, but Robbinsville closed the quarter on a 7-0 run, using the penetration of 5’2” sophomore guard Tacey Trammell to close the period and take control of the game, leading 46-40 with eight minutes remaining.
Robbinsville’s defense illustrated why the team had only lost two games all season, keeping the Lady Vikings scoreless for the first four and half minutes of the final stanza. In the meantime, the visitors slowly padded its advantage to double-digits. Avery could only get as close as 50-42 with just over three minutes remaining, but Trammell sank a three-point basket at the top of the key to build the lead back to double figures. Avery was only able to convert 3 of its 18 field goal attempts in the final quarter, and the Lady Knights hit 8 of 9 free throws in the final two minutes of play to ice the game and unfortunately end the Big Red season.
Ellis led the Vikings with yet another double-double, scoring 18 points with 16 rebounds in her final Avery game. Eudy added 14 points with 16 rebounds, but no other Avery player scored more than four points. Beasley’s 21 points led Robbinsville, with 13 from Trammell and eight from Eden Brown.Avery shot 29 percent from the field for the contest, and was 0 for 6 from three-point range, while Robbinsville shot 35 percent and went 6 of 14 from beyond the arc.
Robbinsville was 18 for 22 from the free throw line, while Avery only shot four free throws for the entire contest, making two.
The Lady Vikings close the season with a 19-11 record and will lose three starters to graduation and four seniors overall.
Congratulations to the Big Red on a terrific season!
