The Western Highlands Conference named its All-Conference basketball selections last week. Avery had the second-highest total with three players named to the team. Lady Vikings recognized for their performance on the court this season were junior Lauren Avery and seniors Katie Ellis and Allison Vance.“All-conference players are those who work hard and impact your team throughout the entire season,” Lady Vikings head basketball coach Missy Lyons said after the selections were announced. “It’s not all about scoring points, but also it’s about doing other things like giving assists, working hard on the floor. They are the players who other coaches see and tell their teams to watch and look out for and prepare to stop.”
Ellis, a 5’11” junior forward, was named All-Conference for the second straight season. She averaged a double-double for the season with 13.2 points per game and 11.3 rebounds a game. She also averaged three steals per game and dished out just over an assist per game for the season. Katie scored a season-high 25 points at Madison on February 6th and recorded a rare 20-20 night with a 21-point, 20-rebound performance at Hendersonville in January.
“For Katie to receive all-conference for a second year is really a huge honor,” Coach Lyons said. “I can’t off-hand remember another girls basketball two-time all conference player at Avery, so it’s a rare and great honor. Katie has been one of the best post players in the conference the past two years and was well commended by the other conference coaches.”
Vance, a fellow senior with three years on the varsity program, was the spark plug of the Avery attack. The 5’5” point guard used pressing defense and breakneck speed to force turnovers on the defensive side of the ball while breaking down defenses and generating points with the ball in her hands. She averaged 10.7 points a contest while pulling down two rebounds, handing out five assists and committing five steals per game. Vance scored a season-high 18 points to lead the team at Polk County on February 9th.
“Allison with her speed and her hustle on the floor was a tough guard matchup for teams,” Coach Lyons added. “She played great defense and also scored for us from the point.”
Lauren Avery, a 5’7” junior guard, was a mid-season addition to the starting lineup and began to produce immediately. She averaged just over seven points per game and hauled in almost five rebounds a night. Avery committed over a steal and a half per game and averaged around three assists per game for the season. She scored a season-high 16 points against Mitchell on February 5th.
“Lauren came in and gave us some extra depth we needed and was an amazing rebounder for her position,” the coach stated. “It seemed like with the better the teams we played, the more she always stepped up. I usually had her play defense on the other team’s best offensive player, and she always seemed to step up to the challenge.”
The players themselves were humbled to receive the honors and appreciative for the recognition of their play for the season. “It means a lot,” Vance stated. “We’ve worked hard for four years and we’ve been among some of the best teams that have ever played here. It’s a great honor.”
“Being named all-conference, it shows that hard work does pay off,” Avery added. “For me personally it’s motivation to keep working next year to improve even more.”
The players also credited the Lady Vikings coaching staff for all their help in preparing them to succeed.
“Coach Lyons prepared us well. She provided statistics and information on players and teams. They organized our summer camps and I don’t believe we’d be half as successful if it wasn’t for the work they d,” Ellis said.
“We were prepared to play every team we faced,” Vance added. “We would go scout and watch teams play when we had byes, and they do a lot of behind-the-scenes work.”
Ellis has received offers to play volleyball in college, but is considering attending UNC-Chapel Hill and majoring in education, while Vance is attending Mars Hill on scholarship in the fall and may attempt to walk-on with the Lady Lions basketball program. Lauren Avery will return to anchor an experienced senior class for the Lady Vikings team in 2009-10.
