The dream of a 1A state championship is still alive for the Avery Lady Vikings after winning two heart-stopping playoff games. Last-second baskets at Hiwassee Dam in a 60-58 victory last Wednesday and at Robbinsville in a 68-67 overtime win last Friday night propel the Big Red to Avery jumped to an early lead in Wednesday’s road matchup at
The Lady Vikings continued to pour on the offense with an 11-5 flurry over the first three and a half minutes of the second quarter, taking a commanding 33-17 advantage. Hiwassee Dam, behind the play of team scoring leader Kareen Abling, found a way to score against the tough man-to-man defense employed by the Lady Vikings. The Lady Eagles outscored Avery 9-2 over the final
Avery relied on its backcourt, primarily the scoring of senior guard Lauren Avery to maintain its advantage, but the Lady Eagles continued to slowly chip away at its deficit. The Lady Vikings kept a lead through three quarters, but led by only six at 48-42 going into the fourth period.
In the final stanza the Lady Eagles, led by Abling and sophomore Kayla Rose, forged a final rally to tie the contest at 51 apiece with
Avery maintained its poise down the stretch, continuing to make the necessary plays to stay close. A three-point play helped the Big Red regain the lead at 55-54, only to see Hiwassee Dam answer on its next possession to take the lead back at 56-55 with under 90 seconds to play.
In the game’s final minute the momentum swayed back and forth. The Lady Eagles built a two-point margin at 58-56 with 40 seconds left in the game, but the Big Red scored a pair to tie the contest up at 58 apiece with just six seconds to go.
With possession and planning to take the last shot, Hiwassee Dam looked to inbound the basketball to
“In the third quarter we could feel the momentum shift when they switched to a zone defense. We tried to attack the basket and they capitalized to take the lead late in the game,” Avery head coach Missy Lyons said after the win. “We did a great job on the boards, primarily in the first half and defensively did a good job guarding the ball.”
Lauren Avery led the Lady Vikings with 22 points, 9 rebounds, 7 assists, and 6 steals. Hayley Pyatte added ten points, with nine points and 14 rebounds from Sara Wiseman and seven points from Katelynn Eudy.
On Friday night the Lady Vikings hit the road again to the Smokies, this time to Robbinsville for
a highly-anticipated contest with the Smoky Mountain Conference champion Robbinsville Lady Knights. In a nip-and-tuck contest, four quarters was not enough to determine a winner.Avery fell behind early as Robbinsville scored the first seven points of the game. The Lady Vikings bounced back, however, as Avery shot 9 of 12 from the field in the first period to erase the Lady Knight lead and tie the game at 21-21 after one period.
Robbinsville could build a lead of no greater than two points in the second quarter as the two teams traded baskets. Avery went on a mini-scoring run helped by two Lauren Avery field goals and a bucket from Mercedes Bentley to give the Lady Vikings a 32-27 lead with
Unfortunately for the visitors, Avery cooled off from the field and was unable to score a point in the remainder of the half, allowing Robbinsville to score the half’s final seven points to take a 34-32 lead into halftime.
Both teams played to a standstill through the first few minutes of the third quarter, but Robbinsville used four points from Kristi Burchfield to build a six-point edge at 46-40 with two minutes left in the quarter. Avery outscored the Lady Knights 5-2 to close the quarter, as Megan Tennant scored on an offensive rebound and basket, and Sara Wiseman added a field goal to leave Avery trailing 48-45 with one quarter left to play.
Avery was hampered all night with poor free throw shooting, while Robbinsville shot a sterling 17 of 19 from the charity stripe for the game. Free throws were the largest factor in the Lady Knights’ ability to keep up with Avery on the scoreboard, as the Big Red converted only 6 of 15 free throws in the contest.
Consecutive baskets from Bentley and Hayley Pyatte to start the final stanza put Avery back on top by a point. A short time later two second-chance baskets by Wiseman and Avery gave the Lady Vikings a four-point bulge at 53-49. Robbinsville tied the game from the foul line, and the teams exchanged baskets to remain tied.
With the game knotted at 59, Katelynn Eudy scored with just over a minute remaining to give the Vikings the 61-59 lead, but a layup from Lynsey Crisp tied the game at 61. Neither team was successful on its final offensive possession of regulation, sending the game to overtime.
In the extra four-minute session, a number of players stepped up to hit big shots for both squads. A Lauren Avery field goal gave the Lady Vikings a 66-65 lead with
e the lead in the final 30 seconds. All-Smoky Mountain Conference point guard Tacey Trammell drove into the paint and scooped in a layup to give Robbinsville a one-point edge.With its season on the brink, the Lady Vikings rose to the occasion for the second time in as many games when a jumper by Lauren Avery fell short of the basket. Sara Wiseman did what she was so adept at doing the entire night…offensive rebounding. The senior alertly caught the ball in the air and made a game-winning layup with 0.4 seconds left to play to give the Lady Vikings the 68-67 triumph.
Wiseman scored 16 points and was a monster on the glass with nine rebounds (eight offensive). Lauren Avery scored 14 points with seven rebounds, while the Big Red received 11 points from Katelynn Eudy, 8 points from Hayley Pyatte, and seven points, 11 rebounds, and three blocks by Megan Tennant. .
“Sara did exactly what I needed her to do by stepping up, by playing big in the post, getting offensive rebounds, and hitting big shots for us all night,” Coach Lyons said after the thrilling win. “Hayley continues to play amazingly despite her torn
The win secured Avery’s second berth in the Western Regional tournament in the past three seasons and the Lady Vikings set a new school record with its 24th win of the season.
Avery joins Mitchell, Bishop McGuinness, and
Follow the Avery Journal-Times for exclusive interviews, stories, live updates, and reports on this weekend’s Western Regional tournament, with a full report of this weekend’s action in next week’s print edition.
