On Friday, Dec. 17, the Big Red routed the Thomas Jefferson Classical Academy (TJ) Gryphons 88-65 in Forest City, and used second half scoring spurts and tenacious defense to hold off a tall and talented Owen Warhorses club 74-72 on Saturday, Dec. 18, in the Viking Octagon.
Friday’s contest was a classic example that one player scoring alone cannot overcome a talented team. TJ boasted a high-scoring freshman in Travis Waldroup-Rodriguez, and he was as good as advertised, scoring a game-high 34 points. AHS countered with four players scoring in double-figures and nine different players tallying at least five points each for the game, led by Dustin Clarke’s 23 points, 12 points from Kody Hughes and 10 points each from Joey Potter and Andy Gonzalez.
AHS led 22-11 after one period behind a blistering 10-of-17 shooting performance from the field and led by 15 at 38-23 at intermission. Timmy Stewart tallied seven points for the Vikings in the half, with Clarke leading the club with 10 points and Hughes chipping in nine points through two frames.
As the second half began, Waldroup-Rodriguez, who tallied only eight points in the first half, caught fire with 12 of his team’s 17 points in the third quarter. AHS countered with the hot shooting of Clarke, who poured in 13 points of his own to bump the Viking advantage to 60-40 after three quarters.
Early in the final stanza the Vikings pulled away with a 12-5 spurt to seal the Gryphons’ fate. Included in the rally was a steal and thunderous slam dunk from junior Alex Villanueva, his second such play in as many contests, to slam the proverbial door on another AHS win.
Clarke added 11 rebounds for a double-double for the game, to go with seven assists and four steals. Timmy Stewart added six rebounds and three assists in the third straight win for the Big Red, who shot 54 percent from the field for the game.
“I think we are a good shooting team. The past four or five games we’ve shot the ball well. Their defense wasn’t what we were used to, but we were able to find ways to get good selected shots that I was pleased with,” Vikings head coach Bo Manis said after the victory. “We crashed the boards offensively for rebounds and put-backs that helped our percentages, plus we kept getting out quick on the break running the basketball. They had trouble recovering in the second half when we were out on the break.”
Despite the win, the coach was quick to praise the improved Gryphons ballclub.
“They’re definitely a better team than what we’ve faced in previous years. They continue to get better each game and each year, which makes me glad because it helps to keep our conference in check and serves to remind us that on any given night in the conference a team can play and beat us,” Manis said. “You have to be ready for every night, and they did a good job of moving the basketball around, which slowed the pace of scoring somewhat.”
The next day the Vikings hosted Owen for a Saturday night special make-up game, which had been postponed from earlier in the week. The first half was nip-and-tuck, as Avery led by two points at 17-15 after one quarter and 33-31 at halftime.
Part of the reason for the close half of action was the height advantage and offensive rebounding of the Warhorses, combined with two early fouls called against AHS’s Clarke, forcing the senior to the bench for the majority of the first half. In Clarke’s absence, nine different Vikings registered points through the first two periods, paced by seven by Timmy Stewart and six points off the bench from Villanueva.
In the third quarter the Vikings built a lead as large as 15 points, and 53-39 at the end of the quarter. Early in the final stanza, however, the Warhorses charged back into the contest. Owen center Ben Marett carried his club, as he scored 15 of his game-high 30 points in the final frame to draw the Warhorses to as close as within two points.
AHS answered as Clarke scored eight of his team-high 16 points in the final period, including five straight free throws in the game’s final 80 seconds to keep the game out of reach.
The Viking bench played key minutes in the first half, as well as down the stretch in the final quarter. Austin Lyons and Benji Stewart each hit key three-point baskets in the second half to quell Owen scoring spurts, while the Vikings shot 10 of 15 from the charity stripe in the final quarter to come away with the team’s second conference win in as many nights.
In addition to Clarke, Villanueva added 11 points and Timmy Stewart added 10 in the winning effort. Colton Blackburn scored eight points while registering five rebounds, three blocked shots and three steals. Hughes and Benji Stewart scored seven points each.
“We started out sluggish and they had their way with us, but in the fourth quarter we shut them down and played harder defense. There were times we looked good and times where I honestly thought we could have played better. Owen is a scrappy ball team and will play that way no matter their size. They bring it every game and never give up,” Manis said after the win. “Defensively they came at us and they played a heck of a game. It could have went either way, but I’m glad we came out with the win and the way we finished speaks volumes about our team.”
Avery played at Hendersonville on Monday, Dec. 20, before the holiday break, falling by a final score of 84-64, and will return home to play Polk County on Jan. 4, 2011, inside the Viking Octagon.
