Middle School Hoops Roundup

It was a light week of action in county middle school basketball circles as the teams led up to the Thanksgiving holiday break.

On Monday, Nov. 22, Avery Middle School hosted Harris in its lone contest of the week. In an exciting back-and-forth game, the Lady Panthers came up big with a huge 33-31 overtime victory over the Lady Blue Devils.

The Lady Panthers started off very slowly as the Lady Devils took early control of the matchup, outscoring the Avery club 10-2 in the first six-minute period to take a commanding lead.
Avery’s offense clicked in gear in the second stanza as Anna Gragg came alive with five points in the frame. Teammates Destiny Ollis and Jodi Poore added a pair of points each, but Harris continued to score as well, leading 17-11 at halftime.

As the third quarter ensued the Lady Panthers clamped down defensively and continued to chip away at the Harris lead. Avery picked up a pair of baskets from Ollis, with two apiece from Gragg and Raina Wiseman. The Lady Panthers went on a 10-5 scoring run for the period to draw to within a single point of the Lady Blue Devils at 22-21 heading into the final period of regulation.

Over the fourth period, Avery’s defense played strongly, keeping the Harris offense at bay while holding it to only one field goal for the entire quarter. Avery got a boost from inside presence Jodi Poore, who came alive to help the Lady Panthers tie the contest at 30-30 and send the game into overtime.

In the three minutes of overtime, Avery held Harris to only a single point on a free throw and managed only three points itself, but the defensive intensity was the difference as the Lady Panthers held on for the two-point decision.

Two Avery players reached double-figures, paced by 11 points from Poore and 10 from Gragg. Ollis chipped in with six points, with three from Christian Burleson.

In the night cap, the Avery boys team dealt with the Harris boys ballclub. The Panthers took a stranglehold on the momentum of the contest in the first period, utilizing a strong offensive period to take a 15-4 advantage through six minutes. Avery was up big by halftime, as the squad led 33-10 at halftime behind 11 first-half points from Kobe Pittman, eight points from teammate Austin Phillips and seven points from Tre Jackson.

Harris hung tough with Avery in the third quarter, as the Panthers only outscored Harris by a 16-14 margin but still led 49-24. Avery’s bench players saw extensive minutes in the final quarter as the Panthers won by a 60-28 final score.

Pittman led all scorers with 20 points, with 13 from Jackson and 10 from Phillips. Dalton Tennant added eight points, with five from Dylan Bauer and two points apiece from Jacob Waldrop and Jeffery Puckett. Trevan Riddle led the Blue Devils with 14 points.

The same evening the Cranberry Wildcats took the floor on the road, traveling to Yancey County to take on conference foe Cane River.

The Cranberry girls team continued its recent streak of strong play, as the club picked up a 23-17 victory on the road against the Lady Rebels. In the boys contest, the Cane River club picked up a split for the evening as the Rebels defeated the Wildcats by a narrow final margin of 43-38.

Following a matchup out-of-conference with West McDowell before taking the Thanksgiving break, the Wildcats returned to the floor on Monday, Nov. 29, with another road test at Harris.

In girls action, the Lady Blue Devils bounced back from its loss at the hands of Avery, snapping the recent winning ways in conference of the Lady Wildcats by earning a decisive 43-17 win over the Lady Cats. In the second half of the twin bill, the Harris boys made it a clean sweep of the evening by defeating Cranberry by a narrow 31-27 final score.

The county middle school teams head down the home stretch of the regular season with the second of its two scheduled meetings this Thursday, Dec. 2, at Avery High School. Both schools are jockeying for position in the upcoming Toe River Conference Tournament, scheduled for Dec. 8, 9 and 11, at Avery High School.

Lady Viking Basketball Tips Off Season with Trio of Defeats

The 2010-11 edition of Avery varsity basketball began last week with a trip to Boone on Tuesday, Nov. 23, for the regular season opener against the rival Watauga Pioneers.

The Avery Lady Vikings varsity girls team met a tough foe at Lentz-Eggers Gym, falling by to Watauga by a 58-40 final score.

Avery seniors Katelynn Eudy and Mercedes Bentley combined for eight of the 10 Lady Viking points in the first period, but the Lady Pioneers opened the game with a 9-2 scoring run and held a 15-10 lead after one period.

Over the second stanza Watauga slowly seized control, scoring the final five points of the half to open up a double-figure lead at 31-21 into the intermission.

As the third quarter played out, the Avery defense held Watauga to just nine points for the quarter, but the Big Red offense could only muster seven points of its own as the Lady Pioneers led 40-28 going into the final eight minutes of play.

The Lady Vikings were often its own worst enemy, as it was unable to consistently knock down shots and were forced into a high number of turnovers by the Watauga defense. Avery struggled to find an answer inside for Watauga sophomore post player Brooke Rhodes, who scored a game-high 25 points. Avery center Megan Tennant suffered an ankle injury in the preseason and was unavailable for the first three Lady Viking contests to open the season, making the assignment of slowing down the Watauga inside game a difficult one. Rhodes scored seven of her 12 field goals in the second half as the Lady Pioneers pulled away over the final stanza for the win.

Eudy led the Avery charge with 14 points, with 12 points from Mercedes Bentley. No other Lady Viking scored more than four points.

“We really missed Megan in the game inside to guard Brooke. She did a great job guarding her back during the summer, and Megan is our best defender against back-to-the-post players, and we felt that that might have made a big difference,” Lady Vikings head basketball coach Missy Lyons said after the game. “We had trouble on the boards rebounding and that really got us in a bind. We started a freshman and a sophomore against Watauga, but it was good experience for those girls and for the entire team.”

On Friday, Nov. 26, the Lady Vikings traveled to Ledger and took on the R-S Central Lady Hilltoppers in the Unimin Harvest Hoops Invitational Tournament at Mitchell High School. Avery fell behind early, but rallied to tie the contest on three separate occasions before a late R-S scoring spurt proved too much to overcome in a 65-56 loss.

Central took advantage of several Lady Viking turnovers and scored the first six points of the contest to grab an early advantage, but three-pointers by Bentley and Monica Estep helped the Big Red stay within six at 16-10 after one period.

As the second period ensued the taller Lady Hilltopper club found success shooting inside and rebounding inside. Avery countered by utilizing a 1-3-1 zone defense. The strategy worked well as the Lady Vikings scrapped back into the contest, tying the game at 26 apiece with 1:18 left in the first half. R-S scored the final four points of the half, however, to lead 30-26 at intermission.

R-S came out strong to open the third quarter, as a 7-4 scoring run over the first two and half minutes helped Central build a 37-30 advantage. Following a timeout, the Lady Vikings used a Bentley three-pointer and a Kelsie Clarke layup to quickly cut the margin to just two points at 37-35. Central answered with its own 5-0 scoring run to lead by eight, but the Lady Vikings rallied in the final minute of the quarter to draw to within 48-44 after three periods.

Avery opened the final quarter with four points from Burleson to tie the game at 48. The game remained nip-and-tuck for the first three minutes of the quarter, but a five-point scoring run built a 56-51 Central lead. A pair of Clarke free throws with less than three minutes to play brought the Lady Vikings to within a point at 56-55, but the Lady Hilltoppers closed the contest with a 9-1 scoring run to seal the victory.

Eudy and Bentley scored 13 points each for the Big Red, with 11 from Burleson and eight points from Clarke. Central’s Shannon Hines led all scorers with 26 points.

“We fell behind but caught up. We stayed with them pretty much the rest of the game, but we turned the ball over way too much. Hopefully those mistakes are things we can correct here early on,” Lyons said following the game.

In Avery’s final game of the week, it tangled with the Lady Bears from Mount Airy in a matchup of regional qualifiers from a season ago. Mount Airy was strong virtually from the outset, lighting up the scoreboard for 12 three-pointers for the contest en route to a decisive 72-44 win.

Avery fell behind by double-figures in the first quarter and was unable to climb back into the contest thanks to the hot hand of the Lady Bears. Mount Airy led 25-13 after one period and took a commanding 40-22 lead into halftime. Senior Mary Chesnut Smith paced the Lady Vikings with seven first-half points, while Jordan Hiatt led Mount Airy with 14 points, including four 3-point baskets.

Mount Airy’s pressing defense, experience, and height was a lethal combination against Avery’s hopes for a second-half comeback. The Lady Bears pulled away in the third quarter, outscoring the Big Red 26-10 for the frame to take a 66-32 lead and went on to hand the Lady Vikings a third consecutive setback.

Eudy scored 17 to lead the Lady Viking scoring attack and was named to the All-Tournament Team, with nine points from Smith and eight from Bentley for the game.

“They shot the ball well, and Mount Airy is a tough team to match up with. We’re still missing Megan in the post, and they put a lot of man-to-man pressure on us,” Lyons said following the contest. “We have young ball-handlers who don’t have a lot of experience yet, but it was a good challenge for them. They just kept us from getting into our offense and they shot the eyes out of it to keep us from catching up.”

Avery returns to action this week with a road game on Tuesday, Nov. 30, at Cloudland and a rematch at home with Watauga this Friday, Dec. 3.

Musings and Ramblings: “Road Warrior” Mountaineers More Than an Underdog Story

The 2010 edition of the Mitchell Mountaineers football team has endured more than its fair share of adversity. On Aug. 13, just one week prior to the start of the high school football regular season, six players were involved in a truck accident after football practice. Although some of the injuries were serious, all of the players were able to escape life-threatening damage and rejoined the team either actively on the field or on the sideline to root on teammates.

In October, another difficult blow was dealt to the high school and community when a pair of students was fatally injured in a car accident. The accident made regional newscasts and rocked the Mitchell community.

Many teams dealing with a small dose of the difficulties surrounding friends and neighbors would easily have written off something as seemingly trivial as a game. However, the Mitchell football team rallied around its common hardships and has reached an historic place in the athletic annals of Mountaineer football with its first playoff win since 1989 and deepest playoff run since the 1986 season.

I’ve had the privilege and opportunity to cover both our Avery Vikings as well as the Mitchell Mountaineers with game stories each week in The Avery Journal-Times this season. I am grateful for the help from the Mitchell athletics department, statisticians and coaching staff, specifically to stat master Chris Pittman and his comrades, for the number-crunching they do on a weekly basis.

Last Friday, Nov. 26, the Mitchell football team continued its amazing ride toward a state championship with a 47-22 win over Avery in the third round of the state high school football playoffs.

Although the loss was stinging to Viking Nation, many fans have shared with me that, although they are disappointed about Avery’s elimination, they are rooting for the Mountaineers to pull off what many would deem an upset against the Albemarle Bulldogs this week in the state 1-AA semifinals.

“We knew we had a good group of juniors coming in, and we lost one of our seniors in the car accident early on. Six of our seniors play and have stepped up. It took a while for us to put in our new offense this season and for the team to come together,” Mitchell head coach Russell Barnett told me in a one-on-one interview on Wednesday, Nov. 24, after a Mountaineer afternoon practice in Ledger. “The boys came together despite the adversity, but it took a toll on us and put football in perspective. It’s a game and a sport. The kids know that, and it’s something that has taken their minds off the pain we were going through during those times we had here. The resilience of the kids was tremendous, and I couldn’t expect more out of them.”

Players like senior running back Shawn Jackson, junior quarterback Justin Hughes and offensive and defensive leaders Troy Self and Ben Smith, respectively, have provided the team with maturity and leadership both on and off the field. The team has took its cue from its coaches, who have provided a steady hand of guidance and genuine concern for the kids that they have been trusted as stewards over.

“We have a great group of men on our coaching staff. It’s truly been a pleasure to work with them and to coach these kids. I can’t believe that we’re here practicing over the Thanksgiving week,” Barnett said of the team and season. “It seems the season has gone by fast this year.”

The ups and downs of the regular season, which ended with losses in four of its final six games, served to galvanize a club that since has reeled off three consecutive wins in do-or-die situations, each of which while playing away from home.

“The kids have enjoyed this playoff run. I knew we could make some noise because of the teams we’ve faced during the conference. We played a tough schedule. With games against the likes of Polk, Owen, Mountain Heritage, Avery and Hendersonville it’s going to make you tough,” Barnett said. “Every team in our conference was battle tested and it showed as the teams have had successful playoff runs.”

It is amazing to see a team that at one point early in the season fielded only 21 varsity players experience such highs and lows in a matter of months. The development meant the coaching staff had to adjust not only the lineup in the early going, but to a point adjust its expectations of its squad.

“At first, getting down to just 21 players after the accident adjusted things. We had to move kids around a little more and kids had to back up other spots. If one kid went down we’d have to move three or four players,” Barnett added. “Our expectancies changed, sure. But as we’ve seen these kids grow, we’ve set our goals high and these kids picked them up, and I’m so proud of how the kids took on the challenge.”

Most outside the Mountaineer program point to the team’s 24-23 win over then-unbeaten Polk County as the turning point of the season. Interestingly enough, however, the coach points to another game a week earlier that served as a watershed moment in the 2010 campaign.

“We had a bad loss against Brevard early in the year after Polk and Owen had thumped them. It took a while for our juniors to believe that they could play at this level, go on the road and win. The game with Owen at home before we played Polk was a really hard fought game. At that point I sensed that was a turning point for us,” Barnett explained. “Even though we lost, I told them that the score on the clock didn’t indicate the amount of effort they gave, and that I took that as a win for us. The next week we played Polk and we built upon that. The kids started gaining confidence after that Owen game that we could play with any team, and we ran with that confidence. Of course, we came away with a win over Polk, and to beat a team like that, you have to have a lot of things go right for you, and they did that night. We just went with it from there.”

Perhaps a more astounding facet to Mitchell’s success this fall has been that the team will be playing its sixth consecutive road game and fourth in a row in the playoffs. One would be hard-pressed to find a large number of teams who have been able to win high-stakes playoff games away from home as Mitchell has achieved thus far.

“We’ve been on the road for the fifth straight week (editor’s note: six weeks after last week’s playoff win) and we call these boys ‘road warriors’,” Barnett said. “We’re just enjoying the ride right now and enjoying the fans coming out to the games. The community has rallied around us and supported us the whole way. This coaching staff has taken a lot of responsibility on themselves and they’ve given tremendous effort, and these kids took on playing this many games on the road as a challenge. We’re really proud of the way things have gone thus far.”

Good luck to the Mountaineers this week in Albemarle as it attempts to represent the Western Highlands Conference and us mountain folk in the state championship game.

Avery Boys Basketball Splits Pair to Open 2010-11 Season

The Avery varsity boys basketball season got off to a rocky start last week with a 95-54 loss at the hands of rival Watauga in Boone on Tuesday, Nov. 23.

Avery was feeling the effects of having as many as five of its players still playing football as part of the state 1-AA gridiron playoffs. However, the Pioneers felt little pity for the undermanned Big Red.

Avery hung tough with the Pioneers for much of the first half, as it held a 17-13 lead after one period. Viking senior standout guard Dustin Clarke paced Avery with 13 of the first-period points. Watauga stepped up its pressure and outscored the Vikings 24-10 in the second quarter to seize control and take a 10-point lead at 37-27 into halftime.

What occurred over the final 16 minutes of play was a decisive two-quarter rout by the home-standing Pioneers, who was christening its brand new Lentz-Eggers Gym for its first-ever night of regular season basketball.

Watauga was on fire on offense and lit up Avery for a 41-8 third quarter run to take a commanding 78-35 lead that Avery had no answer for.

“We just ran out of gas,” Avery head basketball coach Bo Manis said after the game.
Watauga was 26-of-33 from the foul line for the night and had the help of five 3-pointers from Jake Pifer, who led all scorers with 26 points. Teammate Will Koppenhaver added 22 points.

Clarke led Avery with 23 points, including four 3-pointers, and seven rebounds. Joey Potter
scored 10 points with three assists, while both Timmy Stewart and Benji Stewart scored seven points each.

“As much as I want to say it made a difference that we didn’t have our football players, I was still happy for them that they were out playing,” Manis said. “It was a good test for the varsity players who were playing to understand about battling adversity and dealing with it. It was a good test for us.”

The testing proved helpful for the Big Red as they turned it into triumph in the team’s lone game at last weekend’s Unimin Harvest Hoops Invitational tournament at Mitchell High School, defeating the Mount Airy Bears on Friday, Nov. 26, by a 63-55 final score.

The pace was quick in the first half as Mount Airy held a narrow 17-16 lead after one period. Avery stormed back behind eight second-quarter points from Clarke, highlighted by a leaping slam dunk, to seize the lead by a comfortable margin at 35-27 at halftime.

Avery came out on fire in the second half and built a lead as large as 19 points on the Bears. However, Mount Airy staged a comeback as the Bears took advantage of a young and thin Viking bench to cut the deficit to 47-41 at the end of three periods and to as close as three points.

Unlike the Watauga rally three days previously, the Vikings responded to the Bears run to catch its second wind. Clarke picked up the club with 11 of his game-high 26 points in the fourth quarter, including a perfect 5-for-5 from the free throw line. Benji Stewart added a pair of baskets as the Vikings fended off Mount Airy to secure its first victory of the season.

In addition to Clarke, Timmy Stewart poured in 12 points, with 10 apiece from Benji Stewart and Potter.

“We worked on defense after the Watauga game and jumping to the ball, as well as closing in and boxing out better, and I think that was big. We moved the ball around really well and a lot of guys got touches with the ball,” Manis said of the win. “Basically we ran a six-man rotation which helped, but the defense played well and we made several corrections compared to Watauga. Mount Airy was well disciplined and played good defense. But we’re also a good defensive team, though, and we hung right in there with them.”

This week the Vikings traveled across the border to nearby Roan Mountain, Tenn. to take on the Cloudland Highlanders on Tuesday, Nov. 30, and Avery plays its home opener this Friday, Dec. 3, when it hosts Watauga looking for payback from last week’s loss.

Griewisch Earns Athlete of the Year Honors

Former Avery Lady Viking runner and Lenoir-Rhyne University's Kate Griewisch has been named the 2010 NCAA Division II USTFCCCA (United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association) Southeast Region Women's Athlete Of The Year.

Griewisch, a junior from Banner Elk, wins the award for the second consecutive year.

Griewisch won the NCAA Division II Women's Cross Country Southeast Regional Championship last Saturday in Charlotte, finishing the 6K course in 20:55 and besting her nearest competitor by 36 seconds.

The regional crown was Griewisch's second straight as well.

Griewisch, a three-time All-South Atlantic Conference First-Team honoree (2008-10), earned All-American honors last year after finishing 19th out of 184 runners at the national championship race in Evansville, Ind.

Griewisch won the 2009 South Atlantic Conference Championship meet and has been named the SAC Women's Cross Country Scholar-Athlete Of The Year for two years in a row.

Griewisch, who also led Lenoir-Rhyne to back-to-back league championships in 2008 and 2009, will next compete in the 2010 NCAA Division II Women's Cross Country National Championship race this Saturday, Dec. 4, at E.P. "Tom" Sawyer State Park in Louisville, Ky., beginning at noon.

Mitchell, Miscues Eliminate Vikings from State Playoffs

The Cinderella season of the Mitchell Mountaineers continued last Friday, Nov. 26, before a packed crowd at a cold MacDonald Stadium as five Avery turnovers and an efficient Mitchell ground game translated into a 47-22 Viking loss in the third round of the NCHSAA 1-AA state football playoffs.

“We missed too many tackles and turned the football over too many times to beat a good Mitchell football team,” Avery head coach Darrell Brewer said after the game. “Mitchell’s a dang good football team and were on their game. I don’t know if they’ve played a better game all season. You can’t beat a bad football team with five turnovers, much less a great team like Mitchell. They simply made plays and we didn’t.”

Things started well for the Big Red as it forced Mitchell to punt on the game’s first series. The Justin Hughes kick was downed inside the Avery 5-yard line to pin the Vikings in the shadow of its own goal post. On the second Avery offensive play, Viking senior running back Taylor Potter gained a first down, but Mitchell’s Logan McKinney forced a fumble from Potter and recovered the football to set the Mountaineers with excellent field position. Following a procedure penalty against Mitchell, quarterback Hughes broke several tackles and rambled 19 yards to the end zone for the first points of the game. Isaac Edwards’ point after touchdown (PAT) staked the visitors to a 7-0 lead with 8:38 to play in the opening period.

On Avery’s ensuing possession, the Vikings benefited from a 25-yard carry from Potter to advance the football close to midfield. The Mitchell defense bowed up, however, and forced Avery to punt. The long snap sailed over the head of punter Dustin Clark, however, who managed to retrieve the football and complete a pass to receiver Hunter Shields for a loss of yardage to turn the ball over on downs in Avery territory.

The opportunistic Mountaineers expended only two plays to find purple paydirt. Shawn Jackson did the honors, as the senior running back broke several tackles en route to a 27-yard score. Edwards added the PAT for a 14-0 Mountaineer lead with 3:45 to play in the opening stanza.

Avery was able to gain only one first down on its third offensive series and was again forced to punt the ball to the Mountaineers. Mitchell continued its tried and true method of offense, running the football and daring the Vikings to stop it. The strategy was effective throughout the game, and it produced a third score as the Mountaineers ambled 69 yards on just four running plays. Jackson accounted for 40 yards on the drive, culminating with a 26-yard touchdown tote. Edwards’ PAT gave Mitchell a commanding 21-0 lead before a stunned home crowd and rousing ovations from a crowd from Ledger that filled the visitor bleachers.

At its bleakest moment of the season to date, the Viking misfortunes made a 180-degree turn. Kick returner Hunter Shields caught Mitchell’s ensuing kickoff at his own one-yard line, maneuvered his way through teammate blocks and would-be tacklers and raced down the sideline for a school-record 99-yard kickoff return. Dustin Clark’s PAT trimmed the Mitchell lead to 21-7 with 43 seconds left in the first period.

Having seemingly lost a bit of momentum, the Mitchell offense proceeded to impose its will and control the clock during the second quarter of play. After Avery’s touchdown, the Mountaineers embarked on a 14-play, 71-yard touchdown drive to score for the fourth time in four possessions. The key play of the drive was a 22-yard pass completion on 3rd-and-10 from Hughes to receiver Troy Self. Hughes capped the successful drive with a one-yard plunge three plays later, and the PAT again gave the Mountaineers a 21-point lead at 28-7 with 5:36 left in the half.

Avery’s only successful offensive series of the entire first half followed the fourth Mountaineer score. The Vikings opened up the playbook with its spread formation, running a no-huddle, hurry-up offense to perfection. Avery marched 53 yards in six plays and elapsed only 1:18 off the game clock. Viking quarterback Alex Villanueva ran free for a 10-yard touchdown run, and Clark’s PAT pulled the Big Red to within 28-14, a score which remained unchanged for the remainder of the half.

Avery received the opening kickoff of the second half and set itself in excellent field position as Colton Blackburn caught a squib kick and returned the football for 39 yards to the Mitchell 30-yard line. The Viking offense moved 25 yards in eight plays, including a key 18-yard pass completion on fourth down to wide receiver Andy Gonzalez.

With first down inside the Mitchell 10-yard line, Avery needed a touchdown to draw to within a touchdown, but the Mountaineer defense left the Vikings empty-handed as linebacker Ben Smith intercepted a Villanueva fourth-down pass in the end zone.

Brewer saw the Mountaineer stop as a key moment in the contest. “I thought that was big. If we come out and put that ball in the end zone after halftime, we’re down by just a touchdown,” Brewer said

AJ-T Sports LIVE FROM: Cloudland High School (High School Hoops)

9:50 PM -- Vikings fall 92-57 to the Landers. The Potters lead all scorers for the night, as Matthew (Cloudland) finishes with 29 and Joey (Avery) ends with 14 points. Clarke finishes with 12 for the Vikings.

Avery next takes the floor on Friday night for its home opener against Watauga. Thanks for reading!

9:30 PM -- 79-44 Landers after three periods. Cloudland blitzes the Vikings to start the third quarter with 38 points in the third period alone. Tough period for the Big Red.

9:00 PM -- Cloudland leads Avery 41-29 at halftime. Matthew Potter of CHS has led all scorers thus far with 24 in the first half . Dustin Clarke has six points for the Vikings. Second half coming up!

8:35 PM -- Cloudland leads Avery 16-10 after one quarter of action. Matthew Potter leads Cloudland with 10 first-quarter points. Benji Stewart leads the Vikings with four points for the period. Second quarter coming up!

8:00 PM -- Cloudland's varsity girls defeats Avery 64-47, making it 3-0 thus far on the evening for the 'Landers. Boys varsity game coming up!

7:05 PM -- Cloudland Lady Landers varsity girls hold a 38-15 halftime lead. Cloudland led 25-14 after one period and held the Big Red to just one point in the second quarter, that on a Savannah Dellinger free throw with just under 2 and a half minutes left in the second quarter.

Lauren Burleson and Mary Chesnut Smith paced the Lady Vikings with four points each for the half, with 10 points from Summer Hughes to lead Cloudland and all scorers through the first two periods.

Avery's varsity boys team is warming up on the floor during the girls halftime. Several Avery football players have joined the basketball group for their season debuts, including seniors Kody Hughes, Andy Gonzalez and Colton Blackburn, along with junior Alex Villanueva. Spencer Blackburn is also with the club, but suffered an injury in the football game with Mitchell last Friday and is not available for tonight's contest.

6:15 PM -- Cloudland's JV boys are victorious by a 73-52 final score to sweep the junior varsity action. Varsity girls action between the Lady Vikings and Lady Landers is coming up next!

5:40 PM - Cloudland JV boys lead Avery 37-24 at halftime thanks to a late second quarter scoring run. Second half from Roan Mountain on the way!

4:50 PM Avery JV girls fall 58-32 to Cloudland in teh first contest of the evening. JV boys game coming up!

3:40 PM  We're LIVE at Cloudland High School in Roan Mountain, TN for high school basketball action between Avery and Cloudland High Schools. Avery's varsity takes the floor later this evening. Junior varsity girls action has already begun with the first game nearing the halftime mark and Cloudland holding a 32-15 halftime lead. I (Shelldog) will be providing updates throughout the evening from the high school from the stage overlooking the 'Lander Gym.