Having already clinched the Western Highlands Conference (WHC) regular season title with its win over Mountain Heritage, the AHS Lady Vikings was playing for a perfect 14-0 conference record when it rolled into Ledger to take on the pesky Mitchell Lady Mountaineers.
Meanwhile the AHS varsity boys needed a win over Mitchell to solidify a No. 2 seed from the 1A portion of the conference, virtually cementing the Vikings a home game for the opening round of the upcoming state basketball playoffs.
Both AHS clubs fell behind by double-digit second half deficits on Mitchell’s Senior Night to rally and eventually force overtime. However, the teams came away with mixed results. The Lady Vikings dominated the overtime session to defeat Mitchell 63-52. For the boys, a season-high 43 Dustin Clarke points were not enough to deter the Mountaineers as it defended home court and defeated AHS 91-84.
Lady Vikings Roars Back to Down Mitchell
Head coach Dawn Lowe’s Lady Mountaineers came out with something to prove, as the reigning conference tournament champions played the Big Red tough. AHS held a 12-11 lead after one stanza. Senior Mary Chesnut Smith connected on a pair of field goals in the quarter to help put the Lady Vikings in front.
The tables turned in the second period as the Lady Mountaineers took a 22-21 lead into halftime. Senior shooting guard Lyndsay Jensen was the catalyst for the Mitchell offense with 11 first-half points, as the Lady Mountaineer defense held AHS standout junior center Megan Tennant to only two first-half points.
For the Lady Vikings, Smith and fellow senior Katelynn Eudy worked inside to pick up the scoring responsibility, combining for 11 points.
As the second half ensued the Lady Vikings had trouble hitting shots, converting on 3-of-10 attempts in the third period. Eudy helped keep the Big Red within striking distance with four points in the quarter. Mitchell continued to score with the ball, however, as Katie Atkins scored seven points and teammate Ashley Greene poured in five to help propel the home team to a 39-28 lead.
A three-point basket by Jensen with 4:33 to play in regulation helped Mitchell match its largest lead of the game at 42-31. For the remainder of the period, the Lady Vikings took over. A steal and layup by Smith sparked the Big Red rally, followed up quickly by a pair of three-point baskets from senior Mercedes Bentley, which cut the margin to 43-41 with 2:40 remaining.
The Lady Vikings continued to pressure the Mountaineers as it attempted to stall and run time off the clock. The pressure resulted in eight turnovers committed by Mitchell, which AHS seemed to continually capitalize upon. A third basket from Bentley with 49 seconds left drew the Lady Vikings to within 47-46, while Tennant’s only field goal in the final two periods of regulation tied the game at 48-48 to force overtime.
AHS was 8-of-10 from the free throw line in the fourth quarter and made 5-of-8 attempts from the field to draw even.
As overtime began the Lady Vikings took the momentum of the previous four minutes and decimated the foul-plagued Lady Mountaineers. Tennant was unstoppable inside with a pair of baskets, while teammate Kelsie Clarke built upon the four free throws she made in the final minutes of regulation by adding a field goal and three additional free throws in overtime. In all, AHS scored eight of the first nine points of overtime to build a 56-49 lead that it never relinquished. The Lady Vikings were 9-of-12 from the free throw line in overtime to seal the win, while holding Mitchell to 1-of-5 shooting from the floor in the extra session.
Bentley led the Lady Vikings with 16 points, with 13 points and six rebounds from Eudy. Clarke added 11 points and three assists, with eight points apiece from Smith and Tennant. Tennant added 11 rebounds while Smith hauled in five boards.
AHS finishes the regular season with an overall record of 18-5, with a 14-0 mark in conference play and winners of 13 straight games and 18 of its last 19 contests.
Vikings Defense Falters in Seven-Point OT Defeat
For the first quarter of last week’s varsity boys contest, the Mountaineers and Vikings played to a virtual standstill, with the score knotted at 17 apiece. AHS senior guard Clarke paced the Big Red with five points on what would become a recurring theme.
Mitchell used a 14-3 scoring run over the first 3:40 of the second period to build a 31-20 lead. AHS rallied to outscore the Mountaineers 14-9 for the remainder of the half as Clarke netted 21 points by intermission. However, 14 points in the half from Mountaineer counterpart Corey Greene led the way for Mitchell to take a 42-34 halftime lead into the locker room.
Mitchell converted nine field goals from inside 15 feet in the third quarter, however, as the Mountaineers took a 61-49 lead into the fourth period.
AHS roared back into contention in the final quarter of regulation behind a blistering 12-of-20 shooting display from the field. Clarke scored 10 for the quarter, while teammates Benji Stewart and Joey Potter each helped key the rally with three baskets apiece. Mitchell converted only 8-of-15 free throws in the period, opening the door for the Viking comeback. An offensive rebound and putback by Potter narrowed the deficit to 77-75 with 39 seconds left in regulation, and a 10-foot bucket from Clarke with 19 seconds left tied the score at 77 to force the extra session.
The frantic and furious rally seemed to take a lot out of the AHS club, as the Vikings could only make 3-of-10 shots in the four-minute overtime period. In the meantime the Mountaineers caught its second wind. Greene netted a pair of baskets, with a bucket each from teammates Ben Smith and Matt Vaughn to build an 85-79 lead.
Over the final 1:30 the Vikings sent the Mountaineers back to the free throw line, where the squad made 6-of-8 shots to clinch the win.
Potter was the only other Viking in double figures with 14 points, while teammates Alex Villanueva and Hughes chipped in with nine points each and Benji Stewart added seven points.
Greene finished the contest with 26 points, eight rebounds and four assists to lead Mitchell, with 25 points from teammate Ben Smith. Troy Self scored 16 points, with 13 from Lawson Norris.
“It was a critical game that we needed to win. Now we have to go out and win the tournament to get second place back. All we can do is work and get better from there,” Vikings head coach Bo Manis said after the game. “We’re capable of going out and winning the tournament, it’s just a matter of pulling together.”
The Viking boys squared off against Polk County in the opening round of the conference tournament last Monday, Feb. 14, while the Lady Vikings took on the Hendersonville Lady Bearcats in the first round of the girls tournament.
Full coverage of the WHC tournaments can be found in next week’s edition of The Avery Journal-Times.
