Bobcats Hoops Roundup

Women’s Basketball: Royals Outlast Bobcats

Melissa Thomas poured in a game-high 26 points, and the Queens University of Charlotte women's basketball team won the battle on the glass by a 48-20 margin en route to a 70-57 victory over Lees-McRae College (LMC) last Thursday, Jan. 6, in Conference Carolinas play.

Queens (5-5, 4-0 CC) connected on 44.4 percent of its attempts from the floor on the night, including a 48.5 percent clip in the second half, while holding the Bobcats (1-8, 1-3 CC) to a 41.1 percent mark overall and a 37.9 percent showing in the first 20 minutes. The Royals also went a perfect 10-for-10 at the free throw line, while outscoring the Bobcats by a 16-4 margin in second chance points.

Janina Thurau paced a trio of Bobcats in double figures with 14 points, while Chloe Parker and Icey Patterson recorded 12 and 11 markers, respectively. Patterson notched a game-high five assists and four steals, while Parker pulled down a team-best seven rebounds.

Thomas connected on 8-of-13 attempts from the field, and went 8-for-8 at the charity stripe to post a game-high 26 points while also notching a contest-best four steals. Marissa Hudley posted a double-double with 14 points and a game-high 16 rebounds, knocking down 7-of-15 shots from the floor. Shakaria Hamlin chipped in seven points and seven rebounds, while Erin Goldner recorded eight points, three steals, and a team-high three assists.

Queens got off to a strong start, scoring 10 of the game's first 16 points to open a four-point lead on a Hamlin jumper at the 12:59 mark of the first half. LMC responded with a 5-0 spurt to claim a narrow 11-10 advantage on a Parker layup with 11:41 to play in the period.

After a quick basket by the Royals' Sarah Myatt, Flowers and Zukye Smith combined for a trio of three-pointers to propel the Bobcats to a 20-14 lead with 8:22 remaining in the first half. Queens answered with a run of its own, launching a 17-0 run to take a 31-20 advantage on a pair of free throws by Goldner at the 4:05 mark. The Royals then closed out the half with a 10-7 spurt to take a 41-27 lead into the intermission.

LMC opened the second half with two quick baskets by Parker and Patterson to cut the lead to 41-33, and stayed within single-digits for much of the next 12 minutes. With the scoreboard reading 60-53 in favor of Queens with just over five minutes remaining, the Royals took control, closing out the win with a 10-4 run to equal the final margin of 70-57 and remain perfect in conference play.

Men’s Basketball: Queens and Mount Olive Top LMC

The Queens University men's basketball team turned in a solid defensive effort en route to a 70-44 win over LMC on Thursday, Jan. 6, in Conference Carolinas action.

Queens (7-4, 3-0 CC) knocked down an even 50 percent of its field attempts on the night, including a 52 percent clip in the first half, while limiting LMC (3-7, 0-3 CC) to a 30.6 percent mark from the floor. The Royals won the battle on the glass by a 38-30 margin, including a 27-18 advantage on the defensive boards, while converting 18 Bobcats miscues into 18 points.

Adam McFerran led the way for the Bobcats with a double-double, recording game-highs of 16 points and 11 rebounds while knocking down 6-of-13 attempts from the floor. Tevin Friday and Daniel Sepokas chipped in seven and six points, respectively, while Matt Eller recorded a game-high three steals.

Queens' Daniel Bailey equaled McFerran's game-high of 16 points, connecting on 7-of-10 attempts from the floor and grabbing five rebounds to pace the Royals. Reggie Hopkins joined Bailey in double figures with 12 points on 4-of-6 shooting, while David Mason and Sean Eads chipped in with nine and eight markers, respectively. Brent Evans grabbed a team-high nine rebounds for the Royals, while Joshua Twitty, familiar to Avery Vikings fans from his days as a high school standout for the Polk Wolverines, dished out a game-best three assists.

The Royals took command early, opening a 17-5 lead on an Eads triple at the 13:35 mark of the first half. Eads added another three-pointer 30 seconds later to push the lead to 21-5 before Bailey knocked down a jumper with 9:09 left in the period to widen the margin to 25-8. Queens pushed the lead to 33-13 with an 8-5 spurt over the next six and a half minutes, taking a 39-18 lead into the intermission.

Queens carried the momentum into the second half, opening the period with an 8-2 run to push the margin to 47-20 on a Preston Newlin layup at the 17:17 mark. The Royals maintained at least a 20-point lead for the remainder of the game, pushing the margin to as much as 34 points at 64-30 with six minutes left on the clock. The Bobcats finished strong, outscoring the Royals by a 14-6 margin over the final six minutes.

LMC’s scheduled home games and special “Take a Kid to the Game” day promotion scheduled for last Saturday, Jan. 8, against Mount Olive College were postponed a day due to inclement weather. The Mount Olive College men's basketball team shot a blistering 64 percent from the field in the second half en route to an 85-77 come-from-behind victory over LMC last Sunday, Jan. 9,in Conference Carolinas action.

Mount Olive (7-5, 2-2 CC) edged the Bobcats (3-8, 0-4 CC) by a 35-34 margin on the glass, including a 12-10 advantage on the offensive boards, while outscoring LMC by a 17-9 spread in second chance points. Both teams shot well from the field and the free throw line, as Mount Olive posted a 45.6 percent clip from the floor after knocking down 16-of-25 field goal attempts in the second half.

LMC connected on 43.6 percent of its attempts on the afternoon, including 44.4 percent of its shots from beyond the arc. Each team converted at least 80 percent of its attempts at the free throw line, as Mount Olive posted an 81.3 percent mark from the stripe while LMC connected on 84 percent of its chances at the line.

The Bobcats placed five players in double figures for the first time this season, led by senior McFerran, who poured in 20 points and went a perfect 5-for-5 at the free throw line. Dairl Scott, Jr. and Sepokas joined McFerran in double figures with 14 and 13 points, respectively, while Sam Youse and Friday each tallied 10 markers.

Scott also paced the Bobcats with a contest-best eight rebounds, while tying DeAndre Tillman for the game-high with two blocked shots. Reshon Benjamin dished out a game-high six assists, while Tillman recorded a contest-best three steals.

Mount Olive also placed five players in double figures, and was paced by Ewon Wright's game-high 23 points, as the freshman knocked down 5-of-10 attempts from downtown and went 6-for-8 at the charity stripe. Dory Hines joined Wright in double figures with 16 points, connecting on 6-of-8 attempts from the field while grabbing a game-high eight rebounds. Brandon Allen and Derek Stanton each recorded 15 points on the day, while Mahamed Ibrahim chipped in 10 markers.

The Trojans opened the first half strong, taking an early 9-5 lead on a Hines layup at the 15:47 mark before the Bobcats responded, launching a 13-2 run to claim an 18-11 advantage on a jumper by Friday with 9:19 to play in the period.

Mount Olive trimmed the margin to 20-19 on a pair of Staton free throws at the 7:22 mark before LMC answered once again, pushing the lead to 33-23 with a 13-4 spurt that was capped by a Tillman free throw with 3:28 left on the clock. Mount Olive closed out the first half on a strong note, outscoring the Bobcats by a 6-2 margin over the final three minutes to cut the lead to 37-31 at the intermission.

LMC maintained the lead in the early moments of the second half, stretching the advantage to 42-33 on a Scott layup with 18:44 to play. Mount Olive stayed within striking distance for much of the next six minutes until the Trojans caught fire, launching a 7-0 run to take a 60-58 lead on a layup by Aleks Mitrovic at the 9:33 mark.

The Bobcats quickly evened the score on a pair of McFerran free throws before Mount Olive took control, launching a 14-6 run over the next three minutes to take a 74-66 lead on a Wright triple with 4:11 to play. Mount Olive continued its hot shooting over the next several possessions, opening an 81-72 lead on a Wright layup with just over a minute and a half to go.

Stanton converted a pair of free throws with 33 seconds left to give Mount Olive its largest lead of the game at 83-72 before the Bobcats began to rally, forcing two turnovers on back-to-back inbound plays and cutting the lead to 83-77 on a Sepokas triple with 20 ticks remaining. Mount Olive regained control from there, converting a pair of last-second free throws to equal the final margin of 85-77.

LMC returns home to take on St. Andrews this Saturday, Jan. 15, with the women’s contest slated to tip off at 2 p.m. and the men’s game immediately following.

Avery Basketball and Wrestling with Madison Postponed

The high school basketball games scheduled for Friday, Jan.7, at Madison between the Avery Vikings and the Madison Patriots have been postponed due to inclement weather.

The games will be made up on Saturday, Jan. 15, with junior varsity girls action beginning at 2 p.m. in Marshall.

The wrestling dual meet scheduled at Avery High School between Avery and Madison has also been postponed due to the weather. No makeup date has been scheduled for that event.

Carter Leads ASU To Road Win At Davidson

Charlotte native Omar Carter put on a second-half show with 19 points after the intermission to lead Appalachian State University men’s basketball to a 74-66 win at Davidson on Wednesday night.

Carter finished with 25 points on 9-of-17 shooting with seven rebounds and a pair of assists, while Donald Sims added 14 points, four assists and two rebounds to help the Mountaineers (6-7, 2-1 SoCon) to a third-straight win against the Wildcats (7-7, 1-2).

Appalachian opened its largest lead of the game at 62-51 with just under four minutes to play in the contest when DC’s Brendan McKillop and JP Kuhlman drained back-to-back triples to pull within five points with two minutes on the clock.

Davidson then played 34 seconds of tough defense and forced Carter to launch a three-pointer from the left corner as the shot clock expired, which kissed the glass and put ASU back up by eight points. Carter and Jeremi Booth then drained 7-of-10 free throws down the stretch and Mitch Woods broke free from a full-court trap for a layup with 22 seconds to play to keep the ‘Cats from pulling any closer than six points
in the final minutes.

Booth scored nine points off the bench with a pair of rebounds in 21 minutes while Woods, who returned from injury after three games on the sideline, added five points, four rebounds and an assist.

Petey Hausley scored seven points with five rebounds in the paint while Nathan Healy added eight points and six boards in 18 minutes off the bench before fouling out late in the contest. Andre Williamson was also plagued by foul trouble and added five points and three assists before collecting five fouls in just 15 minutes.

For Davidson, Jake Cohen was solid with 18 points, nine rebounds and three blocks and was complemented by McKillop’s 12 points and three assists.

The contest got off to a slow, rough start, as both squads racked up fouls at the same rate as points before Davidson strung together a 9-2 run to open a five-point lead late in the period. ASU rallied to tie the score at 29-29 at the intermission behind a pair of three-pointers from Healy.

Neither team shot well in the first half as the Mountaineers made just 39.3 percent from the field and were 3-of-10 from downtown, while Davidson shot 44.4 percent but missed all five three-point attempts.

ASU sank 55.2 percent in the second half to finish the game at 47.4 percent, compared to 43.1 percent for the home team. ASU was 4-of-13 from downtown compared to 6-of-21 for DC. The ‘Cats owned a 38-33 advantage on the boards but committed 16 turnovers to ASU’s 12. Davidson converted 16 second-chance points off of 15 offensive rebounds on the night.

The Mountaineers host Georgia Southern in the Holmes Center at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 8 in the squad’s Southern Conference home opener.

ASU Football Notebook: Payton Ceremony Set for Thursday

DeAndre Presley finds out on Thursday evening if he is Appalachian State University’s third-straight Walter Payton Award recipient when the NCAA Division I FCS player-of-the-year award winner is announced during The Sports Network’s annual FCS Awards Banquet at the Dallas-Frisco Embassy Suites in Frisco, Texas.

Presley, a junior quarterback, is one of three signal-callers invited to the ceremony, joining seniors Matt Barr from Western Illinois and Jeremy Moses of Stephen F. Austin. Should Presley edge out Barr and Moses for the honor, it will extend Appalachian’s stranglehold on the FCS version of the Heisman Trophy to three-straight years. Presley’s predecessor as ASU’s quarterback, Armanti Edwards, became the first two-time recipient in the 23-year history of the Payton Award when he earned FCS’s highest honor in 2008 and 2009.

In his first season as a starter, Presley became only the fourth player in FCS history to pass for 2,000 yards (2,631 — 20th nationally) and rush for 1,000 yards (1,039 — 28th nationally and second among QBs) in a season. The Southern Conference Offensive Player of the Year ranks second nationally with 35 touchdowns accounted for (21 passing, 13 rushing and one receiving) and fourth with 3,670 yards of total offense. Moses accounted for 3,930 yards of offense (3,998 passing, -68 rushing) and 34 touchdowns (all passing) and Barr accounted for 3,859 total yards (3,410 passing, 449 rushing) and 34 touchdowns (27 passing, 7 rushing).

FRYE NAMED FCS ACADEMIC ALL-STAR: ASU junior offensive lineman Orry Frye is one of 52 players that has been tabbed by the NCAA Division I FCS Athletic Directors Association as an FCS Academic All-Star, the organization announced Wednesday.

The 52-player FCS ADA Academic All-Star team was selected from a pool of 92 nominees by a six-member review committee of FCS athletics directors. To be eligible for consideration, a player must have a minimum grade point average of 3.2 and be a starter or key contributor on his team.

Frye carries a 3.46 GPA in computer information systems and is a member of the prestigious Alpha Iota Mu international CIS honor society. On the field, the 6-2, 270-pound junior started all 13 games at left tackle for the Mountaineers in 2010 and helped anchor an offensive front that surrendered only eight sacks in 13 games and paved the way to top-10 national rankings in scoring (seventh - 34.3 ppg), rushing (eighth - 217.4 ypg) and total offense (10th - 430.9 ypg).

KILGORE, SMITH INVITED TO NFL COMBINE: Offensive lineman Daniel Kilgore and linebacker D.J. Smith have received invitations to participate in the 2011 National Football League Scouting Combine, which will be held Feb. 23-March 1 in Indianapolis.

The NFL Combine is the annual job fair for prospective new NFL players. For six days at Lucas Oil Stadium, players are put through a series of drills, tests and interviews in front of more than 600 NFL personnel including head coaches, general managers and scouts.

A 6-3, 285-pounder that projects as a guard or center at the professional level, Kilgore anchored Appalachian’s prolific offensive front as the starting right tackle for all 13 games in 2010. In 11 regular-season games, Kilgore amassed 46 knockdowns and 20 pancake blocks while never grading below 81 percent, including two grades of 90 percent or higher (91 vs. Chattanooga and 90 vs. Elon).

A 6-1, 235-pound linebacker, Smith led the SoCon and ranked fifth nationally with 144 total tackles while also recording four-and-a-half tackles for loss, two sacks, five quarterback hurries, four pass break-ups, an interception and a fumble recovery as a senior. He finished his career with 525 tackles, the most among all Division I players (FCS or FBS) active in 2010. His 525 career stops rank fourth in SoCon history and he joined three-time NFL Pro Bowler Dexter Coakley as the only players in ASU history to surpass the 500-tackle plateau.

In addition to the NFL Combine, Kilgore will also represent ASU in the Texas vs. The Nation all-star game on Feb. 5 at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. Defensive back Mark LeGree will also have the opportunity to impress NFL scouts in an all-star game setting when he takes part in the inaugural Eastham Energy College Football All-Star Game on Jan. 23 at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Ariz.

LMC to host Take a Kid to the Game Saturday

The Lees-McRae College (LMC) athletic department will be hosting the NCAA's annual Take a Kid to the Game program on Saturday, Jan. 8, in Williams Gymnasium, announced athletic director Craig McPhail on Tuesday, Jan. 4.

LMC is scheduled to host Conference Carolinas' foe Mount Olive College in addition to the Take a Kid to the Game program, a program designed to allow kids to experience the game-day atmosphere of college basketball.

As part of the program, youth ages 17 and under will receive a free ticket to the contest with the purchase of a full-price adult admission ($3). The initiative provides free admission for any youth who arrives at the arena wearing their youth league basketball jersey. Additional student tickets can be purchased at $1 at the gate.

The women's contest is slated to tip off at 2 p.m., followed by the men's game at 4 p.m. There will be handouts provided to all youth who attend, and there will be a special contest taking place at halftime of each competition during the afternoon.

Come on out, support the Bobcats, and Take a Kid to the Game!

Viking Basketball Wins Four Over Polk

The Avery basketball teams pulled off a clean sweep of four straight wins on Tuesday night as the Polk County Wolverines visited the Viking Octagon for Western Highlands Conference hoops action.


JV Girls: Avery 45, Polk 42
Behind a game and career-high 29 points from Bre Heaton, the Lady Vikings held off a late charge by Polk County to win 45-42.

Avery trailed 13-10 after one quarter, but Heaton scored 10 of Avery's 13 points in the second quarter, while the Lady Viking defense held Polk to only two points in the second quarter, helping Avery to a 23-15 lead at halftime.

The Lady Vikings found offense hard to come by themselves in the third quarter, connecting for only four points in the frame to allow Polk to draw to within 27-23 after three quarters.

In the final quarter Avery made a run to start the quarter to open as large as an 11-point margin, as Heaton and guard Katie Rigdon combined to score 13 of Avery's 18 points in the final stanza. Polk didn't quit, however, drawing to within three points as time expired.

Heaton's 29 points were complemented by 7 from Rigdon and 3 points from Shannon Smith. Avery forced 19 steals in the game, but committed 25 turnovers themselves, helping to keep the game closer than perhaps it should have been.

JV Boys: Avery 61, Polk 55

Avery sophomore guard Lane Smith torched Polk County for 25 points as Avery picked up its second conference win of the season Tuesday night. Avery led 14-12 after one quarter as Smith and teammate Luke Wotell scored six points apiece in the frame. Chance Watson and Stetson Stafford combined for 9 points off the Viking bench as Avery and Polk were knotted at 27 at halftime.

Avery seized control of the game in the third quarter, holding the Wolverines to only eight points in the frame while doubling their total with 16 in the same span. Bryce Pittman scored five points in the frame as he and Watson each netted three-pointers during the quarter to help the Vikings to a 43-35 lead after three periods.

In the final stanza Avery maintained its lead at the free throw line. Smith scored nine of his 11 points in the quarter from the charity stripe, while Watson added three field goals to hold off a late Polk charge and earn the six-point win.

Watson scored 13 points as the only other Avery player in double-figures. Pittman and Wotell each scored eight for Avery in the win.

Varsity Girls: Avery 72, Polk 39
The Avery Lady Vikings showed little rust from not having played in almost a week by trouncing the Polk Lady Wolverines. The frontcourt duo of Megan Tennant (19) and Katelynn Eudy (17) combined for exactly half of Avery's points as the Lady Vikings won its 8th game of the season and remained unbeaten in conference play.

Avery jumped out to a 23-6 lead after one quarter, shooting 10 of 20 from the field in the quarter and forcing 14 Polk turnovers in the period. Polk scored six of the first 8 points in the second quarter to cut the margin to 25-12, but The Big Red ended the quarter with a 14-2 scoring run to put the game out of reach, leading 39-14 at halftime. Tennant tallied 17 of her 19 points in the first half, while senior Mercedes Bentley scored 7 points and Savannah Dellinger added 6 points in the half.

Avery liberally substituted throughout the second half and continued to maintain and even lengthen its lead to 56-26 after three quarters and the eventual 33-point win.

Tennant added five rebounds with her team-high 19 points, while Eudy scored 17 and added 8 rebounds, 6 blocked shots, 4 steals, and 2 assists. Dellinger scored 10 points to go with 7 assists, with 8 points and 4 assists from Kelsie Clarke in the win. Kailey Russell led Polk with 9 points, with 8 points from Brittany Phipps.

Varsity Boys: Avery 76, Polk 65
The nightcap between the Vikings and Wolverines was a back-and-forth affair for much of the night before Avery clinched the win in the final minutes from the free throw line. Dustin Clarke netted 28 points, nine of which came in the final three minutes of the contest from the charity stripe on 11 shots.

Avery led 21-19 after one quarter behind 7 points from Clarke and five from center Colton Blackburn. The Vikings seized control in the second period to take a 40-30 advantage at halftime, as Benji Stewart chipped in with a pair of field goals and Spencer Blackburn netted five points off the bench.

Avery maintained its working margin in the third quarter, as a 7-2 Viking run to open the second half inflated Avery's lead to as many as 15 at 47-32. Polk outscored Avery 17-10 for the remainder of the period, but Avery led by eight at 57-49 going into the final stanza.

Polk cut the Avery lead to as little as six points on three different occasions. A Benji Stewart three-pointer early in the quarter pushed Avery ahead by nine, and free throws from Clarke in the waning minutes staved off any hope for a Wolverine rally as the Vikings won its sixth game of the season and improved to 3-1 in Western Highlands Conference play.

Clarke added six rebounds and three assists in the win, with 9 points from Joey Potter, 8 points and 8 rebounds from Colton Blackburn, 7 points, 4 rebounds, and 3 steals from Timmy Stewart, and 6 points each from Kody Hughes and Alex Villanueva.

The Vikings travel to Marshall on Friday night to take on the Madison Patriots in another Western Highlands Conference clash.

Musings and Ramblings: The Latest Sports Trend…Rewarding Mediocrity

I was sitting back in my easy chair on Sunday night and witnessed one of the greatest punting exhibitions in recent National Football League (NFL) memory…a game at Qwest Field between the St. Louis Rams and the Seattle Seahawks to determine the champion of the National Football Conference’s (NFC) Western division.

The Rams had a 7-8 record entering the game, and the Seahawks’ record was 6-9, far from sterling marks by pro football standards. The teams played at their season standards, which were poor, and Seattle eventually won the game 16-6 to claim the division title with a final regular season record of 7-9 and earn the NFC’s No. 4 seed which enables them to host a playoff game this weekend against the defending Super Bowl champion and No. 5 seeded New Orleans Saints, who finished two games behind NFC South champion Atlanta and ended the season as a wild card with a final record of 11-5.

Now I was a decent math student in school, and I’m fairly certain that 11 is a higher number than seven, therefore it would make sense that the team with the higher win total would host a playoff game, right? Wrong.

In the world of the NFL, greatest emphasis is placed on a team winning its division when it comes to playoff seeding, even if that division winner lost more games than it won.

Using the current league playoff format mediocrity is rewarded, and the Saints, who even defeated the Seahawks head-to-head in the regular season, are the hard-luck losers in the mix.

The idea of rewarding teams with less-than-stellar records goes beyond the pro ranks. Leave it to the NCAA to foul up a potentially great idea, similarly to foregoing the excitement and windfall of a college football playoff for the Bowl Championship Series. College football has taken the idea of rewarding the mediocre to another level by playing a grand total of 35 bowl games this postseason.

Again, if my math serves me correctly, that means 70 teams are invited to bowl games this year. There are only 120 or so NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision (former Division 1A) teams eligible for bowls to begin with, so almost 60 percent of those teams went bowling this postseason.

A total of 14 teams (20 percent of the teams in bowl games) either have played or are scheduled to play in bowl games and finished the regular season with six wins and six losses. It is even conceivable that a team that finishes under .500 could have played in bowl games this season.

A pair of .500 schools (BYU and UTEP)
played in this year's New Mexico Bowl.

 

 

.

Perhaps the best example of this celebration of average was this year’s New Mexico Bowl which pitted 6-6 Brigham Young University against 6-6 University of Texas-El Paso. Sure, the records make it appear that the game might be competitive (which it wasn’t…BYU won 52-24), but what message is being sent by the NCAA when it gives a team that couldn’t win more games than it lost the privilege of playing a postseason bowl game?

It’s easy to complain about a broken system, but I have some solutions as well. Here’s my two cents worth:

First, to fix the college bowl issue why not use a football playoff system with no greater than 16 teams. Since this doesn’t appear conceivable in the near future, rather than rewarding mediocrity, why not eliminate a few bowl games and raise the standard? To qualify for a bowl game, a team must win a higher minimum number of games. Eight is a good round number of wins, with at least seven coming against fellow FBS opponents and include a cap on the maximum number of games a team plays in a season at 13 games.

In the event that there are not enough teams that qualify for the bowl games, throw in a provision that would allow for less than eight wins to qualify if that team wins a set percentage (60 percent is a good benchmark) of its FBS games with a minimum number of 10 games played. That way, teams finishing a regular season at 6-4 or 7-3 would qualify for postseason, while a 7-5 team would fall short.

In the NFL playoff format, use head-to-head record and whether a team is a division champion as factors in breaking ties. However, if a wild card team has a better record than a division champion (such as the New Orleans/Seattle quandary), the team with the better season record should host the playoff game. It works in Major League Baseball, where seeding is based on overall record and a wild card team with a better overall record has home field advantage over a division champion.

This year’s watered down NFC West should open the league’s eyes to the notion that total wins is more important than the best out of four teams in a division. Let’s reward excellence more. It would lead to better quality of competition and more exciting games, which is a win-win for everyone.

Lady Vikings Suffers OT Loss, Blasts Bulldogs at Holiday Tournament

The Avery Lady Vikings (AHS) captured third place at the Wildcat Holiday Invitational Tournament, held last week at Draughn High School in Valdese.

Last Tuesday, Dec. 28, the Big Red faced its toughest 1A foe to date in the Highland Tech Lady Rams, ranked No. 4 in the latest MaxPreps 1A girls basketball poll.

The Lady Vikings, ranked 10th in the same poll, led for much of the contest, but foul trouble and missed free throws proved the difference in a tight affair, as Highland Tech won 64-59 in overtime.

Mercedes Bentley paced AHS with eight of the 10 Viking points in the first quarter of action, guiding the Big Red to a 10-8 lead after eight minutes.

AHS managed to keep its narrow margin through the second stanza. Seniors Katelynn Eudy and Mary Chesnut Smith combined for six points in the period, while Bentley netted her third three-point basket of the half to help the Lady Vikings take the 23-20 lead at halftime.

Coming out of the locker room, the Lady Vikings exploded for its highest offensive quarter of the game by tallying 19 points. The Lady Rams continued to give AHS fits, however, with an 18-point period of its own to stay within striking distance at 42-38 after three quarters.

Late in the final stanza, the Lady Vikings were saddled with foul issues, as both Eudy and Megan Tennant were dominant in the post, but eventually were both disqualified from the game with five personal fouls.

The Lady Rams utilized the strategy of forcing AHS to hit free throws to seal the win. Unfortunately the Big Red could not put the game on ice, converting only 2-of-9 free throws, opening the door for Highland Tech to claw back even with the Lady Vikings by the end of regulation, sending the game into overtime tied at 53-53.

In the extra session, Smith scored four points for AHS, while Lauren Burleson scored a field goal to account for the only Lady Viking points in overtime. Meanwhile, the Lady Rams made a single field goal in overtime but did its damage at the charity stripe, going 9-for-15 from the foul line to pull away late for the win.

The loss snapped a five-game AHS win streak, while the Lady Rams remained unbeaten for the season.

Bentley led all scorers with 22 points with three rebounds, three assists and two steals. Burleson registered a double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds. Eudy hauled in nine rebounds to go with 11 points, with eight rebounds from Megan Tennant.

“Highland Tech is a good scrappy team. They had a really good post player who kept taking us to the basket. We led them the whole game, but couldn’t hit our free throws at the end,” Avery head coach Missy Lyons said after the game. “We were in deep foul trouble most of the game, and Katelynn and Megan both fouled out before overtime, so we were a bit shorthanded at the post for the overtime period. The foul totals were really lopsided, and there were even some fouls called on the wrong players, which was a little frustrating, but to come down to it we should have hit our free throws and didn’t do it.”

The following afternoon AHS tangled with the Bulldogs from Burns High School in the third-place contest. As in its previous contest, the Lady Vikings got off to a slow start against an overmatched Lady Bulldogs club, trailing 10-8 after one period.

In the second quarter Avery regrouped to take a five-point margin at 29-24 at halftime. Avery used its height advantage along its front line to take control of the contest. Tennant tallied 11 first-half points, with five points apiece off the bench from forward Burleson and guard Monica Estep during the half.

The Big Red exploded in the third quarter for a 20-8 scoring spurt, as Burns had no answer for the AHS press defense that generated numerous turnovers and offensive opportunities, building a comfortable 49-32 margin entering the final period.

Over the final eight minutes, AHS stretched its margin and put the game out of reach. Kelsie Clarke scored 12 points in the final frame as the Big Red captured a 71-35 win.

Tennant, the Lady Viking representative on the All-Tournament team, racked up a double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds, in addition to three steals during the win. Clarke tallied 15 points with four assists, while Bentley added 13 points. Burleson and Eudy tallied seven points apiece.

“We started out a little sluggish and should have been able to press better from the beginning, but this was a good springboard to get us back into practice and ready to get back into conference play,” Lyons said after the win.

The holiday tournament is a good measuring stick for the Lady Vikings, who have won six of its last seven games. The holiday period is a chance for the team to assess its progress thus far during the season and prepare for the meat of the conference season.

“This tournament is good in that it gives us a chance to try some different things and play some different teams. Highland Tech is a team that we could see in the state playoffs as we did a couple of years ago, so it is good competition and a good tournament to play in,” Lyons said. “I hope this has helped prepare us. I hope that once we get back into a routine and practice schedule that we can be successful against the teams we’ll play in conference.”

Conference play resumes in earnest this week for the AHS varsity and JV clubs with contests against Polk County and at Madison.

AJ-T SPORTS LIVE FROM... HOLMES CONVOCATION CENTER (ASU men's basketball)

9:05 PM -- ASU defeats Milligan 91-71. Booth finishes with 25 points, with 20 from Williamson, with Donald Sims breaking the ASU men's all-time leading scoring record. ASU will next play at Davidson on January 5th. Thanks for reading.

8:55 PM -- Final media timeout with 3:58 left in the contest, and ASU leads 84-59. Three Buffaloes, Sylvester, Seymour and Fricke each are in double-figures for the night. With the win tonight, the Mountaineers will improve to 5-7 for the season, while the Buffaloes fall to 3-9 overall.

8:51 PM -- Appalachian has opened its lead up to 30 points at 84-54 as the Buffaloes appear to be running a little low on steam playing its second game in as many nights.

8:43 PM -- 7:25 to play in the ballgame and ASU holds a 73-54 lead. Booth leads all scorers with unofficially 26 points. Sims has 20 points as the veteran tandem has proven to be enough to keep the Buffaloes at bay thus far.

8:35 PM -- 11:50 left in the game and the Mountaineers lead by 19 at 65-46. 8:30 PM -- Mountaineers beginning to pull away as a Donald Sims three-pointer sets the all-time ASU scoring record. His 18 points in the game ranks him first all-time for the ASU scoring charts. 13:30 remains in the game and the Apps hold a 63-46 lead.

8:20 PM -- Jeremy Booth hits his fifth and sixth 3-point basket of the game as the Mountaineers have opened up one of its biggest leads of the game at 55-41 with 15:10 to play in the game. Booth has 20 points for the Mountaineers, with 15 points from Donald Sims and nine from Andre Williamson thus far. Justin Sylvester has 15 points for Milligan, with 11 from Cordero Seymour.

8:00 PM -- An Andre Williamson technical foul for hanging on the rim allows the Buffaloes to hit a pair of free throws in the final second, cutting the ASU lead to 43-36 at halftime. We'll have some stats and more momentarily.

7:50 PM -- 2:57 remains before halftime and the Mountaineers, who once led by only five, now lead 40-29.

7:40 PM -- ASU hasn't been able to shake Milligan as the Mountaineers lead only by a 29-25 score at the under 8 minute time out.

7:25 PM -- two quick baskets from the Buffaloes forces ASU head coach Jason Capel to take a timeout.. The Mountaineers lead it 21-13 with 13:20 left in the first half.

On a side note, Matt Laws is at tonight's Music City Bowl in Nashville as the UNC Tar Heels play the Tennessee Volunteers. Coverage of the bowl game, as well as tonight's ASU basketball will be found in next week's edition of The Avery Journal-Times!


Second media timeout at 11:32 in the first half. Milligan continues to play tough, cutting the ASU lead to 21-16.

7:20 PM -- A quick steal and basket puts the Apps up 21-8, forcing another Milligan timeout.

7:15 PM -- Nathan Healy scores on an offensive rebound and basket, as the Mountaineers have opened up a 19-5 margin. 15:21 to play in the first half and the Mountaineers hold a 19-8 lead. Appalachian has taken 13 shots through the first four minutes, to just three for the Buffaloes.

7:10 PM -- ASU jumps out to an 11-5 lead. Jeremi Booth drains a pair of three-pointers in the early going as the Mountaineers race out in front. Milligan takes a 30 second timeout.

7:00 PM -- We're ready for Tipoff from the Holmes Center. Was just handed a statement that players Anthony Breeze and Anthony Thomas have been suspended indefinitely and won't be available for tonight's game. We'll see how a depleted bench affects the Apps, if at all tonight.


We're LIVE at Holmes Convocation Center on the campus of Appalachian State University in Boone for a Thursday night tussle between the Appalachian State Mountaineers and the Milligan Buffaloes. ASU is coming off three defeats in the Cancun Governor's Cup just before the Christmas holiday, and look to get back on track against the NAIA Milligan College club.

We'll be providing score and stat updates from courtside here in Boone as the Mountaineers look to end 2010 with needed momentum and a victory. Tip-off is slated for 7:00 p.m., so we'll be back live at that time to begin our coverage in earnest. Thanks for reading!

Lady Vikings Hoops Falls in Draughn Tourney Semis

The Avery Lady Vikings dropped a tough 64-59 overtime loss to the Lady Rams of Highland Tech on Tuesday afternoon at the Wildcat Holiday Invitational at Draughn High School in Morganton.

Avery led 10-8 after one period behind eight points from senior guard Mercedes Bentley, and led 23-20 at halftime. Despite the early lead, the Lady Vikings collected a number of first half fouls which served to hamper the Big Red in the second half.

The Lady Vikings exhibited a bit of rust from having not played in over a week since its win at Hendersonville, as the Lady Rams picked off a number of passes

After three periods the Lady Vikings still managed to hold a four-point margin at 42-38. Bentley tallied 19 for AHS through three periods to help keep the Big Red out front, but foul trouble became a factor. The frontcourt duo of Katelynn Eudy and Megan Tennant each fouled out in regulation as the Lady Rams rallied to knot the score at 53 at the end of regulation.

The team suffered another loss late in the game as Bentley, who drained the final of her 5 three-point baskets in the fourth quarter, sustained an apparent wrist injury. AHS struggled to seal the game in regulation as the squad struggled from the free throw line, hitting on only 10 of 20 free throws.

Lady Viking senior Mary Chesnut Smith paced Avery with four of Avery's six points in overtime. Meanwhile the Lady Rams shot 15 free throws in overtime alone, hitting on nine of them.

Eudy and Lauren Burleson added 11 points each in the loss, with Burleson also pulling down 10 rebounds and Eudy nine.

The Lady Vikings will play tomorrow (Wednesday) afternoon at 4 p.m. in the consolation game of the tournament against either host Draughn or Burns High School.

Draughn Holiday Tournament Postponed

Draughn High School announced Sunday evening that its girls Holiday Christmas Tournament slated to begin on Monday has been postponed to Tuesday. 


The Avery Lady Vikings was scheduled to take on Highland Tech on Monday afternoon, but the game has now been rescheduled to Tuesday afternoon, December 28, at 1 p.m. in Morganton.

The consolation and championship games will now be played on Wednesday.

Vikings Trample TJCA, Outrun Owen in Conference Battles

In its two games last week, the Avery Vikings (AHS) varsity boys basketball team proved that it can win games with both offensive explosion and defensive fundamentals.

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.

“That’s what makes this team such fun to coach. It’s such a team effort. In order to be successful we have to pick each other up. Almost every game we’ve seen that happen. That’s what this team is about, and I’m excited to see what the team does each night because it can be a different player stepping up each game,” Manis said.

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.

Lady Vikings Open Conference Play with Two Wins

The Avery Lady Vikings played perhaps its best basketball of the young season thus far last week. On Friday, Dec. 17, Avery (AHS) obliterated the Lady Gryphons of Thomas Jefferson Classical Academy (TJ) 74-23 in Forest City, then returned home to whip the Warlassies 62-38 last Saturday, Dec. 18, in the Viking Octagon.

AHS roared out to an early lead against the Gryphons and never looked back in the game at historic Cool Springs Gym in Forest City. The Lady Vikings defense surrendered only one first-quarter point and only four total points for the entire first half. AHS took 22 shots in the first period, hitting 10, while holding TJ to only 18 shots for the half.

AHS led 21-1 after one period, led by nine points from sophomore guard Kelsie Clarke. The Lady Viking press defense smothered the TJ offense, garnering numerous steals in the Gryphons backcourt and easy AHS hoops. The Big Red did not surrender a field goal through the first 10 minutes of the contest en route to taking a 36-4 halftime lead.

The second half was merely a matter of how many points the Lady Vikings would score and what the point differential would be, as AHS scored seemingly at will on the way to its first conference win.

“The game gave us the chance to work on some things and play everybody, kind of as we did against West Wilkes. But it also gave us the chance to get back in the flow of playing, with players not able to get to practices with the weather being so bad lately,” Lady Vikings head coach Missy Lyons said following the win. “It wasn’t a lot of competition, but it gave us an opportunity to run and get back into playing. The girls had a lot of fun.”

Clarke led all scorers with 25 points. Nine different Lady Vikings put points on the board, as Lauren Burleson was the only other Avery player who reached double-figures with 10 points. Katelynn Eudy added eight points, with seven points from Savannah Dellinger and six points apiece from Mary Chesnut Smith and Megan Tennant.

The following evening Avery met a potentially difficult foe in the Owen Warlassies, a team returning a number of players from last season and was predicted as a top-tier conference team in the preseason.

The first half of the game was physical, as both clubs struggled early to find the range shooting the basketball. AHS snatched an early four-point edge at 14-10 after one quarter but extended its lead to double-figures at halftime at 32-21.

The spurt was due largely to the hot shooting hand of senior guard Mercedes Bentley, who torched the Warlassies for three three-point baskets in the first half and 15 total points through two periods.

AHS utilized its press defense and tight man-to-man pressure to force several Owen turnovers in the third quarter, while guard Clarke heated up to score seven of her 10 points for the contest during the stanza to push the Big Red advantage to 51-31 after three periods.

Owen never threatened the AHS lead in the fourth period, as the Lady Vikings held the Warlassies to just seven points over the final eight minutes in running away for the win.

Bentley topped all scorers with 18 points, with 11 points from Eudy. Dellinger scored eight in the victory, with six from Burleson.

“I felt like we didn’t shoot well, but our defense really won the game for us. Our press looked good and we got a lot of steals. We knew they had beaten Mitchell the previous night and that they will likely be one of the better teams in the conference this season,” Lyons said after the win. “We just had to dig in and play well and play hard. We kept playing hard. Mercedes hit some key outside shots, especially in the second quarter to help us pull away. Chesnut and Katelynn played some great defense and picked up some steals which helped us get some scoring opportunities.”

The win gives Avery a perfect 2-0 record in Western Highlands Conference games, with one conference game this week at Hendersonville before taking a break from WHC play for the holidays. For the Lady Vikings, the wins were a solid springboard to help the club realize its goal of a regular season conference crown.

“We felt all season like we have a shot at a conference title, but we have to take it one game at a time. We know we have to beat Mountain Heritage and Owen because they are two tough teams, but we’re focusing on working toward our goal,” Lyons said. “Mountain Heritage and Owen play each other this week, which should give us a little better picture of where we stand in the conference at this point.”

Avery traveled to Hendersonville last Monday, Dec. 20, defeating the Lady Bearcats 72-21, and will travel to Draughn High School in Morganton for a Christmas tournament on Monday and Tuesday, Dec. 27 and 28.

Viking Wrestling Progressing as Trio Place at Tigerland Classic

Avery senior Lucas Lecka, C.J. Vance and Brock Yackey brought home top-four finishes at the conclusion of the Tigerland Classic wrestling tournament, held at Hickory’s Fred T. Foard High School on Saturday, Dec. 18.

Lecka, wrestling at 215 pounds, competed in five matches on the day, defeating Independence’s Charlie Kurtz by first period pinfall. After falling in a narrow 8-4 decision to Hibriten’s Tripp Patterson, Lecka rallied for wins over East Burke’s J.D. Buffamoyer (pinfall-26 seconds), West Caldwell’s Guillermo Solis.(11-7 decision) and host Fred T. Foard’s Zach Edwards (10-1 decision) to capture the bronze medallion.

Vance, competing at the 160-pound class, had Avery’s highest finish, placing second overall. The senior won a 4-1 decision over Freedom’s John Chaney and defeated Hopewell’s Tyler Kirpatrick by a 14-8 decision to reach the tournament final. In that match, Vance faced a tough foe from the host school in Foard’s Hayden Albert, who won the match by pinfall.

Yackey, wrestling at 140 pounds, brought home a fourth-place finish overall, with a major decision 13-3 win over Alexander Central’s Tyler Reese and a third period pinfall win over Draughn’s Jaron Draughn sandwiched around a loss to West Caldwell’s Matt Wooten by second period pinfall.

In the third place match Yackey took on Brandon Watts from East Lincoln. In a narrow, hard-fought match, Watts came out victorious by a 3-2 decision to win third place.

Six other Viking grapplers took part in the tournament, including Wesley Hobbs (103 pounds), Justin Gragg (125 pounds), Zac Freeman (135 pounds), Josh Gragg (152 pounds), Luke Price (171 pounds) and Brandon Huff (heavyweight).

“The Tigerland Classic was the most competitive tournament that we’ve entered thus far this season. Brock’s weight class had three state placers in it. The one loss that Lucas suffered was to a wrestler who finished second in the state in 3A last year. We’re wrestling some good people,” Avery head wrestling coach Stacey Clark said of the weekend. “Even though we have a young team, we backed off our schedule a little early, but at this point we’re wrestling the kids we should be wrestling, getting our guys prepared for state tournament.”

The 2010-11 edition of the Avery wrestling team is an exciting club that has seen the number of participants include and has experienced an infusion of young talent that, with time, will continue the tradition of excellence that has marked the Viking wrestling program for decades.

“We’ve got a great turnout this year. It’s the best turnout that we’ve had since I have been the head coach. For the first time we have the potential to fill all of our weight classes. We have some kids who are not quite down to their minimum weight classes, but once that happens, we should have every weight class filled, which is the first battle in wrestling, to get the kids out and get them on the mat,” Clark said. “We have our three returning wrestlers, along with a number of freshmen and a large group of sophomores and juniors who are first-year wrestlers out this year. They’ve taken some lumps and taken some losses, but they are improving and you can see their development in the wrestling room every week.”

Aside from the efforts of the veterans, the early season wins have been somewhat inconsistent, but the coach believes in his team and sees signs that the current team can experience great measures of success not only this season, but in the years to come.

“The younger guys who have shown continuity with getting in practice are showing improvement, while others who have not been able due to weather or other reasons to get to practice consistently are coming along a little slower. It’s put us at a little disadvantage, but it’s not anything this team can’t work through if we’re able to consistently get everyone in practice at the same time,” Clark added. “Our veterans have good chances to advance far this season. They have taken their lumps and paid the price, and have gained a lot of experience through the seasons to see what regional and state competition is like. None of them have lost to a 1A opponent this year, and the losses they’ve had have been to wrestlers in 2A and higher classes.”

This Wednesday, Dec. 22, and Thursday, Dec. 23, the Vikings compete at Mitchell High School in the KT Feldspar Duals, an event featuring many of the best wrestling squads in the Western 1A region, including the likes of Rosman, Robbinsville, Cherokee and host Mitchell. The event will prove a good fulcrum for the Vikings to measure its progress as it nears the midway point of the season.

“This tournament brings an opportunity for a high match number for our kids, especially given how we scheduled a bit less to start the season and anticipating that the football playoffs might go long this fall,” Clark said. “We knew coming in that we would have a young team with just three returners, so we scheduled individual tournaments early so that those who had been around the team longer could be successful. The KT Feldspar Tournament guarantees every wrestler on our team will get eight matches, helping us make up for our late start.”

Following the holiday break, the Avery wrestling schedule includes four home dual matches against conference opponents, including Madison on Jan. 7, Mountain Heritage on Jan. 11, Owen on Jan. 18 and Polk County on Jan. 28.

“We’re excited about the direction we’re going in. We have Coach Hank Hardin back in the wrestling room helping us again this year and he’s really teaching the kids well. Coach Puckett is helping me, and the three of us are focusing on keeping the freshmen interested and helping them to understand that even the losses are a part of the learning process,” Clark said. “We have a unique opportunity to build a really strong team for the future, and our focus and keeping these kids involved long enough to turn the corner and become the great wrestlers that we know they can become. We have a heavy home schedule in the month of January, and we really want to encourage the great wrestling supporters in Avery County that I know we have to come join us in January when we open with Madison.”

ASU Men's Basketball Hangs On Against Robert Morris

(courtesy ASU Sports Information)
Donald Sims tallied 23 points to lead four players in double figures as Appalachian State University (ASU) men's basketball remained perfect at home with a slim 71-66 win against defending Northeast Conference champion Robert Morris (RMU) on Saturday, Dec. 18. The senior hauled in four rebounds and was 12-of-14 from the free throw line on the night.

The Mountaineers broke open a one-point game with 11-straight points in the second half, and held a comfortable cushion until the Colonials rallied back in the final minutes.

ASU (4-4) worked up to a 16-point lead with 6:23 remaining before the Colonials (4-6) chopped it to four points with a minute to play and got as close as 69-66 with 33 seconds on the clock.

ASU scored their final nine points of the game from the free throw line, led by four foul shots from Omar Carter. ASU was a shaky 64 percent (9-of-14) at the stripe down the stretch, but hauled in three defensive rebounds on RMU's final four missed shots to solidify the win.

Carter finished with 14 points, three rebounds and a block, and was 8-of-10 from the foul line in the contest.

ASU shot 40.8 percent in the game and sank just 3-of-16 three-point attempts, compared to 48.2 percent shooting from RMU. ASU was 28-of-40 from the free throw line, coming just one foul shot attempt shy of the season high.

Andre Williamson nearly notched a double-double with 10 points and eight rebounds to accompany an assist and a powerful block. Jeremi Booth made his third-straight start and reached 10 points for a third game in a row as he added a season-high six rebounds.

ASU was without assist-leader Mitch Woods and big man Petey Hausley due to injury, but were bolstered by Anthony Breeze, who played 22 minutes off the bench in his season debut.

Breeze provided a spark for the Mountaineers with six points and eight rebounds in his first game since transferring from Coastal Carolina following the 2008-09 campaign.

ASU won the war on the boards with a 39-29 advantage and turned 12 offensive rebounds into 17 second-chance points. RMU scored five second-chance points on five offensive boards.

Russell Johnson led the Colonial offense with 26 points on 11-of-18 shooting in 34 minutes before fouling out. He also grabbed a team-best six rebounds. Johnson was just one of several RMU players to find foul trouble as the visitors committed 28 penalties to ASU's 13.

ASU was held without an assist in the first half and dished out a season-low six in the contest. ASU was also only able to swipe two steals, though RMU turned the ball over 15 times.

The Mountaineers' brief homestand ends as the squad thaws out at the Cancun Governor's Cup next week. ASU tips off the tournament on Wednesday, Dec. 22, with an 8:30 p.m. contest against Colorado State.

Junior Varsity Weekend Hoops Roundup

The Avery junior varsity basketball teams had a light schedule heading toward the holiday break. The Vikings JV squads were idle on Friday as Thomas Jefferson does not field junior varsity basketball teams, so Avery’s only game of the week involved hosting Owen on Saturday, Dec. 18, in a makeup game from a matchup postponed earlier in the week. Avery’s teams pulled off the clean sweep, with both the JV girls and boys earning their first conference victories of the season.

The JV girls played a tight first half against the JV Warlassies, leading only by a 13-9 score after one quarter and by a half-dozen points at 21-15 at halftime. Freshman Katie Rigdon tallied eight points in the half to pace the Big Red, with six points from Bre Heaton.

In the third period, the pressing defense of the Lady Vikings began taking a toll on the Owen club, as Avery created several turnovers and converted them into points which helped the Lady Vikings outscore Owen 14-6 in the quarter and lead 35-21 heading to the final stanza.

Avery saved its best offensive quarter for last, as Heaton netted a pair of three-point baskets as part of an eight-point quarter for herself, while Rigdon scored nine points in the second half and a game-high 17 points for the contest.

In all, the Big Red tallied 15 in the period en route to a 50-33 victory.

Heaton scored 14 points to put a pair of Lady Vikings in double-figures, while Haley Woody added six points and Shannon Smith added four points in the win. Jessie Ramsey and Taylor Hobbs added three points each for AHS, with a pair from Karmen Gragg and a point from Sela Pittman. Whitney Montgomery paced the Owen scoring attack with 10 points, but Avery allowed no other Warlassies player to score more than four points in the contest.

“Our freshmen guards played hard and shot the basketball well for us tonight,” Lady Vikings JV girls head coach Pat Daniels said after the win. “Haley Woody did a good job for us playing inside rebounding and blocking out, and our press gave them some trouble, especially in the second half. We’re still a young team and we made some mistakes, but we’re continuing to improve and working hard to get better.”

In the JV boys game Avery battled Owen in a low-scoring contest, with the Vikings prevailing by a final score of 47-42.

The Viking offense raced out of the gates quickly, posting 17 points in the first quarter to grab an eight-point lead after one period. The inside combination of Payton Lowery and Luke Wotell were dominant on the glass and had their way in the paint, as the duo scored 12 of the team’s points for the stanza. The dynamic duo combined for all eight AHS points in the second quarter as well, but the Warhorses outscored the Vikings 12-8 in the frame to cut the Big Red advantage to only four points at 25-21 at halftime.

The third quarter proved decisive in the Viking victory effort, as the team outscored Owen 10-4 in the stanza. Bryce Pittman, Chase Buchanan and Ty Polsgrove each netted a field goal in the quarter to help the Vikings build its lead to double-figures at 45-35 with seven minutes to play.

As the final period ensued, the Warhorses refused to surrender as it scored 17 points in the frame, 10 coming by way of free throws, to keep the contest close.

The Vikings managed to withstand the Owen charge, however, with its own 12-point output, sparked by Buchanan, who scored six of his eight points for the game in the fourth quarter. Teammate Chance Watson added a pair of baskets, along with a bucket from Lowery to help secure the five-point win.

Lowery scored 14 points with nine rebounds to lead the Vikings, with 12 points and nine rebounds from Wotell. Buchanan’s eight points were supplemented by seven points from Watson to keep Avery unbeaten in conference play.

“Coming into this game, we stressed the need to establish the inside game, and Payton and Luke really stepped it up. The guys did a good job getting the ball in to them early. Owen’s scrappiness in the second half and the adjustments they made really kept them in the game. I was really pleased with the guys, especially considering we couldn’t have a full practice this week due to the weather,” JV boys head coach Reggie Oakes said after the win. “The defense in really improving both inside and on the perimeter, post play was great and we’re rebounding the ball better, which I believe actually won the game for us tonight.”

The JV teams traveled to Hendersonville on Monday, Dec. 20, to take on the Bearcats before an extended break for the holidays.

Girls Win, Boys Fall at Hendersonville

The Avery Junior Varsity girls defeated Hendersonville 47-16 Monday night in Hendersonville. Taylor Hobbs led Avery with 10 points. Jessie Ramsey added four points, five rebounds, four steals and two assists, while teammate Katie Rigdon added nine points, two steals, and two assists in the win. Shannon Smith and Haley Woody added six points each.

The Viking JV boys lost to Hendersonville 56-46. Avery trailed 21-11 after one period, but cut the lead to 29-25 at halftime. Avery trailed by only four at 41-37 after three quarters before Hendersonville pulled away in the final period for the ten-point win. Chance Watson led Avery with 15 points, with seven points each from Luke Wotell and Zack Guy, with six points from Ty Polsgrove.

The Avery Lady Vikings continued its winning ways by defeating Hendersonville 72-21. Avery led 19-3 after one quarter and held a 35-7 lead at halftime. The Big Red was paced by 14 points from Mercedes Bentley, to go with three steals and three assists. Lauren Burleson added 12 points, four rebounds, and two steals. Katelynn Eudy scored eight points with five rebounds, five blocks, and three steals, while Megan Tennant added eight points and seven rebounds. Savannah Dellinger scored seven points with seven assists in the win, with Kelsie Clarke and Mary Chesnut Smith scoring six apiece and Monica Estep chipped in with five points.

The Avery varsity boys trailed 5-4 early in the first quarter, and the Bearcats pulled away to take a double-figure lead as Avery fell behind 46-33 at halftime. Hendersonville used a hot shooting touch and strong pressure defense to extend its lead to 73-45 after three quarters before cruising to an 84-64 victory. 

The Bearcats pressured the Avery backcourt all game long and double-teamed reigning WHC Player of the Year Dustin Clarke virtually every time he touched the basketball, holding the senior to just three points for the game. Clarke did have nine assists, seven rebounds,and three steals.

Joey Potter led Avery with a season-high 23 points, with 15 points from Alex Villanueva and 11 points from Benji Stewart, both coming off the bench.  Avery committed 28 turnovers in the game.

For Hendersonville, Paul Posthumous scored a career-high 26 points, with 17 points and six rebounds from Marquis Johnson. Shawn Rogers finished with 12 points, six steals and three assists and Sam Wilkins finished the night with nine points and three assists. Rishad Felton added four assists and two points.

The Avery Lady Vikings varsity club will compete on Monday and Tuesday, December 27 and 28 in the Draughn Christmas Tournament. The varsity boys and jv clubs are off for the holiday break until Avery takes on Polk County on January 4.

Vikings Sweep Gryphons

The Avery Vikings varsity basketball teams went a perfect 2-for-2 in varsity games Friday night at Thomas Jefferson. The Lady Vikings blitzed the Gryphons early and often en route to a 74-23 win, while the varsity boys had a slightly more difficult time but pulled away in the second half in a decisive 88-65 triumph.

In the girls game, the Lady Vikings surrendered only one first-quarter point, leading 21-1 after one period and 36-4 at halftime en route to the win.

Kelsie Clarke paced the Big Red with 25 points, with 10 from Lauren Burleson and eight from Katelynn Eudy. The win evens the Lady Vikings record to 4-4 for the season.

In the varsity boys game Avery pulled out to a double-digit margin at 22-11 after one quarter and padded its lead to 38-23 at intermission. Dustin Clarke's 13 points in the third quarter helped the Big Red build a 60-40 advantage after three periods and cruise to the win.

Clarke's 23 led the Vikings, with 12 points from Kody Hughes and 10 points off the bench from Andy Gonzalez. Nine Avery players scored at least five points each in the lopsided win.

Travis Waldroup-Rodriguez of Thomas Jefferson led all scorers with 34 points for the game.

The Avery boys improve to 4-3 for the season. Avery returns to the floor on Saturday afternoon to take on Owen in the Viking Octagon. Junior varsity action will start at 2 p.m.

Avery Basketball Schedule Changes

Avery County Schools' Athletic Director David Wright has announced that the postponed home basketball games from Tuesday, Dec. 14 against Owen are now scheduled for Saturday afternoon, December 18, beginning with JV girls action at 2 p.m. at the Viking Octagon.

Avery's conference contests at Thomas Jefferson Classical Academy is still scheduled for Friday, December 17. TJCA has no junior varsity teams, so it will be a varsity-only event. The varsity girls contest will begin at 5 p.m. from Forest City, with the varsity boys game to follow.

Keep checking the Blog for any further changes to the Avery sports schedules.

Vikings Earn Road Sweep over Blackhawks; Returns Favor with Wins in Cloudland Rematch

The Avery (AHS) varsity basketball teams were impressive in victories in Miller’s Creek last Wednesday, Dec. 8. The Lady Vikings pulled away for a 63-41 win over the Lady Blackhawks, while the AHS boys routed West 70-34 for its second win of the season.

In the girls contest, the Big Red used its full-court pressing defense to generate multiple turnovers from West. Midway through the first stanza the Lady Vikings led by only a pair at 10-8, but then AHS used defense to generate offense. Mercedes Bentley also sparked the Lady Viking offense, draining three three-point baskets in the first period to help AHS take a commanding 28-11 lead.

West cut into the AHS advantage in the second stanza, as the Lady Vikings managed only seven points in the frame. The Lady Blackhawks cut its deficit as AHS backed out of its press defense attack, reducing Avery’s lead to a dozen at 35-23 by halftime.

In the third quarter the Lady Vikings returned to its tough defense, again forcing numerous West turnovers that helped the Big Red increase its lead to 48-30 after three quarters. The Lady Blackhawks had no answer for the AHS defense, while the Lady Vikings dominated the boards en route to the 22-point victory.

“We’ve been struggling in the first quarter. We haven’t been coming out well so we really focused on that,” said AHS head coach Missy Lyons. “We want our defense to create our offense, and we were able to do that with our press.”

Katelynn Eudy paced the Lady Vikings with a double-double, as she scored 18 points and pulled down 13 rebounds, while blocking five shots. Kelsie Clarke was the only other Lady Viking who scored double-figures with 12 points, but eight different AHS players scored in the win.

“Katelynn had a great game, and it was a good win. It gave us a chance to try different things and give everybody a lot of court time,” Lyons said. “Kelsie played great on the press and our half-court trap worked better than it has. We got to mix it up with some zone and some man-to-man and had the opportunity to relax and work on a lot of things.”

With the win, combined with a victory last Friday, Dec. 10, in overtime over Cloudland, the Lady Vikings has won three consecutive games and have a 3-4 overall record.

As with the girls contest, the AHS varsity boys grabbed the early lead over West and never trailed in the game. Six different Vikings scored in the opening frame as the Big Red took a 16-12 lead after one quarter.

The game remained close in the second period as AHS was bolstered by 10 points in the stanza by senior Dustin Clarke. Spencer Blackburn added a three-point basket as the Vikings led 31-21 at halftime.

“We started out slow, but I felt good about going into halftime and making adjustments, and we came out strong in the second half,” Avery varsity boys head coach Bo Manis said. “We just need to put two halves together and play a whole game. We were just running the floor playing good defense. That’s all I am asking for.”

The third quarter was the tipping point of the game as the Vikings vanquished the competitive portion of the matchup with a 20-5 scoring margin in the third period to lead 51-26. The theme of team contribution continued in the quarter, as seven different AHS players scored to put the game out of reach. The Vikings finished the game with a 19-8 scoring run to put the exclamation point on the decisive victory.

“We have a lot of athletes and I think that was the difference tonight. We can go 12-deep and not worry,” said Manis. “We were able to keep subbing in and plugging along, which was good for us and hurt them. We kept pressure on them and picked up some steals on defense. They moved the ball well and we got frustrated early, but we wore them down in the second half and ran the floor well.”

Just over a week after getting swept in varsity action, the Avery Vikings repaid the Cloudland ‘Landers with a sweep of their own on Friday night. The Lady Vikings rallied from an early deficit to take a 50-49 overtime victory, while the Avery boys took an 87-68 victory.

The opening varsity game proved to be an instant classic. In the first quarter, the teams traded shots before Courtney Clark sparked an 8-0 Lady ‘Lander run to give Cloudland a 15-6 lead at the end of the period.

Avery responded in the second with shots from Lauren Burleson, Savannah Dellinger and Mercedes Bentley during an 8-2 Avery run to close the gap to two points. Mattison McKinney drained a shot in the closing seconds to give CHS a 19-15 lead at half.

Cloudland extended their lead to eight points by the midway point of the third quarter, but the Lady Viking defense kept Cloudland from another field goal in the frame and began chipping away at the lead. Katelynn Eudy’s shot at the end of the quarter brought the CHS lead to 32-27.

The final quarter saw CHS lead 37-31 midway through. However, Avery stormed back with a 7-2 run to tie the game with 2:17 remaining in regulation. Clarke drained a 3-pointer with 1:20 left to put CHS up 43-40, but Bentley responded with a 3-pointer of her own to tie the game with 53 seconds remaining. The Lady ‘Landers held the ball for a last second shot, but was denied with Eudy blocked a shot with two seconds left on the clock to send the game into overtime.

Bethany Chambers put Cloudland on the board first in the overtime period, before Mary Chesnut Smith added a free throw for the Lady Vikings. Megan Tennant scored four straight points to put the Lady Vikings up 48-47 with a minute remaining. However, Clarke answered for the Lady ‘Landers with 54 seconds remaining. Bentley would not be outdone, however, as she put Avery back in front with a pair of free throws with 48 seconds left. The Lady Vikings secured the win with a steal from Smith at the end of the overtime period.

Bentley led the way for Avery with 20 points, while Tennant, who missed the first four games of the season, added 10 points, four of which were in the overtime period. Eudy scored eight points.

“We didn’t have Megan last time so we have been playing much better basketball since she came back,” Avery Head Coach Missy Lyons said. “We are still not shooting well and struggling with the shots we should be hitting, but I think we are doing a lot better.”

Cloudland was led by Wilson’s 13 points and Clarke’s 12 points.

“We took a few bad shots down the stretch and missed some free throws, but turnovers practically killed us,” CHS Head Coach Matt Birchfield said. “We had a chance to win big in the early going, but we failed to step up and put them away.”

In the nightcap, the Avery boys jumped out to an early lead with intense defense and never let up en route to the victory. Cloudland opened the game with six straight points from Zac Potter to give the ‘Landers an early 6-4 advantage. Spencer Blackburn scored five points to cap a 7-0 Avery run to give the Vikings the lead, and they used that to run to a 21-11 lead at the end of the frame.

After four Avery points to open the second, Matthew Potter and Michael Hyden sparked a 14-4 run to pull the ‘Landers within four points. The teams traded shots for the rest of the quarter, and Alex Villanueva’s shot at the buzzer gave Avery a 43-36 lead at the half.

Cody Bullwinkle opened the scoring in the third quarter for CHS, but the Vikings went on a 11-2 run to extend their lead to 64-49 at the end of the third. The fourth quarter saw both teams keep fighting as a Kevin Stevens 3-pointer closed the Viking lead to 10 points. However, that was as close as the ‘Lander would get down the stretch.

“It is a great win for us,” Avery Head Coach Bo Manis said. “I think it a win where we need help to see what happens when you work together. No one cared who got the credit, we just wanted to win. We won as a team.”

Villanueva led the way for Avery with 23 points, including a thunderous second-half slam dunk that put the Avery home crowd in a frenzy. Dustin Clarke had 15 points, and Timmy Stewart and Joey Potter had 12 and 11 points, respectively. Colton Blackburn added 10 points to the Viking cause.

“We didn’t come out with the intensity that you’ve got to have on the defensive side,” ‘Landers Head Coach Brandon Carpenter said. “If we don’t play hard on that end then we’re not very good.”
Hyden led the ‘Landers with 21 points, while Potter added 17 points.

AHS was scheduled to host Owen to open Western Highlands Conference play, weather permitting, on Tuesday, Dec. 14. The Vikings will travel to Thomas Jefferson Academy this Friday, Dec. 17, for the first conference road game of the 2010-11 season.