Avery Basketball Prepares for Winter Season with Multiple Scrimmages

As the fall seasons concluded last week, the Avery basketball teams have been hitting the hardwood in earnest the past couple of weeks in preparation for the 2009-10 high school basketball season.

Last week the Avery girls basketball teams engaged in a home scrimmage against a familiar foe in the Ashe County Lady Huskies. The teams took part in a two-hour long scrimmage in 20 minute intervals. Both the junior varsity and varsity girls squads took advantage of the scrimmage to work through its entire roster and focus on fundamentals against an opponent other than themselves.

“I was pleased and it gave me a chance to play everyone and see what we still needed to work on,” Avery ladies head coach Missy Lyons said of the scrimmage. “Ashe is going to be very good again this year so our competition was excellent.”

Last Saturday the Lady Vikings journeyed to McDowell for a scrimmage with perennial 4A power and current member of the new Mountain Athletic 4A/3A Conference, the McDowell Lady Titans, as well as the West Henderson Lady Falcons.

“We played much better Saturday. McDowell is exceptional as usual but we hung right with them,” Coach Lyons said. “We really played well against West. They had trouble getting the ball down against our press. I wanted the girls to know that these were some of the toughest teams on our schedule. Actually Ashe and McDowell are two of the best in their respective divisions.”

A number of Lady Vikings have been displaying great ability and leadership for the varsity in the preseason.

“I was pleased with the effort and how the girls are coming together. Lauren Avery, Hayley Pyatte, Elyse Perry and Katelynn Eudy are playing exceptionally well!” the coach added.

Over the weekend the Avery varsity boys traveled to Mountain City, Tennessee to participate in a preseason tip-off tournament at Johnson County High School. Avery kicked off the two-day event with a close matchup against Daniel Boone (TN) High School, winning a thriller in overtime 77-76.

Avery was paced early by the scoring of junior Dustin Clarke, who poured in 15 first-half points to keep the Vikings close. The Trailblazers, despite missing four starters due to participation in the Tennessee high school football playoffs, were a stern test for the Avery team. The tandem of Jordan Gray and Gharian Carrol combined to score 50 of the team’s 76 total points in the contest.

The Vikings held a 16-11 edge after one quarter of play, and held on to a slim 28-27 edge at halftime. Avery saw a lead built to as many as seven points, but Boone managed to shave the margin with key baskets from Gray, Carrol, or by talented freshman Ryan Gaiter, who scored ten additional points for the Blazers.

Through three periods the Vikings held a 46-42 lead, but the teams would draw even in the final minutes of regulation. Avery found itself with possession trailing by a pair at 69-67 with only seconds left on the clock. Clarke drew a double-team from the DB defense and found an open teammate Joey Potter under the basket. Potter sunk the basket from inside the paint as the buzzer sounded to force a three-minute overtime session.

The teams traded shot-for-shot in the extra period as Clarke continued his hot shooting touch. Dustin finished the contest with a game-high 37 points, including seven of the Big Red’s eight points in overtime.

In the final seconds Avery led by a single point, and the defense forced a tough shot from Boone. The Trailblazers rebounded the miss and had one final tip in attempt to win the game, but the iron was unkind and the Vikings picked up the win.

“I really enjoyed the effort tonight. It was something you can’t always coach all the time. The boys never got down on themselves,” Avery head coach Bo Manis said after the game. “Even though we had some breakdowns we pulled off the win and that’s a sign of a good ball team that plays hard.”

The next evening the Vikings were not so fortunate. Avery met up with tournament host Johnson County, whose height and inside play was too much as the Vikings fell by the final score of 77-57. Clarke again was the leading scorer for Avery with 26 points, with six points apiece from Joey Potter and Spencer Blackburn. Kody Hughes tallied five points, with four apiece from Thomas Dellinger and Alex Villanueva.

Jason Steele, a 6’5” center for the Longhorns, led Johnson County with 25 points.

If the opening scrimmages of last week are any indication, the Avery teams will feature athleticism, hustle, and a great deal of heart.

“We haven’t seen the depth we have this season. Our football players aren’t accustomed yet to basketball condition, but they’ll get acclimated with our players who have been practicing the past three or four weeks and mix in really well,” Coach Manis said.

Avery opened regular season play this week at Cloudland (TN), and the varsity teams will compete in a tournament at Mitchell County this weekend.