Middle School Basketball Roundup

It was a hectic start to the middle school basketball season, as the two county middle school basketball programs each played a total of four games over the course of seven days.

On Monday, November 2^nd, both schools were on the road for conference contests. Avery Middle School traveled to take on Cane River, while Cranberry Middle School traveled to Bakersville to play Bowman.

Avery’s Lady Panthers came away with a 38-29 road victory as Lauren Burleson and Haley Woody each reached double figures with 12 points. Woody added 10 rebounds.

The ladies opened the game on a 10-2 spurt thanks to strong offense and a smothering 1-3-1 defense.

Avery’s boys team trailed Cane River throughout much of Monday’s contest, but took their first and only lead in the final minute at 36-35, but a three-pointer with only four seconds left lifted Cane River to a 38-36 win over the Panthers.

Chance Watson led Avery with 12 points, while Ty Polsgrove added nine and James Steward scored six points.

Cranberry’s Lady Wildcats were dominant in a 47-11 win over an overmatched and undermanned Lady Bulldogs squad from Bowman. CMS led 12-2 after one period and used a 13-2 second quarter run to put the game out of reach.

Katie Rigdon led Lady Panthers scorers with 17 points. Abby Thompson scored eight points as a total of nine Cranberry players put points on the scoreboard.

In a nip-and-tuck contest throughout, Cranberry’s boys led at the half but Bowman’s boys team came back to capture a 36-35 win over Cranberry. Chandler Austin led Cranberry with nine points, with seven points from Stetson Stafford and five from Zach Guy.

The following day both teams journeyed to Carter County, Tennessee for middle school action. Avery took on the Hampton Bulldogs, while Cranberry tangled with the Highlanders from Cloudland.

Avery’s girls met up with a buzzsaw from Hampton, falling by a final score of 40-15. An 11-0 first period in favor of Hampton paced the way. Burleson led Avery with six points in the contest.

The Avery Panthers boys team played a more competitive contest with their Bulldog counterparts, but Hampton managed to pick up a 44-32 win. Avery led 13-10 after one quarter, but Hampton regained the lead 20-19 at the half. A 13-4 fourth quarter run by Hampton proved to be the difference.

In Roan Mountain, the Cranberry Wildcats fell in a pair of games with the Highlanders. Cloudland emerged victorious in the girls game 46-34. Rigdon led Cranberry with 14 points, while Kendal Mull scored 12 of her game-high 15 points for the Lady Landers in the second half.

Cloudland’s boys team earned a 34-25 win over Cranberry. Tyler Pittman was the only Cranberry player to reach double-figures with 10 points, while Logan Russell hit four 3-pointers for 12 points to lead the Landers in the win.

On Thursday, November 5^th the Wildcats completed its third straight road contest with games at Cane River. The Lady Wildcats picked up a thrilling 39-38 win over Cane River behind 15 points from Rigdon as well as 10 points from Bethany Burleson and eight points from Sierra Jones. Cranberry trailed 25-17 at halftime but rallied to within two points at 31-29 by the end of the third quarter.

In the night cap, the boys teams took the floor, with Cane River taking a 51-37 victory. The first half was tight as the Rebels only led Cranberry 22-19 at halftime. A 19-8 third quarter margin gave the Rebels the breathing room to hold the Wildcats off over the final period for the win.

Pittman led all Cranberry scorers with nine points, with seven points apiece from Stafford and Hunter Guinn, along with six points from Zach Guy.

Meanwhile at Avery High School the same evening, the Panthers were playing host to the Harris Blue Devils. The Lady Panthers were in a tough battle with the Lady Devils through the first half of play, with the game knotted at six after one quarter and the Panthers held a slim one-point lead at intermission.

A 10-0 third quarter run by the Lady Panthers spotted the Avery club a double-digit lead which they extended into a 33-22 victory.

“We made some halftime adjustments as they were taking advantage of us around the free throw area. Offensively we didn’t look great, but we played good defense and rebounded the ball,” Avery girls head coach Donnie Johnson said after the win. “Their height bothered us a little bit, but we seemed to have position and put bodies on them in the second half to prevent their second chance shots.”

The boys contest was a tough defensive battle that saw few points scored by either club. Like in the girls game, the teams were tied after one quarter. Avery held Harris scoreless in the second quarter, but managed to only score four themselves en route to a 9-5 halftime lead.

Avery built its advantage to 17-11 after three periods and went on to a 24-17 win. Kobe Pittman and Chance Watson scored six points apiece to pace the Panthers.

Finally this past Monday, the Wildcats returned to the friendly confines of Cranberry Middle School to themselves host the Harris club.

The first quarter was a close affair, with Harris leading 8-7, but the Lady Devils created scoring opportunities off its defense to take a 22-15 halftime lead. The Lady Wildcats could only muster three points in the third period as Harris extended its edge to 30-18 and went on to the 40-27 triumph. Rigdon paced the Lady Wildcats with 21 of the team’s 27 points, including five 3-pointers.

In the boys contest the Wildcats led Harris 11-9 after one period, but an 8-0 second quarter advantage pushed the Harris club ahead 17-11 at halftime. The Devils slowly extended its margin with an 11-5 third quarter advantage to lead by double-figures at 28-16 after three quarters and eventually took the 38-26 win. Hunter Guinn scored 11 points, with ten points from Chandler Austin.

The same evening, Avery Middle School traveled to take on East Yancey and came away with a pair of victories. In a battle for first place in the conference, the Lady Panthers remained undefeated in Toe River Conference play with a 32-17 victory. Lauren Burleson scored 11 points, with eight points from Breanna Heaton.

Avery’s boys team also walked away with a closely fought 48-47 victory in the battle of the Panthers.

Avery and Cranberry will square off at Avery this Thursday.