Middle School Hoops Roundup

The county’s middle school squads were busy with several games over the past week to mark the beginning of the second half of the conference season.

On Monday, November 16^th the Lady Panthers traveled to Bakersville to take on Bowman Middle School. Playing with only six players, the Lady Bulldogs were no match for the Lady Panthers, as Avery defeated Bowman 30-12. Lauren Burleson, Haley Woody, and Breanna Heaton led a balanced scoring attack for the Lady Panthers with eight points apiece. In boys action, the Panthers blasted Bowman by a final score of 46-15.

Meanwhile the Lady Wildcats of Cranberry were in action the same night against East Yancey. In the girls contest, the Lady Wildcats returned to action at full strength and it showed in picking up the road upset by the final score of 38-36.

Cranberry trailed 12-7 after one quarter, but a 11-6 scoring margin in the second quarter tied the game at 18 apiece at the half.

East Yancey came out strong to start the second half and took a 29-25 edge through three periods. The Lady Wildcats stepped up in the final eight minutes, however. Teammates Amber Johnson and Katie Rigdon combined to score 11 of Cranberry’s 13 points in the final stanza which proved to be enough to pick up the narrow victory.

Rigdon led Cranberry scorers with 19 points, with seven each from Bethany Burleson and Amber Johnson.

In the nightcap, the Cranberry boys met a touch East Yancey Panthers boys team, falling by a final margin of 56-31. Chandler Austin was the only Cranberry player scoring in double figures with 11 points. Tyler Pittman added nine, with five from Stetson Stafford.

The following evening the Wildcats returned home for a non-conference matchup against West McDowell.

In ladies action, Cranberry fell to West by the final score of 43-26. West McDowell outscored Cranberry 15-3 in the first stanza and never looked back in picking up the victory. Rigdon again led the Lady Wildcats in a double-figure scoring effort with 13 points.

The boys game closed the night with a tight affair which West McDowell won by a 37-35 final score. Cranberry took an early 13-9 lead behind a pair of three-pointers from Zach Guy. The Wildcats rode the momentum through the second stanza to take an 18-14 halftime edge.

A basket and two free throws in the third period from Chandler Austin helped Cranberry maintain its slim margin at 30-27 through three quarters, but a fourth quarter rally pushed West McDowell over the top and get the two-point win. Tyler Pittman led Cranberry scorers with eight points.

On Thursday evening, both Avery and Cranberry hosted Toe River Conference contests, as the Lady Panthers hosted Cane River and Cranberry took on Bowman. It was a good evening for the Avery County squads, as both Avery and Cranberry swept their opponents in hoops action.

In Newland, Avery Middle School’s girls team was dominant in routing the Lady Rebels from Cane River by a 49-31 final score. The Avery defense continued to display the lockdown ability it has possessed throughout the season, as the offense scored one of its highest outputs of the season to date. The win allowed the Lady Panthers to maintain their undefeated record in conference play and keep its vise grip on first place in the Toe River Conference.

The Avery boys team showed in the second half of the doubleheader that they will also be a team to contend with in the upcoming postseason conference tournament, remaining in the upper half of the conference standings with a 46-36 victory over the Rebels.

At the same time in Cranberry, the Lady Wildcats were extending its defensive claws against a severely undermanned Bowman girls team, upending the Lady Bulldogs in a 38-16 win.

Dressing only six players, the Lady Bulldogs were overwhelmed by the smothering press defense of the Cranberry club. Katie Rigdon paced Cranberry with nine points in the first quarter alone, while the Bowman offense was non-existent. Cranberry led 12-0 after one period and continued pitching the shutout for the remainder of the first half, leading 22-0 at the halftime break.

Much to Bowman’s credit, the Lady Bulldogs played hard despite the deficit and finally scored in the opening two minutes of the third quarter, but the Lady Wildcats led 30-7 after three quarters. Cranberry used a solid team effort to put Bowman away, however, to cruise to the win.

“Our girls have come a long way. I was really proud of them against East Yancey, and they have played hard every game,” Lady Wildcats head coach Amber Young said after the week of action. “We’ve had a couple of girls who have been out sick, but the other girls have stepped up and score some points and battle.”

Rigdon led all scorers in the win with 19 points, including a pair of three-pointers. “Katie means a lot to our team. She always scores points, but in her absence we had some players who took the challenge to score,” Coach Young added. “Our press was awesome tonight.”

In the final game of the evening, the Cranberry Wildcats boys team played a strong contest against the Bulldogs, beating Bowman by a final score of 47-25.

Cranberry raced out of the gates with a 17-2 scoring margin in the first six minutes of play, and the two teams played evenly to maintain its 15-point edge at 27-12 at halftime.

Defense was tight through the third period as both clubs could only manage to score five points in the frame. Cranberry finished strong as Zach Guy and Gabe Stanley combined to score nine points in the final quarter to pace the Wildcats to the victory.

Chandler Austin led Cranberry with 13 points and two steals, while Guy added ten points and six rebounds and Cody Clawson added six points and seven rebounds. Cranberry also received a balanced effort from guard Stetson Stafford, who pulled down five rebounds, dished out four assists, and had five steals in the Wildcats win.

“We had some turnovers, but we’re doing better at executing our plays and getting some of our younger players some playing time, so we try to improve each and every day,” Wildcats head coach Jeremiah Norman said after the week’s action. “

Tyler Pittman had one of the best games of any player in the Toe River Conference this season, as he scored 11 points, hauled down 17 rebounds, and added three assists and two steals. “Tyler is everything you can ask for on the boards. He and our big boys go hard at the boards, and we’ve been putting a lot of emphasis on boxing out,” Coach Norman said. “We’ve had some missed rebound opportunities in earlier games, but tonight it paid off.

Avery and Cranberry returned to the floor with games early this week. Recaps of this week’s action can be found in next week’s edition.