Middle School Hoops Wrap Regular Season Play

In the final week of the regular season, the basketball teams of both Cranberry Middle and Avery Middle Schools were looking for wins to build positive momentum heading into this week’s Toe River Conference Basketball Tournaments.

Last Tuesday, December 1^st Avery Middle School swept the girls/boys doubleheader over Hunter (TN) Middle School. Avery’s girls took a decisive 36-22 win, using a 15-0 run in the third quarter to open up a game which was tied at halftime. Lauren Burleson led Avery with 12 points, with eight from Breanna Heaton and seven from Haley Woody.

In boys action, the Avery Middle School Panthers were dominant against an overmatched Hunter squad, winning by a final score of 52-13. Hunter brought only seventh graders to the contest, and the Panthers capitalized with its experience and depth. The Panthers outscored Hunter 18-2 to open the game. Eleven different players scored for Avery, led by eight points from Ty Polsgrove and six points from four separate Panthers.

Cranberry and Avery played its final contest of the regular season last Thursday night against one another in an exciting pair of competitive contests.

The Lady Wildcats played inspired basketball, using changes on defense and offense from the teams’ first meeting to take a 29-19 victory.

“For the previous two days we changed up our defense from a 2-1-2 to a 1-2-2 and we moved well in it,” Cranberry head coach Amber Young said after the game. “We were concerned about Avery getting the ball inside on us, but we collapsed well inside and played awesome.”

Cranberry led 9-4 after one period and took a 16-6 lead into halftime. Avery shot only 2 for 20 from the field in the first half and ended the game making only 15 percent of its shots (6 of 40 FG).

“We had open looks and weren’t taking that many bad shots. Our offense wasn’t moving and we didn’t move the ball around. I thought our defense kept us in the game allowing only 29 points,” Avery head coach Donnie Johnson said after the game.

The Lady Panthers scratched back into the game with its defense, drawing to within 19-17 late in the third quarter. Avery missed a layup in the quarter’s waning seconds, while Cranberry scored just prior to the end of the period to build a 22-17 lead after three periods.

“I thought that was a key moment when we didn’t score on the layup,” Coach Johnson added. “We have no excuses. We had our chances, but just didn’t take advantage of them.”

The Lady Wildcats outscored Avery 7-2 to close the contest and earn the victory before a vociferous and supportive home crowd. “We switched our positions some during practice and that helped us get multiple players scoring,” Coach Young stated. “We worked hard on blocking out the past couple of days, as every team that has beaten us has gotten multiple shots. We did a good job of giving them only one chance to score and blocking out.”

Bethany Burleson led Cranberry with 10 points, with seven from Katie Rigdon and six from Karmen Gragg. Avery was paced by 11 points from Breanna Heaton and six from Lauren Burleson.

Avery finishes with an 8-2 conference mark, while the Lady Wildcats complete the regular season at 6-4. Cranberry is a #4 seed and will take on #5 Cane River in a first round conference tournament contest on Wednesday evening at 6:30 at East Yancey Middle School, while Avery as the top seed will take on the Cane River/Cranberry winner in a Thursday semifinal contest at 4 p.m.

In the second half of the evening’s doubleheader, the Avery boys earned a split for the night when they defeated Cranberry 50-41. The Panthers led 12-6 after one quarter and carried a 27-17 lead into the locker room at halftime. Chance Watson scored all 12 of his points during the first half, while Cranberry countered with ten points by Chandler Austin.

Cranberry put together a quick scoring run in the opening minutes of the third quarter to cut the Panther lead to only a pair, but five straight points from Avery’s Chase Buchanan scored five consecutive points to rebuild the lead for good. Avery led 38-29 after the third stanza before capturing the nine-point win.

“We can play with any team in the conference, and I believe any of the top four teams can win the conference tournament,” Avery head coach Gordon Polsgrove said after the win. “Having three starters back from last year has been important. Chase, Ty, and Chance have led the team this season, and we have enjoyed a lot of depth with James and Dalton starting, along with players like Peyton and Kobe off the bench.”

Despite the loss, Cranberry continues to take positives from the contest going into the postseason.

“We had a great effort for the most part, much better than we have seen the previous few games. Our kids starting believing in themselves tonight and it showed,” Cranberry associate coach Kenny Gouge said after the game. “We made a good run in the third quarter, but they made a couple of key baskets which helped them pull away.”

Avery’s Chase Buchanan led all scorers with 14 points, with 12 from Watson and eight from Polsgrove. Cranberry was paced by Austin’s ten, along with nine points from Zach Guy and eight from Tyler Pittman.

Cranberry is a #5 seed in the conference tournament and will play #4 seed East Yancey on the Panthers’ home floor Wednesday at 7:45 p.m. Avery enters the tournament as the #2 seed and will play the winner of #3 Harris and #6 Bowman on Thursday at 7:45 p.m. Championship games will take place on Saturday at 6 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. at East Yancey.