On Tuesday night the Avery Vikings basketball teams ventured to Hendersonville for a matchup with the Bearcats in Western Highlands Conference action.In the varsity girls contest, Avery had early difficulties getting its offense untracked, but found its shot late in the opening half and pulled away over the final two periods to rout the Lady Bearcats by a 72-47 final score.
Sara Wiseman led Avery scorers with 13 points, Lauren Avery scored 12 points and Katelynn Eudy added 11 points and 15 rebounds in the triumph. Hendersonville’s Brooks Walz was one of only five Lady Bearcats to score in the game, but led all scorers with a game-high 22 points.
The win improves the record of the #10 ranked Lady Vikings to 15-2 for the season, with a
The Avery varsity boys put together one of its strongest performances of the season against Hendersonville. The Bearcats (13-3, 5-2 in the Western Highlands Conference) trailed by as many as 12 points after Dustin Clarke's 3-pointer at the buzzer at the end of the first half put the Vikings (7-8, 5-3) up 50-38.
Clarke netted 17 points in the first half alone and teammate Dylan Eppley scored ten points as the Avery club looked well on its way to an upset of the Bearcats, ranked #6 in the latest state 1A basketball poll.
Hendersonville rallied with a strong second half. In just three minutes, the deficit was cut to four with a quick 8-0 run by the Bearcats that included a 3 by Sam Wilkins, a breakaway layup by Keyvon Young and a dish from Whiteside to Paul Posthumus to make the score 50-46.
With 4:14 left in the third quarter, Clarke had a breakaway dunk to put the Vikings up by seven at 55-48, but HHS methodically narrowed the gap. Posthumus shook off a defender and nailed a 3-pointer, and Whiteside drove the length of the court minutes later to make the score 57-55. At the 1:04 mark, Young scored layup after a steal by Whiteside to tie things up at 59.
Avery scored the last bucket of the period to hold a narrow 61-59 lead with eight minutes to play. The Vikings had a tough shooting quarter, making just 5 of 12 shots from the field to open the door for the Bearcats comeback.
The Bearcats took the lead for good when Young had an offensive board and putback to make it 69-67 and built as large as a seven-point advantage at 76-69 with around three minutes left in the game.
Avery rallied with free throws by Clarke and a clutch three-pointer from guard Mark Polsgrove. The Vikings cut it to three with a 3-pointer by Mark Polsgrove with 11.7 seconds left, but Whiteside sank one of his two free throws to put the game out of reach in the closing seconds to hold off the Avery rally by an 82-78 final score.
Clarke led all scorers with 29 points with 19 from Eppley.
Five Bearcats hit double digits as Desmond Whiteside netted 21 points. Teammates Keyvon Young had 15, Paul Posthumus and Sam Wilkins had 14, and Marquis Johnson had 10 points.
In junior varsity action, Lady Vikings JV fifth-year head coach Pat Daniels earned his 100th victory as the Lady Vikings earned a 65-22 win over the Lady Bearcats. The Avery JV boys team fell 55-44 in a tight and very physical contest against the Bearcats.
Wrestling Upends BearcatsAvery’s wrestling team earned a second consecutive triumph on the mat with a 35-16 match victory over Hendersonville. It was Senior Night at Viking Gym, and Avery honored its lone senior, Nick Malgadey.
The evening got underway at 112 pounds with a double forfeit. Viking junior Brock Yackey quickly dispatched his opponent in the 119 pound class with a 15-0 technical decision. Nick Malgadey picked up a forfeit win 125 pounds to put Avery ahead 11-0. Both clubs forfeited at the 130-pound weight class, and Avery surrendered a forfeit at 135 pounds to make the score 11-6 in favor of the Vikings.
At 140 pounds Avery’s Taylor Potter was defeated by pinfall to give the Bearcats its first lead at 12-11. Bryan Moody wrestled hard and prevented extra team points by pinfall at the 145 pound class, falling in a 12-1 decision to give the Bearcats a 16-11 advantage.
A double forfeit occurred at the 152 pound weight class, and CJ Vance put Avery back on the winning track at 160 pounds with a first period pin to help the Vikings regain a 17-16 lead.
Following a double forfeit at 171 pounds, Kyle Greene stepped up in a huge way as he earned a pinfall victory at the 1:55 mark in the first period to boost the Avery edge to 23-16. Lucas Lecka earned a forfeit win at 215 pounds and Colton Blackburn won by forfeit at the heavyweight class to provide for the final margin.
Avery basketball and wrestling will be back in action on Thursday night, a change from the original scheduled Friday date. Avery basketball will host Polk County, with Student Government sponsoring a benefit in conjunction with the night's events to assist the people affected by the earthquake in Haiti.
The Avery wrestling team will travel to Columbus to take on Polk County the same evening.
