The Avery junior varsity basketball teams experienced both highs and lows last week. The junior varsity girls team swept games against conference foes Hendersonville and Polk County, earning head coach Pat Daniels his 100th career win with the program. However, the JV boys lost point guard Shea Buchanan to injury in a loss at Hendersonville and came up short in a home game last Thursday to the Polk Wolverines.Junior Varsity Girls:
In last week’s contest at Hendersonville, the Avery defense dominated an overmatched Lady Bearcats club in a 63-22 win.
The Lady Vikings led 14-0 after one period as part of a 24-2 overall run to start the game. Avery led 31-5 at halftime and the entire Lady Vikings roster saw extensive action against a Hendersonville team that had only three players score points in the game.
Kelsie Clarke led Avery with 15 points, five steals, and four assists, with nine points apiece from Megan Dellinger and Monica Estep. Brooke Buchanan added six points, 10 rebounds, and a pair of assists.
“Hendersonville had a couple of good players, but we were able to spread the ball around. Both point guards played well tonight. We tried to give everyone time on the floor and everyone played hard,” Coach Pat Daniels said after the win. “We’ve got a lot of mature sophomores. We have a fun-loving group, but we also need to continue stepping up. We have work to do on our traps and rebounding, though. Our guards need to work a little on keeping their head up dribbling down the floor. But I’m proud of how all the girls stepped up tonight.”
Tuesday’s win was a special one for Coach Daniels, as he earned
his 100th victory. The sixth-year head coach’s teams have experienced unprecedented success. Mountain Heritage is the only current conference team to have defeated Avery during the stretch, with the Lady Vikings winning the Western Highlands Conference tournament every season of his tenure.“The time has flown by. I absolutely love to coach,” Coach Daniels said of the historic win. “(Coach) Missy (Lyons) set up this program several years ago when she took over the varsity girls program and got the youth coming to the camps, which makes all the difference in the world. I have to give God the glory. He’s been good to us and provided us with great talent and classy players and teams.”
Avery raced out and never looked back in a 63-29 romp of Polk County last Thursday night. The Lady Vikings led 16-4 after the first quarter, and pulled away with a 15-3 run in the second period to lead by 24 points at the half.
Kelsie Clarke paced the Lady Vikings with 21 points, eight assists, and four steals. Taylor Hobbs had a great evening shooting the basketball with ten points, while Shayna Vance added eight points and four rebounds, with four points, 12 rebounds, and four blocks from Brooke Buchanan. Ten Avery players scored in the win.
“We switched Johanna Pittman and Shayna Vance’s positions this evening and both adjusted really well and had good games,” Coach Daniels said after the win. “Polk has some possibilities to play well, but they just didn’t have any ball-handlers to deal with our press. When our girls play determined on both ends of the floor, we’re almost unstoppable. The girls are really buying into our system.”
The junior varsity girls return to action Wednesday at Owen (Madison has no JV girls team, so the girls will not play at Madison), as well as travel to Mountain Heritage on Friday.
JV Boys:
Avery’s junior varsity boys dropped a tough contest at Hendersonville last week. The teams played a nip-and-tuck first period. A three-pointer at the buzzer by Dillon Greene tied the contest at 12 after one quarter.
The second quarter was also closely fought. Lane Smith scored five points in the frame, with four points from Austin Lyons, but Hendersonville held a 27-24 advantage at the end of the first half.
With the score 31-26 in favor of Hendersonville at the 4:22 mark of the third quarter, Avery starting point guard Shea Buchanan went to the floor hard after drawing contact from a Hendersonville player. Buchanan injured his knee on the play, was helped off the court and taken to a local hospital.
Without its floor general, Hendersonville opened up a six-point edge after the third quarter. Avery rallied as Dustin Clark scored eight second-half points, but the Bearcats pulled away late for a 55-44 win.
Clark led the Vikings with 14 points, while Bryce Pittman also registered double-figures in the scoring column with ten. Lane Smith added nine points.
In Thursday evening’s game at home against Polk, Avery struggled to find its offense. Polk opened up an 11-2 lead after one period and extended its advantage to double-figures at 19-8 at halftime.
As the second half unfolded Avery refused to lay down and mounted a comeback. Avery outpaced Polk 11-7 in the stanza to cut the deficit to 26-19. The Wolverines hit 7 of 8 free throws in the closing period, however, to hold its lead and capture a 38-28 win over the Big Red.
Clark was Avery’s lone player scoring double-figures with 13 points. No other Viking scored over four points.
“I thought the kids stepped in well in the absence of Shea,” Vikings JV boys head coach Reggie Oakes said after the week’s action. “Our defense looked good at times, but our offense needs improvement. It seemed at crucial times that Polk wanted it more.”
The junior varsity boys began a busy three-game week by venturing to Madison on Tuesday. Avery fell behind in the first half and trailed by as many as 22 points in the late third quarter. The Vikings rallied behind the hot shooting of Austin Lyons to cut the Madison lead to as little as eight. The hole proved too deep to dig out of, however, as Madison took a 63-48 home victory.
Avery's junior varsity teams play at Owen on Wednesday, and finishes at Mountain Heritage on Thursday rather than the originally scheduled date of Friday due to weather concerns.
