This week the Avery boys varsity basketball team experienced the gamut of the comeback spectrum. Last Tuesday, January 26th Avery jumped to an early lead in Hendersonville against the #6 state-ranked Bearcats, only to have the home team roar back to hand Avery an 82-78 defeat.On Thursday night the Vikings returned the favor, rallying from a 12-point halftime deficit at home against Polk County. Avery was beneficiary of a career night from junior Kody Hughes as the Big Red pulled out a 79-71 victory.
Avery had its best start to a game all season in the first quarter at Hendersonville. The Vikings converted on 11 of its 19 shots in the stanza and scored a whopping 27 points in the quarter, bolstered by ten points from center Dylan Eppley, to take an eight-point lead after the first period.
Although Hendersonville shot a respectable 40 percent from the field in the first half, Avery’s streak of great shooting continued through the remainder of the first half. Avery shot 61 percent from the field through the first two quarters. Dustin Clarke was 6 of 10 from the field in the first half and netted 17 first-half points as the Vikings led by a dozen at 50-38 at intermission.
As the second half ensued, it became apparent that the Hendersonville pressure and speed began to reverse the tide of momentum Avery had worked so hard to build. The inside play of Keyvon Young and perimeter play of guards Desmond Whiteside and Paul Posthumus.
An 8-0 scoring run in the first two and a half minutes of the second half quickly brought the Bearcats to within four. The Bearcats tied the game at 59 apiece, but a shot from the wing by Avery’s Mark Polsgrove gave the Vikings the slim two-point lead entering the final quarter.
Hendersonville benefited from a number of foul calls during the second half. The Bearcats took 17 free throws in the final quarter and made 12 of them. In comparison, Avery took only 19 free throws for the entire game.
Avery’s Clarke heated up from the field, helping the Vikings stay close each time the Bearcats threatened to pull away. Dustin scored ten points in the quarter despite fatigue from constant double-teams, relentless Bearcat defensive pressure, and his own defensive assignment of guarding Hendersonville’s speedy point guard.
The Bearcats led late as Whiteside netted a pair of baskets and ten of his 21 points for the game during the fourth quarter. Twice Avery rallied in the final two minutes, drawing to as close as three points when a Polsgrove three-pointer with 11 seconds left drew the Vikings to within 81-78. Hendersonville managed to hold on in the end to escape with a four-point win.
Clarke ended the night with 29 points, seven rebounds, five assists, and three steals. Dylan Eppley finished with a season-high 19 points and eight rebounds.
“I felt in the second half we played some good basketball. The game sometimes depends on how the ball bounces and the breaks go. At times we needed a break and it didn’t go our way,” Avery head coach Bo Manis said following the game. “We had some shots we weren’t able to hit. Had we made them, we may have kept the lead. We had a hard time adjusting to how the officiating called the game. The officials seemed to change the way they called the game in the second half compared to the first. It just seemed the breaks we needed every now and then didn’t come, especially on the road. I accept the loss for that game, though. The kids absolutely played their hearts out.”
On Thursday evening the Vikings returned home to host a Polk County Wolverine club that defeated Avery 74-68 in their first meeting earlier in the month in Columbus.
Before the contest Avery High School honored Dustin Clarke by presenting him a game ball recognizing his 1,000 career points scored feat which he reached earlier in the week.
Polk and Avery played a tight first quarter as the Wolverines led 19-16 through the first eight minutes. Wolverines guard Andre Overholt paced Polk with a pair of three-pointers and 13 first-half points. Avery received ten points from Clarke and three baskets by Dylan Eppley in the first two quarters, but five made three-point shots and eight different players scoring points for Polk helped the Wolverines lead by a dozen at 38-26 at halftime.
“We didn’t play good defense the first half. Whoever we played in the first half would have had a great night the way we played,” Coach Manis said. “I don’t think we were focused in the first half, and credit Polk for taking advantage of that.”
Coming out of the locker room, the Vikings showed confidence and played with the same precision the team showed in the first half of Tuesday’s Hendersonville contest. Avery lit up the Polk defense for 55 percent shooting from the floor and scored 31 points to erase the Wolverine advantage.
Luke Pittman scored seven of his eight points for the game during the quarter, and a three-pointer from the right wing by Timmy Stewart as time expired gave Avery a 57-56 lead going to the final stanza.
“Timmy made himself available for the shot, had a good look at the basket, and it got our bench into the game and excited us,” Coach Manis said. “I knew if we just kept pushing Polk, our shots would start falling and they would wear down.”
Polk stayed close in the second half largely due to its three-point shooting. The Wolverines were 12 of 26 for the game from beyond the arc, highlighted by four three pointers in the second half by guard Jeff Bontrager.
In the final eight minutes, the Vikings received a much needed lift with the game in the balance from junior Kody Hughes. After scoring five points in the first half, Hughes swished a pair of key three-point baskets in response to scores from Polk. Kody scored 16 points in the second half to help preserve the Viking edge.
A second three-point basket from Stewart in the fourth quarter pushed the Avery lead to seven at 70-63 with two minutes left to play. Polk could get no closer than five for the remainder of the game as Avery hit free throws to ice the win.
“In the second half we came out and did the things we are good at doing. I knew they were playing their third game of the week, and we started to wear them down. We continued to push the ball up the floor. We weren’t talking on defense early, but when we started talking on the floor we started communicating better. That was a sort of ripple effect that spread to all the players and it re-energized us.”
Clarke led Avery with 22 points, eight rebounds, four assists, and two steals, while Hughes scored a career-high 21 points, including three 3-pointers as part of a 6 of 12 shooting night. Dylan Eppley had 10 points with eight rebounds, with nine points from Joey Potter and eight points, seven rebounds from Luke Pittman. The Avery defense held Polk’s leading scorer Overholt scoreless in the second half.
“Joey started our momentum by moving without the ball and Kody made several huge shots. They stayed with it and didn’t get frustrated, which paid off in hitting the big shots,” Coach Manis said.
Avery won its second thriller in a row with a 62-58 win at Madison on Tuesday, improving its overall record over the .500 mark at 9-8 and to 7-3 in conference play. Avery travels to Owen on Wednesday. The scheduled Friday game at Mountain Heritage has been moved ahead a day to Thursday out of concern over inclement weather possibilities.
Editor’s Note: Avery High School is asking for the help of all fans and students to PAINT IT BLACK or RED in Viking Gym during Avery's regular season home finale on Tuesday, February 9th vs. Mitchell by wearing BLACK or RED t-shirts!
Young Adults Helping Haiti (YAHH) & UIC raised $320 to assist the country of Haiti with earthquake relief at Thursday night's home contest against Polk. The groups plan on holding a second fund raising effort for Haiti during Avery's Senior Night contest in Big Red Country against Mitchell on February 9th.
