Last week was a pivotal one for the Avery Vikings boys varsity basketball team in terms of standings in the Western Highlands Conference. The team entered the week off an emotional comeback win at home against Polk and sought to keep the positive momentum rolling in three road games over three nights.Avery faced the Madison Patriots on Tuesday night in Marshall looking for a regular season sweep. The two teams played to a tie through the first half, but Avery surged to a late lead, making key plays down the stretch in a 62-58 win.
The Vikings grabbed an early 16-9 lead after one quarter, but the physical Patriots used four 3-point baskets in the second quarter to tie the contest at 32-32 at halftime.
Dustin Clarke and Dylan Eppley accounted for all of Avery’s scoring in the third quarter, scoring 13 points between them to propel the Vikings to a 45-40 lead with eight minutes left to play.
In the final stanza the Vikings received contributions from multiple players. Kody Hughes hit a three-pointer from the corner to extend Avery’s lead to 50-44 early in the quarter, and a basket off the bench from Luke Pittman stretched the Viking lead to eight at 52-44.
Madison refused to fold and continued to keep battling, drawing fouls on Avery and converting at the free throw line. Madison scored 12 points at the charity stripe in the quarter and took a 58-57 lead on two Colton Kent free throws with 50 seconds left in the game.
A basket in the paint from Eppley helped Avery take a 59-58 lead with 28 seconds left. After Viking guard Joey Potter drew a charge on Madison’s Corey English, Eppley was sent to the free throw line for two shots. Eppley made the first attempt, but on the missed second attempt Clarke contested Madison’s Corey English for the loose basketball, throwing the ball off English out-of-bounds to maintain Avery possession. In his anger English received a technical foul for arguing with the official. Clarke hit a pair of free throws in the waning seconds to clinch the win.
Avery was paced by 25 points, 11 rebounds, 5 assists, and 3 steals from Clarke, with 13 points and 8 rebounds from Eppley. Potter tallied 9 points with 3 rebounds.
The Vikings shot an efficient 19 of 40 from the field (47.5 percent) and was 23 of 34 from the free throw line in the win.
The following evening Dustin Clarke had a career evening, as he scored 36 points, along with 12 rebounds, 8 steals, and 5 assists to lead Avery to a 67-63 come-from-behind win at Owen.
Avery fell behind 24-14 after one quarter as Clarke netted 13 of the team’s 14 points for the frame and 22 of Avery’s first 23 points in the game. Owen maintained its working lead by dominating the paint area. The tall duo of Ben Marett and Tony Halvorson paced the Warhorses, while guard Timmy Stewart scored seven points in the second period to help keep Avery close at 39-30 at halftime.
An 8-2 scoring run to begin the second half pulled Avery to
within three points midway through the third quarter, and the Vikings eventually took a 45-44 lead. Owen answered with its own 9-0 scoring spurt to close the period and took an eight point margin at 53-45 into the final eight minutes of play.After a basket from the Warhorses upped its margin to ten points in the first minute of the fourth period, Avery scored 12 straight points to take back the lead at 57-55.
For much of the final four minutes the two teams traded baskets. With Avery holding a two-point lead, a three-pointer from Owen’s JD Chaplain missed and Avery’s Hughes hauled in the rebound and was fouled. Hughes sank both free throws to help the Big Red secure another win.
In addition to Clarke’s big night, Dylan Eppley scored 10 points, with seven points each from Stewart and Joey Potter.
On Thursday night, Avery braved the elements and traveled to Burnsville to take on the Mountain Heritage Cougars. Before a capacity crowd in attendance including Appalachian State University men’s head basketball coach Buzz Peterson, both teams put on a great show as the conference’s top two squads squared off. Avery gave the conference-leading Cougars everything they could handle, but fell in a narrow 71-65 loss.
The teams battled tooth-and-nail through one period. Avery raced out to an early 8-2 lead and led by double-figures at 15-5. Mountain Heritage answered with an 11-2 run to close out the quarter, however, leaving the Vikings with a 17-16 lead.
Avery’s defense was effective in holding Mountain Heritage 6’11” center John Cannon to just three points for the first half, while drawing a pair of first half fouls on the man in the middle. Clarke scored five points for the Vikings in the second quarter, but 11 first-half points off the bench from the duo of Trevin Miller and Jacob Neill pushed the Cougars ahead by a 32-28 margin at halftime.
In the third quarter John Cannon asserted himself for the Heritage offense with nine points, extending the Cougar lead to as large at 41-32 midway through the quarter. Avery received an offensive spark in the quarter from Kody Hughes, who tallied five straight points to help keep Avery close. Teammate Timmy Stewart went coast-to-coast in the final seconds of the quarter, making a layup to leave the Big Red trailing by a single point at 49-48 going to the final stanza.
In the first four minutes of the fourth quarter Heritage’s Steven Wilson heated up on offense, scoring three straight baskets to push the Cougar lead to 59-50. Undaunted, the Vikings were carried by the offensive will power of Clarke, who answered Wilson’s baskets with two of his own as part of a 14-point fourth quarter effort.
With 1:12 remaining Clarke converted a three-point play to draw the Vikings within 64-62. Less than 30 seconds later, a three-pointer by Hughes cut the lead to only one point at 66-65.
Forced to foul, Avery sent Alex Biggerstaff to the line and he sank both foul shots for a three-point lead. Avery was unable to hit the shot to tie the game as Mountain Heritage finished sealing the win at the free throw line.
Dustin Clarke netted 29 points, 7 rebounds, 7 assists, 3 steals, and three blocks. Hughes turned in another great performance with 16 points on 5 of 10 shooting. John Cannon tallied 13 points, a career-high 20 rebounds, and 5 blocks for the Cougars.
Avery looked to get back on the winning track back home on Monday night against Hendersonville. The Vikings led at halftime, only to see a strong second half push by the Bearcats prove too much to handle in an 85-78 loss.
Avery opened the contest on fire, running out to an 8-0 run and 20 first-quarter points. Kody Hughes led the way with 9 points in the stanza on 4 of 4 shooting from the field as the Vikings led 20-12 after eight minutes.Hendersonville rallied and a Marquis Johnson layup capped an 11-2 run cutting the Avery lead to a pair at 33-31. Avery finished the half strong with the final three points of the half, pushing its lead to a 36-31 margin at halftime.
Much like the first meeting between the teams, Hendersonville came out running and executing to start the second half. The Bearcats opened the half on a 7-0 run to take the lead that would not relinquish again in the game. Hendersonville found lanes inside and made high percentage shots near the basket. Desmond Whiteside spearheaded the Hendersonville attack with 11 points in the third quarter that helped the Bearcats pull away 70-60 after three periods.
Trailing by as many as 15 points in the fourth quarter, the Vikings managed an offensive surge. Joey Potter scored three times as part of a 10-3 Big Red scoring burst that drew Avery within eight at 70-62. The Bearcats would have no part of a comeback win for the home team, as Johnson and Bracken Kirkland scored 11 points in the quarter. Hendersonville hit just enough free throws to stay comfortably ahead as Avery lost by an 85-78 final score.
Dustin Clarke was impressive yet again, as the Player of the Year candidate recorded a triple-double with 22 points, 17 rebounds, and 10 assists. Four players in all reached double-figures scoring, led by Dylan Eppley’s 18 points and 8 rebounds. Joey Potter chipped in with 15 points, with 13 points from Kody Hughes. Luke Pittman scored eight points with 10 rebounds. Desmond Whiteside from Hendersonville led all scorers with 24 points, while adding 8 steals and 7 assists.
“This past week we played three tough road games that meant something. The fact that we played well in all of the games showed a lot of character. All the teams, both JV and varsity, played hard and showed a lot of heart,” Avery head coach Bo Manis said after the loss to the Bearcats. “What hurt us tonight is that our players worked so hard, only to come up short. We’ve come through a tough stretch, but I would have called you crazy if you told me we would come away with two wins out of our three games last week. The team showed a lot of heart tonight that will only help us down the road.”
Avery was scheduled to take on Mitchell in the conference finale Tuesday, but bad weather forced the game to be rescheduled to this Friday night. Avery has cancelled its makeup contest at West Wilkes scheduled for Friday.
A report on Avery’s showdown with Mitchell can be found in next week’s print and online editions.
